Chapter 14
Gotham City, September 21, 2010
"Don't forget your promise, boy."
"I never do."
"Is this really something that needs to be done now?" Batman asked as M'gann, all recovered from Frost's attack, flew the bioship to Gotham.
"Of course," Danny pursed his lips.
"The Team's missed you," Batman said.
"I've missed them too but this is really important," Danny absentmindedly raked his fingers through his hair.
"Do you really think you can cure N-Mrs. Fries?"
"All will be well," Danny smiled tenderly.
"That's cryptic but...I believe in your capabilities," Batman said gently.
"Thanks!" Danny beamed, that genuinely meant a lot to him.
Eventually they reached Victor's hideout and the bioship landed.
"We'll wait here," Batman decided, "I'll call for a paramedic now, even when you cure her she may need medical attention."
Danny nodded in understanding and slipped into the warehouse. He casually made his way through the frozen warehouse, slipping into a back room where his eyes immediately landed on a vertical standing crygenic tube. Humming to himself Danny silently made a request to Clockwork who immediately provided him with the cure to Nora's sickness that Poison Ivy would eventually make.
Danny got to work and injected the serum into the iv that was constantly feeding the woman nutrients and other necessary vitamins...and now it fed the serum directly into her veins.
The Ghost King kept a watchful eye on her vitals and triumphed when they stablizied and grew stronger. What wonderful news!
Wordlessly, Danny moved forward and began the methodical process of turning off the machine. Moments later the tube was fogging up, Danny opening the door. The woman remained frozen in place for a few moments before she lurched forward, falling into Danny's awaiting arms.
The boy carefully lowered her to the ground, woman lying in his arms. Her skin, cold to the touch, wasn't doing much better in the ghost with the ice core's arms. Danny had warm ectoplasm coat his core, wrapping himself in warmth, exuding it, the warmth blanketing the woman, warming her right up.
Slowly she began to stir.
"My sweet husband..." The woman murmured, eyes fluttering, "You would only be waking me if you'd saved me...oh, my Victor..." She reached out and gingerly caressed Danny's face, the boy sitting there awkwardly and tense with her still in his arms.
"Not Victor," He chirped.
The woman tensed, eyes shooting comically wide, looking to Danny in alarm as her vision cleared.
"You-I, where's my husband?" She demanded.
"Prison," Danny helpfully chirped.
"What?" Her breath caught in her throat.
"Don't worry," Danny smiled, "He'll be transferred back to Arkham soon and he'll break out in no time."
"..." The woman gawked at Danny.
"You should take it easy," He advised.
"My sickness!" She gasped, "I'm dying!"
"Not anymore," Danny smiled.
"Not...not anymore?"
"Not anymore," He confirmed.
"Who-who are you?"
"A friend of your husbands," Danny smiled.
"Friend...? You...are a child."
"Am I?" Danny asked innocently, "I dunno I might not be."
"Am...I delirious?"
"Probably. C'mon," Danny grunted as he lifted the woman bridal style and rose to his feet, "Let's get you to the hospital."
"O...kay," The woman clung to Danny tightly.
"You...actually cured her," Batman blinked in surprise as Danny exited the warehouse with Mrs. Fries in his arms.
"Did you seriously doubt me?" Danny smirked.
"I did," M'gann piped up.
Danny pouted before approaching the bioship, "We need to get her to a hospital," He said, "She's cured but she's still been frozen for a while."
"Right," Batman turned swiftly, he and M'gann returning to the bioship.
★・・・★・・・★
Wayne Manor, September 21, 2010
Dick was to put it simply stressed. He had been stressed since Danny infiltrated Belle Reve, he...he was so worried about him.
"Master Richard," Alfred huffed, "Need I remind you Master Bruce has already said Young Daniel's mission is ended and all is well?"
"Still!" Dick huffed, "I..."
"You worry," Alfred surmised, smiling gently, then he sighed in a resigned manner, "I worry for that boy too."
They distantly heard the front door creak and Dick took off. He all but leapt over the dining table, ignoring Alfred's horrified gasp as he scrambled into the front room.
"Da-Bruce!" Dick exclaimed.
Bruce reached out and ruffled Dick's hair in greeting.
"Yeah, whatever," Dick waved him off, "How's Ph-Danny?"
"He's alright," Bruce softened, "He just headed back to Hal's place after we left the hospita-"
"Hospital?" Dick gawked, "Was he hurt?"
"Oh, no, Danny was completely fine," Bruce reassured, "We dropped Nora Fries off at the hospital."
"Mr. Freeze's wife?" Alfred's brows furrowed.
"Mmm, Danny cured her," Bruce said.
"Fuck, marry me he's so cool," Dick gasped softly.
Alfred chuckled fondly while Bruce cocked a head to the side, not quite making out his son's mutter.
"I mean-shut up," Dick buried his face in his hands.
"What just happened?" Bruce frowned.
"Just tell me about the mission, please, dad," Dick groaned through his hands.
"Danny handled it expertly," Bruce said, "He took lead and he was confident. Although, Hugo Strange, the psychiatrist and current warden of Belle Reve has suggested Danny go to several therapy appointments. Also he befriended Victor Fries and Cameron Mahkent, of whom he even gave his number-"
"WHAT?!" Dick shrieked.
"-and he effectively inspired the transition of power to warden Strange-"
"No, no, stop!" Dick waved his arms around, stopping Bruce, "Go back."
"To what? The fact that Danny's now friends with Mr. Freeze?"
"No, about him giving his number to someone!"
"Yeah," Bruce blinked, "Danny and Cameron, Icicle Junior, befriended one another and exchanged numbers."
Dick's mouth fell open and a shrill horrified scream fell past his lips. Bruce looked on in perturbed horror while Alfred could only sigh.
★・・・★・・・★
Coast City, September 22, 2010
Danny had spent all night texting Cameron. He first sent a picture of Nora to Cameron asking if he could show it to Victor and then Cameron sent Danny a video of Victor's reaction to the photo, the man on his hands and knees wailing tears of joy, screaming thank yous to the heaven, and then they got right back to talking about regular teenage stuff. Danny certainly didn't forget Zheng Yi Sao had been dead for over a hundred years when he mentioned sailing the sea with her.
Speaking of some of his many adventures in the past Danny was having such a pleasant dream about one adventure in particular.
Danny smiled at the man cowering before him. He knew his smile was unnerving, too large with too many sharp white teeth, beautifully shining amidst his celeste blue flesh, his toxic green eyes crinkling into narrows as he smiled.
He held out a clawed hand and unfurled his fingers, offering the man a piece of the sun encased in ice...he was...he was the first person Danny would ever gift this too...and he would be the first person Danny would ever take it back from when...when he'd die.
The dream of memories blurred by as Danny sparred with the man as he gifted him with flower crowns and taught him to make fire and weapons fitting of the time. They would hunt together and Danny would create shining lines in the sky between stars, showing his human various constellations-
Danny stirred, eyes fluttering open.
He exhaled deeply as he lay against his bed, peering up at his ceiling, "Thanks, Nocturn," He smiled to himself.
"First day of school," Hal shrieked suddenly, throwing Danny's door open, "You excited, kiddo?"
Oh...right, Danny immediately groaned.
"I was having a good dream," The boy whined.
"You can get back to it tonight," Hal beamed.
"That's...that's not really how dreams work," Danny deadpanned, I mean, Nocturn would totally give him that dream again if he wanted but Danny didn't like to abuse his power as king.
"You wanted to go to school," Hal reminded him in a sing-song voice.
"I just left one prison what's another?" Danny sighed dramatically.
"Alright you melodramatic king," Hal snickered, "Up an at 'em!" He clapped enthusiastically, "I'm making breakfast!"
Danny could only smile fondly as he slipped out of his bed and began to prepare for the day.
★・・・★・・・★
Gotham City, September 22, 2010
Danny tugged uncomfortably at his blazer as he walked into school. Uniforms sucked, but at least they didn't regulate shoes, the boy smiled down at his toxic green crocs, paired with fuzzy purple socks.
Danny lit up when he spotted a familiar figure, tugging at her skirt, glaring hatefully at it.
"Artemis," He called out.
"Um...can I help you?" She looked on edge.
"C'mon," He scoffed, "How many white haired teens do you know?" He rose a brow, toxic green eyes shining.
"Oh my god, Phantom?" She hissed.
"Danny," He grinned, "Call me Danny."
"...Your eyes are stunning," She breathed out.
"Thank you," He blinked, "Your...cheeks and forehead are stunning?"
"..." She could only look at him startled.
"Sorry, those're the only things I've never seen you in," He winced, "Y'know 'cause your mask shows off your eyes, which, I've always thought were stunning just-"
Artemis cut him off by throwing back her head and laughing.
"It's good to have you back," She beamed before she softened, ruffling Danny's white locks of hair, "I've really missed you."
Danny smiled at her tenderly, "I've missed you too."
"Artemis!" Someone exclaimed, hurrying over to the duo, "I'm Bette, your new student liason, welcome to Gotham Academy."
"Thanks! I'm Artemis but," She flushed in embarassment, "You knew that."
"And are you the other new student, Daniel, right?"
"That's me," Danny beamed.
Another teenager suddenly squeezed between Artemis and Danny.
"We'll laugh about this someday," He grinned.
He put an arm around Danny, using his free hand to hold out his phone, taking a picture of the three of them. Danny only had a second to react, allowing the phone to capture a clear photo of him before the flash was going off. As soon as the picture was captured the teen was gone.
"Uh...who's that?"
"A freshman," Bette huffed, "Ignore him."
Danny pouted dramatically, "I'm a freshman."
"You're a freshman?" Artemis hissed, "But you're so..."
"Trauma occurs at any age," Danny said wisely.
"I was gonna say you're so powerful," Artemis said dryly.
"Trauma occurs at any age," Danny continued.
And then they were off, Bette taking the duo on a tour.
★・・・★・・・★
Gotham City, September 22, 2010
Around the corner a certain redhead, arms crossed over her chest, was leaning against a pillar, Dick saddling up next to her.
"Dick, what was that?"
"Nothing, Barbara," The boy huffed goodnaturedly, smiling at the photo he'd taken, "Just being friendly to the new kids. Besides, Bruce is friends with the guys guardian."
"Hmm," She let it slide, crossing her arms over her chest.
Dick couldn't help but roll her eyes, he knew she had difficulty making friends what with people being frightened of her dad but she was so posessive of the ones she did have, honestly, it's not like Dick would ever stop being her friend.
Dick kept his eyes trained on Danny as he and Artemis asked Bette questions as she led them on a tour through the school, unable to completely stop the way he sighed dreamily. He couldn't help it! Danny just looked so ethereal, bathed in the sunlight. His white hair seemed to almost glow and his skin shined and his toxic green eyes were almost a golden color when the light hit them, fuck, he was so pretty!
Focus! Dick snapped himself out of his dazed state, he had to enact his get Danny's number plan!
Dick eventually found himself in homeroom, contemplating how he should go about enacting his plan, he knew he should've asked Bruce for Danny's schedule, although...he did already say they'd most likely be having a few classes together so hopefully he'd get to see him soon. On cue Danny walked into the class with Bette and Artemis bidding him farewell as they left. Dick thanked Devla for granting him with Danny's presence.
"Class, this is must be our new homeroom student, Daniel Jordan. Mr. Jordan, do you have anything to say to the class."
"Er, hello?" He offered.
"Now, class, does anyone have any questions for Mr. Jordan?"
"Where are you from?" One of Dick's classmates asked.
"Coast City," Danny blinked.
"What's your favorite color?"
"Blue," Danny said.
Blue? Dick's brows furrowed, but it had been green not too long ago, he wondered what had changed-WHAT IF IT WAS ICICLE JUNIOR?! He knew Junior had blue eyes what-what if it was him?! Dick was horrified, no, no way! He couldn't lose Danny to that guy!
"What's your net worth?"
"What a pretentious question," Danny blinked.
"Oi-"
"It's confidential," Danny shoved his hands in his pockets, awkwardly averting his gaze.
Dick lit up in realization, of course his net worth was private, he was from a completely different planet! He may be from a powerful family like Clark and have wealth from that!
"Are...you wearing crocs?" Someone couldn't help but ask in a bewildered tone.
"Aren't they fashionable?" Danny beamed.
"Yes," The kid snickered, looking on at him in awe, "Yeah they are."
"Alright, that's enough questions, let's see your schedule," Their homeroom teacher held out a hand to Danny who provided her with his schedule, "Miraculously you have all your classes with Mr. Grayson."
Dick was screaming interally, the noise giddy in his head as he emphatically thanked Devla. Oh, wait, maybe he should thank Bruce? He's probably the one who did this. Nevermind who to thank, this was perfect!
"Why don't you sit next to Mr. Grayson? He can be your guide throughout the day."
"Over here," Dick forced away his blush as he rose his hand, struggling to keep his voice even.
"Hey, Dick," Danny blinked in greeting.
"I was thinking that since we'd be sharing classes we could exchange numbers?" Dick asked smoothly as Danny took the seat next to him.
"Oh, good idea!" Danny beamed and gave him his number.
Dick was shrieking mentally in delight, yes! Now Robin just needed to get Phantom's number and they'd be set!
★・・・★・・・★
Gotham City, September 22, 2010
Gotham Academy was nothing like Casper High.
There were no bullies, nobody looking down on him, no teachers giving up on him, Danny was here with a fresh start and...he was making the most of it. It was...embarassing to admit but despite being several millenia old he was still just a kid yearning for adult praise, adult affection. He...he wanted to make his teachers proud, how pathetic was that?
He...didn't like the way he worked at times. He was several millenia old, he had forgotten more than civilizations would ever know...but he was unable to forget...his human life. He was not allowed to forget his first life. He couldn't forget the way he yearned for love and was barely even given scraps, he couldn't forget the suffocating fear of being trapped in the confined darkness of a locke-
Danny shook his head, getting rid of those memories, he was headed to the Cave, to his team, to his friends, he didn't need to dwell on the past.
School had ended a couple hours before and Danny watched idly Artemis 'snuck' toward the Gotham zeta tube.
"Boo!" Danny leapt out of the shadows, girl shrieking in surprise.
"What the hell, Phantom?" She hissed, boy laughing.
Stepping out of the shadows from behind Artemis was Robin.
"Artemis?" He gasped with mock surprise.
"Robin!" She exclaimed in surprise, "I, uh-"
"How random that you're in Gotham City instead of Star City where your uncle Green Arrow lives," He said coyly.
"I'm, uh, here to see my cousin," She hurriedly said, "She was in the state spelling bee here in Gotham...City."
"C-O-O-L," Robin grinned.
"Very C-O-O-L," Danny grinned, moving to stand besides Robin, throwing an arm over his shoulders.
"Did she W-I-N?" It was difficult for Robin to fight off his blush.
"N-O," Artemis pursed her lips.
"B-U-M-M-E-R," Danny pouted.
"Yeah, let's just go to the cave," Artemis gave the boys the stink eye.
"The C-A-V-E?" Danny grinned, "And here I thought we were having so much fun in this A-L-L-E-Y."
"S-A-M-E," Robin grinned.
"Oh my god, please," Artemis groaned.
"Ladies first," Robin mock bowed.
"Your town," She put her hands on her hips, "You go."
Robin shrugged and entered the 'OUT OF ORDER' telephone booth, "Recognized, Robin B-0-1," Came a familiar voice followed by a familiar flash of light as Robin vanished.
"You wanna go first?" Artemis offered.
"N-A-H," Danny hummed pleasantly.
"Nah?" The girl repeated, rolling her eyes as she stepped into the telephone booth, "C'mon, that's not even a real word."
"What makes a word 'real?'" Danny asked sagely before the girl was vanishing with a, "Recognized, Artemis B-0-8."
Once Artemis was gone Danny entered the telephone booth.
"Recognized, Phantom B-0-7. Good evening," Huh, the voice was developing more sentience, very cool.
Danny hummed as he vanished, reapearing and stepping out of a familiar connected zeta tube.
"Get down!" Robin cried out as a ball of fire was flung at Danny.
Danny didn't do that, instead leaping forward and creating an ectoplasm shield to protect Robin and Artemis.
Reaching around the shield Artemis was blindly firing arrows and Robin was blindly throwing birdarangs. The three teens retreated back behind the shield as another ball of fire smashed into it.
"Who are we fighting?!" Artemis questioned, raising herself over the shield again, notching another arrow.
"Don't know!" Robin exclaimed, "But we can't stay here."
"Oh, that can't be good," Danny deadpanned at the wave of water crashing through the room.
The water slammed into the trio, throwing them against a wall before the water retreated and they were once again bombarded by balls of fire.
"Must go faster," Danny referenced as he put his hands on Robin and Artemis' backs encouraging them to run faster.
"Hey, I love Jurassic Park!" Robin beamed, "We should have a movie night soon! Wanna exchange numbe-"
"So not the time!" Artemis exclaimed as they ran.
"Robin to team, come in!" Robin tried to reach out to the team as they ran through the gym, "Aqualad!"
M'gann, can you hear me?! Artemis projected her thoughts, Are you there?
"Conner, please respond," Danny hissed.
Amazo was thankfully out of the cave and at the Watchtower with Red Tornado so that was one brother Danny didn't have to worry about.
The gym doors were suddenly thrown inward by a tornado of fire.
"Oh, that's fun!" Danny groaned as the kids stumbled forward due to the force of the tornado.
"Robin to Batcave, override R-G-4!" Robin exclaimed as the trio burst into the showers, "Cave calling Justice League. H-O-J slash watchtower! B-0-1, priority ray."
Danny conjured two blocks of ectoplasm, sending them around the circumference of the room, breaking the showerheads, water spewing out and into the room.
"Comms are down," Robin bit out, "Locked."
"Is that what you were doing?" Danny asked incredulously.
"At least the water's helping," Robin huffed.
On cue more water began to flood the room.
"Or not," Robin seethed.
Danny immediately encased himself and his friends in a solid ball of ectoplasm.
"Ah, crap, I didn't think this through," He winced as the room was completely filled with water, "We're gonna run out of oxygen soon anyways."
"Wait, no this is brilliant!" Robin beamed at Danny, "You're brilliant!"
The boy startled, smiling softly, Artemis rolling her eyes with a loud groan.
"Do you think you can break that wall?" Robin pointed.
"Probably," Danny shrugged.
In the next moment he was controlling the bubble to ram into the wall, breaking through it with relative ease, the trio within the bubble flailed as they fell to the floor getting all tangled up with one another. Danny was on the bottom of the pile, Artemis strewn across his legs and Robin sitting on his chest.
"Uh...hi," Danny blinked up at Robin.
The other boy sputtered and scrambled to his feet.
"We have to keep moving," He exclaimed.
Danny merely shrugged and rose to his feet once Artemis got off his legs.
The trio ran down the hall and into the kitchen.
"We need to get lost," Robin hissed.
"The air vent!" Artemis suggested.
"Good. Go!"
Artemis leapt forward, removing the vent, Danny right behind her. They glanced back to see Robin plugged into the wall.
"What are you-?" She hissed.
"They're coming," Danny hissed, voice urgent as he heard footsteps coming their way.
"Downloading cave blueprints. Could come in..." He faltered when he too finally, with his human ears could hear the fast walking, "Go, go!"
Artemis leapt up into the air vent, Robin leaping up right after her, Danny next, using a string of ectoplasm to raise the vent back into place.
The trio crawled through the large-ish vents, Robin pulling up a holographic map.
"Go left," He hissed suddenly.
They did so immediately, Artemis rounding a corner, Danny leaping forward and tackling Robin further down the left turn. Doing this just in time too as a funnel of flames barelled down the vent path they'd just been on.
"Uh," Robin shuddered ever so slightly, subconsciously clinging to Danny tighter, "Too close."
"Oh, sorry!" Danny hastily let him go.
"Oh, no!" Robin's face burned red, "I-I-I meant the fire, not you, no, you, um, were perfectly close?"
"Running for our lives, remember?" Artemis groaned.
"Right, um, take the next right," Robin pursed his lips.
They continued on forward, Artemis still in the lead, Danny once again watching their backs.
"There should be a vent cover right in front of you."
Artemis removed the grate and slid gracefully down the vertical vent, Robin following her lead with Danny gracefully floating down after them. After a few crawls down the horizontal vent at the bottom of the vertical one they dropped out of the vent cover, exiting into the boiler room.
"This way," Robin hissed.
They ran down the steps of the catwalk they appeared to be on, faltering when a figure engulfed in flames shot out of the vents. They looked around as their flames spiked.
The trio nervously looked on at the boilers began to beep, blaring red warningly, the machines hissing from being overloaded.
"That's not good," Robin winced as they ran.
Balls of fire were thrown at him and as Robin and Artemis took shelter behind one of the boilers Danny remained in the figure's line of fire, conjuring a shield, distracting the intruder while Robin studied the blueprints.
"I know that other access tunnel is here somewhere," He grit out.
"You mean this one?" Artemis stood over a vent she'd opened. Robin wordlessly followed her as the girl dropped into it.
"Phantom," He hissed.
"Coming," Danny shot through the air, dropping his shield as Robin threw a birdarang into one of the boilers, Danny grabbing the other boy and carrying him down into the vents as an explosion rang out in the boiler room.
"Hold up," Robin hummed, still being held bridal style in Danny's arms he plugged into the wall.
"You two are acting real cute but are you kidding?" Artemis rose a brow at the duo, Danny continuing to hold Robin close.
"I can carry you too," Danny blinked.
"Not the point I'm making!" Artemis groaned, "Phantom, put Robin down," She stressed.
"But...he feels right in my arms," Danny continued.
And didn't that make Robin blush as he continued to hack into the cave's systems.
"Phantom," Artemis said sternly.
Frowning Danny reluctantly set Robin down.
"Locking out cave's motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us," Robin finished.
"And I ask again, who is the enemy?" Artemis pressed.
"Let's find out," Robin grinned, "Downloading cave security footage."
The trio huddled close together, peering intently at the holographic feed playing before them.
They watched one angle of the garage, Wally was working on Conner's bike while Sphere, M'gann, Conner and Kaldur looked on together.
"Torque wrench," Wally requested, M'gann wordlessly and telekinetically giving it to him, "Thank you, green cheeks."
"I have been meaning to ask," Kaldur said gently, "Any problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?"
"Given that Cadmus implanted all kinds of information in my head school's a breeze," Conner shrugged.
"Juggling's just one of my many talents," Wally hummed, "Socket wrench," He requested.
"Daily cheerleading pratice has presented a challenge," M'gann admitted, "Oh, but my first loyalty is always to the team. This team, not the Bumblebees."
"Artemis and Phantom start school today," Kaldur said, "Do you think they will have trouble maintaining their loyalties?"
Danny gasped softly but dramatically.
"Nah, they'll manage alright," Wally stood, "I mean-"
A sudden explosion took out the feed.
"Aren't all explosions technically sudden?" Danny murmured more to himself than anything.
"What happened?" Artemis hissed.
"Explosion took out the camera," Robin grit out, "I'll find another angle."
The other angle showed water funnels smash into the team before a final funnel took out the camera. The next angle showed the team, drenched in water leaping into battle a wave of water taking out that camera too. The final angle was taken out by another explosion.
"That's it," Robin grit out, "All four are dead."
Artemis' eyes widened.
"The cameras!" Robin hastily elaborated, "I meant the cameras. I-I-I'm sure the others are okay."
They were at least alive, Danny would've felt it if they weren't.
"Gimme a sec to find the fastest route to the hangar," Robin murmured, "Got it!"
He led the way through the tubes, the trio coming out in the library.
"There's a secret passageway behind one of these bookcases," He explained briefly as they leapt over the stair's railing, landing silently on the floor.
"Seriously?" Artemis hissed, "Cliché much?"
"You should see the Batcave," Robin snickered.
A door opened in the distance. Immediately Artemis had an arrow knocked and Robin had a birdarang in both hands, Danny weilding ectoplasm blades.
"Artemis, Robin, Phantom," A familiar voice called out, but something...something was wrong.
"It's Red Tornado!" Artemis lit up.
"No," Danny grabbed the back of her shirt, keep her hidden.
"Danny, what the hell?" She hissed.
"This isn't right," He muttered, "Tornado," He called out, letting his voice bounce eerily off the walls, the figure unable to pinpoint a precise location, "What's our secret project?"
"Phantom, I do not comprehend the question."
"That thing we're working on that you're not ready to tell the others," Danny growled lowly, "What is it?"
"Plans for team building," The figure responded several moments later.
"That's not Tornado," Danny muttered to the duo, voice lacking it's intimidating echoing quality, releasing Artemis.
"Of course it is," Artemis hissed.
She hurried forward before Danny could grab her again, rounding the corner...gasping in horror when she found herself looking up at an android that was distinctly not Red Tornado. The android reached out to grab her but Robin shot forward, tackling her out of the way.
"Yes, on the red," Robin hissed, "No, on the Tornado."
They rolled under a table, Danny leaping over it with ease. Their exit was blocked by another android who sent fire barelling toward them. Robin and Artemis leapt on top of the bookcases leaping from one to another.
Danny stood his ground, encasing the two androids in ectoplasm spheres.
Danny grit his teeth at the effort of containing them, stopping in the middle of the library, hands outstretched.
"Phantom, come on!" Artemis cried out exclaimed as Robin frantically searched for the right book that would open the secret passage.
The reds filled the ectoplasm with their respective powers, fire and water. Their powers coiled around the room, lashing out at the ectoplasm. They were gonna get through soon but...but Danny could do this, he could hold them, hold them until he couldn't, he could hold them until Artemis and Robin were safe.
"I'll be right behind you!" Danny lied, looking over his shoulder with a grin.
"Danny..." Artemis let out a strangled whisper, identifying the look in his eyes.
Danny let out a strangled cry as the spheres were shattered...flames barelling into him. He was thrown to the ground, on his back, head bent backward, watching Robin open the secret passageway.
"Phantom!" Robin cried.
He moved to run to him but Danny shot his hand out, conjuring a wall of ectoplasm, pushing him and Artemis into the passageway and watching it get sealed by the bookcase. Danny then sent a wave of ectoplasm to destroy the books so that the mechanism couldn't be opened by the Reds.
He relaxed against the floor, glaring up at the Reds. In the next moment a foot was coming down on his face...and he was knocked out.
★・・・★・・・★
Mount Justice, September 22, 2010
The team was not doing too good.
Sphere was stuck in a wall, the sentient ball unable to move. Kaldur and M'gann were stuck in a cage of fire, the Atlantean who didn't do good with heat and the Martian who had a weakness to fire were in poor shape. And Wally and Conner were encased in melted metal, unable to move, the water level at their hips, the duo knowing it could rise any moment.
The Reds arrival had to conscious team members, so everyone except M'gann, tensing.
"Phantom!" Conner let out a strangled cry as they entered, one of them dragging Phantom, limp, in by the hair. His poor brother, he literally just got finished with his undercover mission in a prison and now this!
Phantom was dropped carelessly to the floor, forced to his knees, chains wrapped around him. Cuffs were clamped around his ankles connected to short chains that were connected to the floor. Then his arms were spread wide, boy still on his knees as his wrists were put in cuffs that were chained to the floor. And to finish it up the Reds clamped a collar around Danny's neck with two chains, one chain that went to the ground in front of him, the other connected to the ground behind him, keeping him still. They...they were chaining him like he was an animal.
"Phantom!" Conner's voice cracked with rage and worry.
Danny stirred at his brother's voice, head rising, white hair falling over his mask.
With the glowing of the Reds eyes the flames of the fire cage flarred and strengthened and the water level rose closer and closer to Wally and Conner's mouths...and the collar around Danny's neck began to crackle with electricity.
Danny thrashed against the chains, clenching his jaw and keeping himself quiet as he writhed in agony, electricity coursing through his veins...until he fell limp against the chains.
The Reds moved their focus away from their prisoners and to each other.
Suddenly Robin and Artemis broke the surface of the water near Wally and Conner.
"Look out!" Wally warned, just in time too as the fire android sent funnels of flames at the duo who disappeared back under the water.
Robin and Artemis surfaced again this time closer to Wally and Conner.
"You guys okay?" Robin pressed.
"Forget us!" Conner barked out, "Help Phantom!"
Artemis and Robin followed their gazes, looking on in horror at the state Danny was in.
"Danny," Robin let out a haunted whisper as he looked on at the boy.
"Is he...?" Artemis' voice broke.
"He is...unresponsive," Kaldur said fearfully.
★・・・★・・・★
Phantom's Core, Outside of Time
Danny was a coward, retreating into his core.
He just...he couldn't handle electricity, he knew it made him weak but-but it had killed him and despite all the eons that had passed...he was still perpetually terrified.
In his core, in this realm of comforting, thick, velvety darkness...he rested.
He could feel the world around him...he could feel how his friends were suffering...but he couldn't bring himself to leave, the electricity he could still feel coursing through his physical body was enough to scare him away.
Danny straightened, raising his head when he felt a presence encase his core. The presence was comforting and familiar and familial. Danny found himself smiling ever so slightly.
"Hi, Clocky," He murmured.
"Hello, Daniel," Clockwork whispered as his presence solidified in this realm of darkness, appearing before Danny in his teenage form.
"Did I lose this fight?" Danny pulled his knees close to his chest, "Are those androids king and queen now?"
"The fight isn't over," Clockwork said gently, "Besides...this isn't an official trial by combat."
"Beating Priah wasn't official either," Danny blinked.
"Perhaps," Clockwork chuckled, "But the Infinite Realm chose you, she had been waiting for you for a long time...you beating Priah was simply the excuse she needed to crown you."
"I'm...a poor ghost," He remarked bitterly, "I just-just ran at the first sign of pain."
Clockwork moved forward and wrapped Danny in his arms. Danny immediately melted in his embrace, eyes fluttering closed in content, relaxing in his hold.
"Despite all you've been through, despite all these years, despite even being a father," Clockwork murmured, "You're still a child...my child and I need you to hear my words...and accept them. It's okay to run...to hide from pain, you think you're the only one who does?"
"But-"
"You know...I still ask Nocturn to let me dream of the past?"
"Of...of you and Priah?" Danny asked hesitantly.
"You know about that," Clockwork blinked in surprise.
"Yeah, I um..." He flushed red and fell into a memory.
Danny had been testing out his teleportation skills.
It had only been half a century since he abandoned his original timeline and retreated to his castle in the Infinite Realm and he'd dove into his training and education, preparing himself for his kingly duties. Teleportation was different than making portals and Danny was having a little difficulty with that lesson.
Anyways, Danny utilized his teachings. He rolled back his shoulders, held his head up high. He felt his ectoplasm flowing through his veins and then...he let his power flare, invisioning the garden of his castle only...things didn't work out quite so well.
Danny felt a powerful squeezing pressure and he panicked, power flaring. He felt the feeling of fallind and then it ended abruptly. He blinked rapidy, vision clearing. He'd done it! He grinned, triumphant, as he found himself in the garden.
Danny didn't get to revel in his success because he quickly realized this was not a success.
"Oh, this is not good," A familiar yet distantly unfamiliar voice sounded.
Danny turned invisible and intangible and stood in one of his bushes which was blossoming with black roses instead of the flaming blue ones he'd replaced them with and found himself looking on at none other than Clockwork in his young adult form. What...huh? He didn't look different but he felt different.
"Crap, I didn't mean to come here," Danny blinked in surprise, unused to Clockwork cursing.
Danny didn't know why but his instincts propelled him to change his form. His celeste blue flesh darkened to a navy blue, stars decorating his skin like freckles, his white hair growing longer and billowed majestically in the wind.
"Hello," He called out, voice airy and echoey as he flickered into visibility.
"I...father?" Danny hadn't been expecting much but he certainly hadn't been expecting those words to fall from Clockwork's lips.
"Why would you think that?" Danny asked gently, was this...some sort of alternate reality?
"So...you're not," Clockwork frowned, "Uranus, I mean."
"I am not," Danny blinked, wait, did that mean Clockwork was actually Kronos? He'd figured his mentor and parental figure was just a body of ectoplasm imprinted with the power of time.
"Ah, my apologies then," Clockwork smiled sheepishly.
"You are...alarmed to be here," Danny noted, voice coming out stilted and awkward.
"I...I don't really want to run into the king," Clockwork admitted.
Oh! Danny lit up with understanding, this must be a younger version of Clockwork! He must;ve travelled through time into the future, it wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
"Why?" Danny asked kindly.
"I dunno," Clockwork shifted nervously, "Worried he might hate me or somethin'."
"Oh, don't you worry about him," Danny smiled, it was weird to refer to himself in the third person but this was fun! "I'm sure he'll love you, c'mon, he should be in the throne room."
And so together, they ventured into the castle. Danny led the way, striding down the narrow tunnel. This was gonna be so funny! Danny would lead him to the throne room, revert to his usual form and introduce himself with a beaming smile. Only...that didn't happen.
The duo stepped into the throne room and Danny faltered...because it was different. The walls weren't lines with mosaics and paints and statues of himself, a gift from Clockwork, but they were bare and a their usual marble color.
"The king will help you," Danny found himself muttering and then he was collapsing out of visibility, turning intangible.
Danny looked on with wide eyes as none other than Priah Dark, face unmarked by scars, strode into the throne room.
"Do I have a meeting?" He blinked in surprise, gaze landing on Clockwork.
"Ah, a thousand apologies, your grace," Clockwork bowed, "I, er...may have crash landed in your garden?"
Priah blinked before he burst into soft laughter.
"Well, I can't say that's happened before," He grinned and then Danny found himself falling back into the future.
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"I might've been the one to introduce the two of you?" Danny flushed bashfully as the memory faded.
"Ah," Clockwork blinked, "I did wonder why I never saw you again."
"You're not mad?"
"You couldn't have known we would fall in love," Clockwork smiled softly, "Back to my initial point," Clockwork said, "I only ask Nocturn to let me dream of the good parts, not of what Priah became what...what we became and certainly not locking him away."
The duo were silent as Danny really heard his words.
"It's okay to be frightened," Clockwork whispered, raking his fingers through Danny's hair, "But don't worry now...for I am here."
"..." Danny nuzzled closer to Clockwork, burying his face in his neck, "Thank you."
Clockwork merely hummed softly and pressed his lips to Danny's temple.
"My boy..." He whispered in adoration.
Danny gasped in alarm suddenly when in the world around his body he could feel Robin struggling to breathe, he could feel him drowning. Panic seized Danny but he didn't know what to do, he didn't know how to help him.
"I want to help," Danny gasped out.
"I will do whatever you wish me to," Clockwork said softly.
"Artemis is the only one left," Danny pursed his lips in thought, "Can you send her a memory of her past to help her resolve?"
"Your wish is my command," Clockwork dipped his head and then he was gone.
★・・・★・・・★
Mount Justice, September 22, 2010
"Best I can do is hide," Artemis' voice broke, curling in on herself, holding herself, "Hope the League finds me before the Reds."
Artemis, alone in Wally's souvenir room, approached Cheshire's mask.
"I know you understand," She said bitterly.
Clockwork grinned to himself...and transformed the room into a time long gone. The souvenir shelf melted into a solid wall, with an Alice in Wonderland poster stuck to it, two beds filling the room...and two girls appearing in it too. Nocturn had told Clockwork the girl had dreampt of this memory so he picked it up where it ended when she awoke that morning.
Artemis sat on her bed, Jade's back to her as she continued packing.
"We have to keep this family from falling apart," Artemis' voice broke, clutching her brown teddy bear tightly.
"Toothbrush, duh!" Jade facepalmed a few moments later, "Knew I was forgetting something."
Artemis watched her sister head into the bathroom sadly.
"Dad'll come after you," She told her as she returned, tossing her toothbrush in her bag.
"Let him," Jade challenged, zipping up the bag, "I'll disappear...like the Cheshire Cat," She put on a cap, throwing the bag over her shoulder and walking out of the room, standing in the doorway, Artemis hopping off her bed and looking to her sister with wide eyes, "You should get out too," She glanced over her shoulder, "I'd let you come with me but you'd slow me down."
"Someone has to be here when mom gets out," Artemis said simply, voice more mature than a child her age's should be.
"Haven't you learned anything?" Jade sneered, "In this family it's every girl for herself."
She slammed the door...and then she was gone. Artemis collapsing to her knees, squeezing her bear tightly, wishing for some semblance of comfort.
Artemis blinked and the room went back to normal, the moment in time gone. Clockwork smiled, his king should be pleased, plus not only had he convinced the girl to be brave and strong he'd helped out with some of her mental illness. Clockwork vanished from the Living plane, patting himself on the back.
"That might have been true about our family," Artemis said softly, glaring at her sister's mask, holding it in her hands, "But I found a new family."
Artemis grabbed the arrow she'd sent through Amazo, gripping it tightly. Rolling back her shoulders...she held her head up high.
★・・・★・・・★
Mount Justice, September 22, 2010
The hangar doors slid open, Artemis walking through with her head bowed, bow in hand, singular arrow in her quiver.
"I surrender," She called out, "Stop the clock."
Red Inferno held out his hand to take her bow but Artemis leapt forward, jumping into his hand and stepping onto his face, leaping over both he and his sister, notching and letting loose her arrow.
It cut through the air and slid perfectly into place in the EMP. Electricity crackled and the machine turned on, letting forth a blast. The wave deactivated Sphere and the Reds and it short circuited the collar around Danny's neck his seizing thankfully stopping.
"Phantom!" Conner cried out, "Artemis, how is he?!"
She raced over to the boy, falling to her knees by his side.
"And M'gann?" Wally called out.
"She breathes," Kaldur panted, "I believe she will recover, and Robin?"
The boy coughed, sputtering and choking out water.
"He's breathing too!" Artemis called out, but her worry only continued to grow as she studied the unresponsive Danny.
★・・・★・・・★
Phantom's Core, Outside of Time
Danny let out a shuddering, relieved breath once he felt electricity stop coursing through his veins.
"How do you feel?" Clockwork asked gently.
"Not frightened," He murmured softly, leaning further into the other ghost's embrace, "Not anymore."
"Are you ready to return to your friends? You can feel their worry can't you?" Clockwork hummed.
"Yeah," Danny smiled tenderly, releasing Clockwork, "Time to wake up, I guess," He smiled sheepishly as he began the process of leaving his core.
Danny's eyes fluttered open as he began to stir...and then the phantom pain of being electrocuted slammed into him...and he began to cry.
★・・・★・・・★
Mount Justice, September 22, 2010
When Dick awoke, sputtering and coughing up water his thoughts immediately snapped to Danny. His gaze snapped to him too. He was limp, body straining against his restraints which Artemis immediately got him out of, Danny lying motionless on the ground.
"Danny!" Dick let out a strangled cry as he crawled over to him.
Dick pulled himself over to his crushfriend teammate and pulled him into his arms. He held Danny in his lap, arms wrapped around him, shaking him emphatically, probably not the best way to rouse someone but he was terrified.
"Danny!" He screamed, shaking him.
Dick ignored Artemis and everyone else in the garage tearing up.
"Come on!" Dick distantly heard himself screaming, "Please! Please, wake up! You have to wake up!"
Dick held his breath when in his arms Danny began to twitch, eyes fluttering open...and then he began to cry.
Dick's hands moved to Danny's face, holding it in his hands as tears welled in his eyes and he began to silently cry. Dick's heart broke at the silent weeping, such pained and anguished tears rolling down his cheeks.
"I'm here," Dick let one hand stay on his face, the other looping around him, pulling him close, rocking him gently, "I'm here, everything's gonna be okay now."
Eventually Danny calmed, tears drying on his cheeks, relaxing in Dick's hold.
"I-I fucking hate electricity," Danny let out a wet laugh.
"Two missions in a row," M'gann winced.
"Don't worry," Robin raked his fingers gingerly through Danny's hair, "I promise there won't be any more shocks for a while."
"There fucking better not be," Danny sniffled, leaning further into Dick's embrace.
★・・・★・・・★
Mount Justice, September 22, 2010
Danny hadn't stepped away from Robin since he awoke. They currently stood together, Robin having an arm wrapped around him, helping him stand.
"Will you cut playing with that thing and cut us free already?" Wally hissed, he and Conner still stuck in the warped metal.
"It's not working, genius," Artemis scoffed, "EMP shuts down all machines, remember?"
"All machines present at the time," Red Tornado said as he approached.
"Brother mine," Amazo shot through the air.
He seemed to want to tackle Danny in a hug but taking into account the way he was kind of swaying in Robin's embrace stopped himself, landing before his brother and inspecting him worriedly.
"I'm okay now," Danny smiled, resting a hand on Amazo's cheek.
"What has occured here?" Tornado asked.
"Had a little visit from your family," Robin clicked his tongue, subconsciously tightening his hold on Danny.
"Your extremely nasty family," Artemis huffed.
"I was not aware I had relations," Tornado said bluntly.
"Where have you two been?" Conner glowered without any actual heat.
"Monitor duty on the watchtower as well as showing it to Amazo."
"Amazo, you've gotta communicate with everybody, buddy," Danny smiled tiredly, "Not just me."
"I will keep that in mind for next time," The boy blinked.
"When it became clear cave communications were down we attempted to investigate but your zeta tubes were also nonfunctional," Tornado approached the two androids, "We transported to Providence and proceeded here."
Sphere powered up and leapt out of the wall. The laser Artemis had whirred to life.
"The pulse's worn off!" Wally and Robin exclaimed together.
Red Tornado gingerly touched his sister's finger. All three Red's eyes glowed and Red lifted into the air, creating two tornado funnels, pointing them at the team...sucking the air out of their lungs. Moments later the children were falling unconscious. Well...all of them except Danny.
Even Amazo fell unconscious as he had completely changed his makeup to be that of a martian's, not metal, quite fascinating really, how he'd been evolving.
Robin slipped away from Danny, crashing toward the floor. Danny dropped to his knees and caught him, gently setting him down on the ground.
"You can stop it with the tornado," Danny said coolly, raising his head and meeting Red Tornado's gaze.
Immediately the tornado ended and Tornado's siblings stepped menacingly towards Danny.
"No," Red Tornado said firmly, "Give us a moment alone."
His siblings hesitated but turned and stepped, footsteps clanking, as they left the area, Sphere whirring agressively, chasing them away.
"What's your plan here?" Danny crossed his arms.
"Twice the team has been attacked by individuals associated with me," Tornado said, "I must go to the source."
"..." Danny sighed, "Okay," He relented.
"You must not tell the team, Phantom," Tornado said.
"So...I just have to let them think you're a traitor?"
"Yes."
"I can't," Danny hissed.
Tornado reached out and awkwardly held Danny's face in his hands, the boy softening and relaxing at his touch.
"You can...and you must."
"Fine," Danny grit out after several moments, "But you better come back. You have to," He tried to hide the desperation in his voice.
"I promise I will," Tornado said softly...and then he was gone.
Several moments passed of Danny just staring at the door he disappeared out of before he remembered his unconscious teammates.
"Alright, you guys have been unconscious long enough," Danny turned swiftly and he knelt next to Robin.
He didn't think violently shaking him into consciousness would be a good idea so he settled for softly shaking him.
"Nice of you to show up," Danny grumbled as Superman, Green Arrow, Flash, Captain Atom, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and Batman hurried out of the zeta tube.
They immediately rushed to the downed teens; Superman and Green Arrow hurried over to Artemis, Flash and Captain Atom made their way over to Wally and Conner, still in the water and slowly stirring, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman hurried to M'gann and Kaldur and Batman and Black Canary hurried over to Danny, Robin and Amazo.
Flash and Atom worked together, cutting through the binding Wally and Conner were stuck in, helping them over to dry land.
"There you are," Danny smiled in relief as Robin's eyes cracked open.
"Are you an angel?" Robin blurted out before his eyes exploded with red.
"I've never been called that before," Danny blinked, "Thanks."
"Let me die," Robin whined, falling limp in Danny's arms.
"...?" Batman let out a strangled, worried noise.
"Dad?" Robin shot up, almost smacking Danny.
"I'm here," Batman rested his hand on Robin's back.
"How you feeling?" Canary asked Amazo gently.
"Disoriented," He admitted, "I do not like falling unconscious."
"Many people don't," Robin chuckled nervously.
"What happened here?" Superman asked.
"What happened?" Artemis snarled, "The Reds happened. Tornado and his...wait, where are they?" She whirled around, frantically searching for them.
"Gone," Robin grit his teeth, "All three of them."
"Tornado and his...siblings?" Green Arrow repeated, brows furrowed in confusion.
"Red robots, one could control fire the other water," Wally said briefly.
"Yeah, Artemis, Danny and I-"
"Danny?" Wally frowned.
"Secret identities," Batman chastized Robin.
"Oh no, it's cool," Danny blinked, "I mean...I can't really have a secret identity given there aren't a lot of teens with white hair out there. But yeah, hi...I'm Daniel Jordan," He smiled, "You can all just cal me Danny, though."
"Outside of missions only," Batman said.
"Danny!" Conner and Amazo gushed together, leaping at Danny and tackling him away from Robin in a hug.
"You have a civilian identity now!" Wally hurried over, "We should exchange our civilian numbers and our hero numbers!"
"Okay," Danny blinked.
"Mine too!" Robin stumbled forward, "Exchange hero numbers we should...do?"
"Okay, Yoda," Danny grinned and got to work exchanging civilian numbers with those who had open civilian identities and their hero numbers.
★・・・★・・・★
★・・・★
★・・・★・・・★
Wayne Manor, September 23, 2010
It was well past Midnight when Dick and Bruce returned home.
"How was your day, Master Bruce, Master Richard?" Alfred rose a brow.
Despite drowning Dick did honestly have a good day.
He put his hands on his hips and held his head high, lips stretching into a wide grin.
"I got Danny's number."
Alfred couldn't help the snicker that fell past his lips before uncharacteristically reaching out a hand for the boy to high-five while Bruce looked on, amused and slightly confused.
Devla -- means "God" in Roma