My ocean blue eyes stray to the sealed windows of the elegantly decorated ballroom I am trapped in. Between the crowded room, my high end suit, and the fact that I don't want to be here I am heating up. I move my hand from the tiny silver moon pin on my jacket to the collar of my shirt, trying to release the pressure on my persperating neck.
All the while I curse Vlad for dragging me to the event. The frootloop didn't even give me any warning when he showed up at my house this morning with a suit in hand and an evil smirk when I answered the door. Apparently some rich couple decided they wanted to boost their image and was hosting a fundraising event for an orphanage. The catch? To attend you have to have a kid with you, ya know, to show support for children.
And apparently I have to be Vlad's kid.
My parents didn't give me a chance to say no, just excitedly told me to take a shower and make myself presentable. My mom and Vlad spent the afternoon prepping me for the event; telling me proper etiquette, who's expected to be there, who to be extra nice to because that person has dealings in Vlad's businesses.
Personally, if it weren't for mom's threats of grounding me from Sam and Tucker, I would love to run through this place causing chaos and saying proudly that I'm with Vlad Masters. That's right, people, I'm the bratty kid with Masters! What's that? You're going to all ruin me socially? Too late, Vlad has that area covered. But feel free to cut all ties with the pompous jerk that brought me here!
Anyways, now I'm stuck listening to Vlad talk to all his rich friends. I'd go talk to the other kids here, but most seem to actually be enjoying to event. Absentmindedly, I finger my moon pin again while scanning the room for an escape. If I play my cards right I can sneak away, even leave the property, without Vlad knowing-or caring. It's not like he'll need me at any point in the night; I showed up with him, people know he brought a kid, who cares if said kid disappears?
Vlad's steel grip on my shoulder breaks me out of my escape planning. The man gives a threatening squeeze to assert his authority over me, then leads me to a new group of rich snobs. I shoot a glare to the evil halfa before plastering on a polite smile as we approach the new group. There is a young couple and a man talking happily with each other. The couple's kid, or kids, are probably talking rich talk with the other rich kids since the only kid there is a couple years older than me and standing next to the man.
I guess I'm not the only bored one in the room; the teen seems to be spending more time looking around the room than paying attention to the conversation in front of him. Maybe he'll have something worth saying compared to the other rich kids here. As Vlad begins conversing with the adults of the group, I open my mouth to talk to the teen that I realize looks like myself, but then I notice a door at the other side of the ballroom. It must have been hidden from where I was before.
From the looks of it, it leads to the back yard/courtyard area where there were ceiling tall bushes and fountains. In other words, it leads to a straight shot towards freedom. My only problem now? Getting away from Vlad whose hand is resting on my shoulder, probably as a precaution. I could use the bathroom excuse, but he'd see right through that one.
"So, Vlad, who's this you've got here? Didn't know you had kids," said the single man of the group with a teasing smile.
Vlad laughs -the strangest sound I've ever heard from him- and gives me a pat on the shoulder, bringing me back to the conversation at hand. "Unfortunately, he's not mine," he begins and I want to gag at the idea of being Vlad's actual kid, "I'm just borrowing him from some dear friends for the evening. This is Daniel."
"Uh, it's Danny," I say shyly with a polite nod and smile to the group. As cocky as I can be as Phantom, my socially rejected Fenton side always gets the best of me in these situations. The couple introduces themselves as Bill and Sheila, playfully laughing and rolling their eyes as they excuse their kids for being off socializing with other kids. While they are distracted with laughing, I send Vlad a confused look; these people are far too nice for Vlad to be friends with them.
The other man grabs my attention and takes my hand in a firm grip while he introduces himself as Bruce and the teen beside him as Richard. The names made my chest tighten like I've heard them from somewhere other than the news, but I suppress the feeling and tell myself to focus again and look at the other teen. I almost flinch at the strange look he's giving me. Luckily, months of facing evil ghosts giving me worse looks has trained me to keep a straight face… or prepare a witty comment.
Getting nervous under his gaze I bring my hand back up to fiddle with my pin while trying to look anywhere but the his light blue eyes. Looking away I don't catch the surprised expression he puts on. What I do catch is his hand flying up to a golden sun shaped pin on his own suit. My eyes widen as memories flashed through my mind.
I watched in wonder as my brother, Dick, let go of the trapeze and flew through the air. He wore an ecstatic smile as he spared me a glance from way up high and I grinned back at him with just as much excitement. It was his first time being on the big trapeze, the one our parents use during their shows. Dick looked forward again and reached for our father's outstretched hands, but came up just short and gave a startled cry as he plummeted to the net below.
As he bounced, I rushed over, climbing on piles of crates to get high enough to reach the edge of the net. Finally, one of the muscle men nearby picked me up and tossed me on the mesh, fondly laughing when I hastily thanked him and rushed to my brother, tripping all the way. I tackled him with an excited giggle.
"That was so cool!" I exclaimed. He laughed with me as I bounced around yelling about how amazing it was to see my big brother fly. From the sidelines, our mother flagged us over, smiling at our excited antics. With difficulty, we finally made it over to her and our just arrived father. I jumped into our mom's arms and our dad hoisted Dick from the net.
"That was a great first shot, little robin," Dad said to Dick, who beamed at the praise and new nickname.
"Can I go again! I bet I can get it this time, I just gotta-"
"Woah, slow down," Dad interrupted my brother, "I don't know about you, but we've been practicing all afternoon and I could go for a snack."
Dick and I groaned; we were too excited to just walk away, now. "Relax, you two," began our mom with a kind smile, "we'll be right back up there in no time."
"I wanna go, too!" I proclaimed as our family made our way to our traveling home. "I wanna be just like Dick and we can fly together! We'll be like superheroes."
My brother yelled his approval of having a routine together. "It'll be so awesome! We'll be flying everywhere, up and down, left and right. We'll be over here then over there then back there," he said jumping around as if he could already see it happening.
I squirmed from my mother's arms and Dick and I ran around together pretending we were flying through the air. We climbed over stools and jumped from tables, zipping in and out of each other's paths. The other circus people watched in amusement and swiftly moved out of our way when we came too close, not that we cared. We were in our own little world, gleefully shouting and enjoying our freedom.
We laughed as we took a tumble in front of some gymnasts. One of the girls gracefully hopped down to us with a grin and helped us up. She shook her head at our goofyness and said, "When you two finally do get a show together, you'll be like the moon and sun with how often you'll be up and down."
Dick and I shared a smile, both thinking that we liked that analogy. I'd be the moon and he'd be the sun, always together and always moving.
The following summer, just as I'd begun my training for the trapeze, our parents died in a show. A man named Bruce announced that he was going to adopt Dick, but wouldn't be able to care for me as well. That's why the Fentons, a nice family with a daughter Dick's age and who'd been there for the tragic show, would take me in. They didn't want me going through an orphanage or foster care. Besides, they'd always wanted a son and Jazz could use a sibling.
The day we were split up, Dick took out two pins, one a silver moon and the other a golden sun. He pinned the moon to my shirt mirroring where he'd pinned the sun to his, then took my shoulders and looked intensely at me for a few moments. Tears shining in his eyes, he pulled me into a hug and I instinctively hugged him back, not entirely understanding what was going on, yet.
"Everything will be okay," he whispered and I nodded into his neck, maybe reassuring him, maybe reassuring myself. "We'll see each other soon and we'll fly just like we promised."
Dick finally let go and led me to the Fenton family. With one last ruffle of my hair and a sad smile, he walked to Bruce and they got into a long, black car to drive to the airport. Mrs. Fenton gently grabbed my hand and brought me over to the strange RV parked not far from us. The whole way she tried to soothe me from a pain that wouldn't kick in for another couple days when Dick's words would finally take affect.
For years I would wonder how soon "soon" was and I'd learn to despise the word when "soon" became too long.
Coming back to the present, I realize I'm not breathing anymore and my head starts feeling really light. Trying to be discreet, I pull away from Vlad's hand still on my shoulder and walk towards the door I saw earlier. The older halfa glances at me with a hint of distrust, but he doesn't make a move to end his conversation and stop me.
From the corner of my eye, I see Richard's eyes follow me as I take my leave. The second the door closes behind me, I bolt into the garden. I know the other teen will follow, so I can't just fly away. He'd either alert Vlad to my disappearance or see me as Phantom, which would spur more suspicion. Even if he did nothing here, he would contact Vlad outside the party to find out where I am.
No matter what, I'll have to face my brother sooner or later.
"Danny!"
Instead of stopping like I know I should, I shoot farther into the garden behind the giant, clean-cut bushes and trees. I look behind me to see if Richard's getting close, but he isn't anywhere in sight. Confused, I slow down, still looking back to see if I can spot him among the flowers or trees. Suddenly, my ghost hearing picks up the slightest thunk in front of me, so I turn to see what it is only to run into my brother.
"Gah!" I yell as I tumble into him and we fall to the brick ground. Not skipping a beat I push myself away from him, landing a foot or so away on my butt. We stare at each other for a few seconds and I'm reminded of countless staring contests we had traveling across country. As I begin to get up to bolt again, Richard grabs my arm to keep me down.
"Danny, wait-"
"No!" I struggle to get out of his grip, but apparently he's gotten stronger since I last saw him. He grunts when I almost get free, then gives a hard tug that pulls me closer to him.
"Would you stop acting like a child," he reprimands me. That just gets me angrier and I look my older brother right in the eye with a menacing glare.
"I have every right to act like a child! You said we'd see each other soon, that we'd get to fly together," tears are already streaming down my face and my fingers are losing their hold on Dick's arm. "You were supposed to bring us back to the circus where we'd be happy and together, not leave me with some empty promise of seeing you 'soon.' Well I got news for you, Dick, it's way past 'soon!'"
I tear my arm from his shocked grip and sit away from him, never letting my gaze falter. The part of me that wants to see my brother hurt like I did is winning out; I want him to feel guilty, and not some stupid pity-made guilt, but heart wrenching, soul-crushing guilt. It's not exactly working with the hero side of me, though, and I can already feel my heart loosening at his appropriately guilty expression.
The silence gets heavier and I can see Dick's mouth moving as if trying to find the right words. When the silence continues, I dejectedly look away and decide it's time for me to leave. I move to get up, but my brother's voice stops me.
"I didn't plan on leaving you like that," he begins, "everything just got so complicated, I thought it would be better for you to not get caught up in my life. Gotham isn't exactly the safest place in the world, especially for a six year old."
"Six and a half, thank you very much," I interject trying not to smile. Who was I kidding myself? I can hardly stay mad at Jazz, my adopted sister, but my real brother? Maybe I am as naive as Vlad says I am.
Dick cracks a half smile and rolls his eyes playfully. "So maybe I didn't come as soon as I hoped, but I did plan on coming eventually."
"Like when I wouldn't invite you to my eventual wedding out of spite?"
"Yup," he proclaimed with a grin, "I couldn't possibly miss my own brother's wedding, even if you wouldn't want me to be there."
I smile, "you'd be the one hiding in the rafters!"
Our voices echoed in the garden as we laughed together, not caring if we were ruining a romantic moment on the back patio or disturbing a conversation. Finally calming down, I ask Dick the question that's been bugging me since I bumped into him.
"So, how did you get in front of me so fast?" He stares for a second before laughing again.
"You didn't think I'd forget what I learned at the circus, did you?" Dick jumps up from the ground and stretches a hand to me. I grab it and he pulls me up with a smirk. "You didn't forget, did you?"
I accept the challenge with a smirk of my own. How could I possibly forget the few weeks my parents were able to teach me their trade, not to mention the years of memorizing their routines. They're half the reason I'm so graceful in the air as Phantom.
As the event wound down to an end, adults gathered their children and made their show of parting. Limousines and expensive vehicles appeared as if from nowhere and swept the guests away to who-cares-where after they finished their last minute conversations and deals.
With the commotion dying away, two men found themselves childless, or in their cases teenless, and unable to leave just yet. Since their sudden departure, Danny and Richard were nowhere to be found. Everyone they questioned simply left the men with an artificial gasp of worry and some perfectly practiced apologies and wishes that they'd find the boys soon.
Really, if it weren't for Bruce, Vlad would have left long ago knowing Danny could get home just fine on his own. But the man, seeing Vlad without Danny, decided the two of them might as well search together.
It was in the garden that the men found their wards, suit jackets and dress shoes thrown aside, and grass stains scattered on the rest of their clothes. The boys ran side by side, jumping and flipping and laughing when one of them (mostly Danny) would misstep or take a tumble.
If the billionaires were poetic enough to describe the scene, they'd say the two were like the sun and the moon meeting for the first time; finally balanced and finally together.
And the brothers weren't going to let anything change that.
I've read a lot of Danny/Robin brother fics and they always seem to have the same take on the subject. Danny's adopted family dies, Robin fulfills a promise to find Danny in x-amount of years, Danny meets the TT, maybe they share secrets. I'm not saying they're bad, it's just I've been wanting to see a different take on this pair, so that's why I wrote this one up. There are a few of the same aspects as the other ones, but part of that is because those parts just make sense with these two. Of course Robin would want to find Danny again; this is just a new scenario of them meeting. This actually turned out a lot more emotional than I planned it to be.
Anyway, I hope you guys like it. This is the first story I've done nearly completely in present 1st person and it was sorta weird. Favorite, review, and follow if you please.
By the way, I don't own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans.