Chapter 2: A New Day & A New Hero

-Start-

Barry knew he probably mentioned it every day but it was the one thing he'd never stop mentioning: his wife was the most beautiful thing that happened to him. It was something that he would tell her every day without fail. Sometimes he would change the adjective around a little but it meant all the same nonetheless. She would have even been fine with it if it weren't for the fact that her husband usually said it when she gave him food.

"Iris, you are-"

"-The most beautiful thing that has happened to you. I know," she replied before shoving a spoon of scrambled egg in his mouth to shut him up. She laughed a little when he finished his sentence with a mouthful.

"So I've been thinking. Today's a Saturday and did I mention that there was someone I met yesterday who I'd like to visit again?" Barry asked.

"You've only been talking about him for the past six hours before bed," she said dryly with a small amused smile. "It really turns a girl off when their husband can only talk about another man."

Barry pouted. "Come on Iris, you know you're the only one for me. It's just I see-"

"-Something special in him," she finished again.

"Are you sure you're not a telepath?" he asked her with all seriousness.

"Women's intuition and yes we can go. It's not every day that someone catches your attention. Usually when they do they turn out to be some psycho meta-human and I can't overlook another story," Iris replied.

"I'm pretty sure this time I've hit the jackpot. I'm for certain this time he's not a murderer, a thief, or any sort of otherworldly creature," Barry assured with a small pout.

"Of course honey"

With that said the couple got ready to go out. The scientific convention was in fact a large event. Hundreds of people were flocking around the fair. Scientists displayed their works proudly around their own stalls, some demonstrating the ability of their mechanics and others just presenting the potential if it were to be implemented into society. Barry and Iris enjoyed most of the stalls that were set up earlier when they went towards sector B. STAR labs seemed to be taking most of the limelight in this sector with the other stalls being heavily overlooked. Of course even Barry was impressed with the potential of the photon destabiliser.

"Weren't you going to introduce me to someone?" Iris asked

"Oh that's right. Danny's stall should be that one," Barry said pointing to the mostly green stall. They walked over and could see why it was being overlooked entirely. Most of the equipment related to ghosts and Central hardly had a problem with the supernatural. No one was at the front of the stall either and it seemed the small shed like room behind it was occupied.

"Do you hear yelling?" Iris asked curiously.

"I'm not sure but maybe Danny's there and we can meet his dad," Barry suggested.

Barry and Iris walked in to hear some harsh words being spoken.

"You're fucking pathetic! You can't even assemble some simple tech together. Jazz would have done it in five seconds. Should have just aborted you when we had the chance!"

Jack was about to hit his son when Barry caught his hand. Inside the hero was seething with anger. No parent should ever have talked to their child like that. Iris was also about to give the large man a piece of her mind.

"I don't think you're acting appropriately," Barry growled dangerously.

Jack yanked his hand away and glared at the red head. "And who exactly are you to tell me how I should discipline my children?" he growled.

"I'm his friend," Barry growled before helping up Danny and leading him outside. A momentary sense of relief washed over the teen before he started panicking. He was outside and away from his father but he needed to get back.

"Barry, I need to go back! I need to apologise," Danny said fearfully. Barry tightened his grip around the boy as gently as he could. He couldn't have his father hurting him again and suddenly it made sense why Danny was acting so odd yesterday.

"Danny, was it? That's not a proper way for your father to treat you. Is he hurting you? Should we contact someone for you?" Iris asked worriedly.

Danny yanked himself away from Barry, hurting his bruised ribs from the rough motion. He cringed but managed to straighten himself up. They didn't know it but they were only about to make things worse for him. While Danny was touched at their worry it didn't change his situation. He needed his father. He was the only one with enough ectoplasm to keep him running.

"Look what happened in there was my fault. Dad was waiting all year for this convention and I messed up packing the equipment he needed. He was only scolding me for it," Danny defended hotly.

Before Barry could convince the boy otherwise the metal roof collapsed inwards about to fall on screaming people. Barry didn't have time to worry if others saw him transform. He quickly poped his ring and changed into the Flash before he ran all the people to safety. Danny stared at the spot where Barry had suddenly transformed into the Flash to. It took a whole minute for him to process the information he was just given.

"You're unusually fast today, Flash," Mirror Master growled in irritation.

"Well I happened to be around the vicinity," Flash replied with a smirk.

"You certainly didn't think it through did you?" Evan laughed.

Barry was a little shocked before he realised what the villain was talking about. This whole convention was being held under metal reflective surfaces. In that moment Barry knew he was trapped. The ray hit him and sealed him inside the wall.

Evan laughed maniacally as people screamed and ran. "Look at them Flash! Look at them running away when you're the one who needs help! This is the people you protect!"

Danny and Iris watched in horror as the flash hit the mirror from the other side. His face looked panicked as the Mirror Master ran towards the STAR labs stall. He picked up the photon destabiliser and grinned largely.

"You know why I came here Flash? It was for this beauty. Did you know hypothetically that it can destroy someone trapped in the mirror world? Let's try it for the sake of science shall we," he laughed.

Iris moved forward to stop the man when Danny held her back. "Don't be an idiot! The charge in that thing can kill you as well," Danny growled.

"I don't care! Barry's going to die!" Iris shot back worriedly.

"I'll do it," Danny said quickly.

Transform one more time and you'll be begging to go to the hospital.

Danny felt himself stiffen as he remembered Jack's threat before he noticed Barry's fear stricken face. He couldn't move past panel he was stuck inside and he was about to die. Barry's infectious smile and his carefree laughter made it back to Danny's mind. He wasn't just about to save a hero he was about to save a friend and even his father couldn't stop him from doing that.

"Going ghost!" Danny shouted as he turned into Phantom. The Spectre Deflector around his neck from last night's punishment stung a little more but Danny felt familiar power rush through his system. Before Evan could shoot Barry, Danny shot the photon destabiliser out of his hand. Evan shot his hand back at the sting. His eyes went back to the ghost boy and frowned.

"You're the pesky boy that meddled yesterday! You're going to share his fate!" Evan growled as he took out his mirror gun and shot Danny. Danny turned intangible before he flew straight into Evan and took possession of his body. Danny hardly ever fought humans but when he did he was not afraid to possess them. Quickly he took off his armour and destroyed the gun before knocking himself out.

"You're Phantom," Iris said in wonder.

Danny nodded with a small frown as he tied Evan up with some rope. "And Barry's the Flash," Danny mumbled. "How do we get him out?"

"Break the mirror opposite to him," Iris replied.

Danny wheezed a little as he broke the mirror. Barry came stumbling out when Phantom turned into Fenton. Danny groaned as he coughed out some ectoplasmic blood. He grabbed his neck in pain before looking around for Jack. When he didn't see him around Danny sighed with relief knowing his father had run to safety like everyone else.

Barry knelt next to ghost in worry when rings of light travelled down his body revealing Danny. He gasped at the sudden transformation. Usually he would have made a quip on how he had been right but he was feeling far too worried to do that.

"Are you okay Danny? You're coughing blood," Barry asked.

Danny nodded, feeling a little better now that he was in his human form. Even though the deflector wasn't turned on when he was in ghost form its energy residue still hurt his ectoplasmic make-up. He felt himself destabilise a little every time it affected him.

"So you're the Flash," Danny said, trying to change the subject.

"And you're somehow a ghost and a human. Look that's not what matters right now. We need to get you medical attention," Barry said.

"The device on my neck… could you take it off please," Danny rasped out.

He slowly pulled down his black hoodie and Barry was both shocked and disgusted at what he saw. A metal, belt like contraption was around his neck. What really worried him was the red skin surrounding it, dripping red and green and scabbing horribly.

"Did he put it on you?" Iris asked in disgust only to have the boy not reply.

"How do we take it off?" Barry asked quickly.

"I can't reach the back of it but there's a sequence of locks that you'd need to see to take off," Danny explained.

Barry quickly got to it while Iris held Danny's long thick hair up and out of the way. It took a good while to figure it out but they finally did it after a while. The halfa felt infinitely better once the device was taken off. He had been meaning to ask Jack to do it once his father calmed down but he was too afraid to. Danny took the device gingerly and pocketed it.

"Thanks, it should heal by tomorrow. Don't worry I don't scar too easily," Danny lied. If he were to be honest he would have said that this small of a scar would be gone by the next year

"That's not what I was worried about," Barry said roughly, feeling the anger burn through his calm façade. "Your dad did this to you didn't he?"

"He-he means well-" Danny tried.

"Don't make excuses for him," Iris said sternly, although her hand was placed in a comforting gesture atop his shoulder. "If he's hurting you then we can call the police and you can live with us until we find other arrangements," she offered.

Danny sighed a little contently. Sam and Tucker often worried about him like this but they never made an offer to help him move out. With them the idea of responsibility and protecting Amity Park from ghosts had taken priority. It was nice that for once someone put him over the safety of others.

"Thank you but… I can't. I would have agreed if I were in a better position to do so but I need a constant flow of ectoplasm just like most other ghosts do. If I don't get it I'll most likely destabilise and the only current source of it I have is with my father… but I'll definitely take up your offer once I figure out how to build my own portal."

Barry and Iris didn't like it but they didn't have any alternative to offer the boy. Danny was helped up by the couple as they evacuated the building with the rest of the participants. All the people attending the convention were huddled together outside chattering about the recent attack. Reporters and police had only just swarmed in to get the latest news. Danny just thanked Clockwork that nobody was inside to take another video of him. If Jack saw another one then Danny knew he would probably be beaten to an inch of his half-life.

"Danny, you know how to keep in contact. If you need any help I'll be there in a Flash," Barry assured, a smile crossing his face at his obvious pun.

"I'll be counting on it," Danny replied with a chuckle. He hugged Barry to which the hero tensed up before melting into as well. Iris watched on with a sad smile as Danny pulled away and stalked off to his angry father.

"He deserves better," Iris said with a frown.

"Something tells me he'll be figuring out what he needs to soon," Barry predicted as he held his wife close.

"So what did I say about an otherworldly being…" Iris smiled mischievously.

"But he wasn't a demon," Barry whined. "Okay, okay you win the bet."

-End-

Ok I just wanted to say the number of people that read and reviewed were insane yesterday and I'd originally planned to release this sometime next week but then I thought you guys have been nice so why shouldn't I. So I released this chapter.

Ok next chapter will get into the actual Justice League storyline and Sam and Tucker will cameo. I think Danny came along as a little depreciative of them in the last chapter but really Sam and Tuck are still his friends. I saw no reason why they would be affected by Danny's family fallout so they'll still be the ever loyal sidekicks. And there will always be some Danny/Barry friendship and bonding. I just can't help but see those two as best friends if they met up in real life. Both are snarky and fun to hang around with and they're not too serious like Batman or overly justice driven like Superman. Anyway thanks for the reviews and if anyone asks questions please be sure to look out on these sections because I will answer them. Ciao.