AN: I am semi-satisfied with this chapter, but I don't think it's my best. Enjoy.

Vlad banged his fist against the wall with a growl. It had been five months and there was still no sign of Daniel. He had been searching for him high and low since that day. The day that everything went wrong and unraveled before their very eyes.

Vlad may not have been able to have saved the boy's family, but he would not fail Daniel as well. Not when they were both forced to watch them go through an agonizingly painful death. Deciding that he didn't want to relive that moment again, and thinking back on what he could have done different or if he had gotten there just a little bit faster, the man took in a shuddering breath and shoved those memories away.

Being the powerful person he was (in both the Ghost Zone and the real world), he had dozens if not hundreds of people and ghosts looking for Daniel. They all came up with nothing; however, and Vlad was beginning to lose out hope.

By this time, if not it had already happened, they must have killed Danny long ago...

Danny frowned when the nurse handed him a small plastic cup filled with three different kinds of pills.

He hated taking the drugs the most. It wasn't just one dosage, instead it was several pills that had to be taken at different times of the day. And although he had to admit that the hallucinations were becoming less frequent, there were other side-effects to the drugs that were making his days unbearable.

For the first week he had been taking them, he had become extremely restless and irritable. Before, where the straightjacket was only a mild discomfort, it was now an unbearable chokehold. He had begged the guards to take it off, and they only consented when the doctors finally allowed it. He didn't like feeling this, but at the same time he felt that it was better than feeling nothing like he had been before.

Finally, several weeks into the trial, the drugs in his system were starting to regulate. The side-effects had passed away and Patient 52 went back to what he thought was normal.

There was one other side-effect that he wasn't sure what to make out, however. He had been gaining weight like crazy.

"Good job, you've gained another two pounds this week," the nurse announced happily, tweaking the scale here and there until it was just perfectly balanced. The boy nodded mutely in reply and stepped off of it. Although his ribs no longer resembled stairs leading to the collarbone, he was still severely underweight and just bordering emaciation.

The nurses had more or less been forcing him to eat a lot, some even personally bringing fast food or homemade cooking as opposed to the slop they served at the asylum. The boy hadn't even realized he had been craving for a Bic Mac with an order of fries until the first whiff caught his nose, making his stomach grumble in appreciation.

All in all, recovery was going quite well. Even the therapy sessions were easy since all he had to do was answer whatever questions the doctors had for him in a positive manner.

"At this rate," the nurse continued talking, "you'll be able to leave this dreadful place in just a few short weeks!"

It had been a little under two months since the Dark Knight had last seen or spoken to Patient 52, but that didn't mean he hadn't been keeping regular tabs on him. And according to the outstanding progress he had been making, it wouldn't be much longer before the boy would be discharged from Arkham. Since that time, Bruce had been keeping busy.

Not only did he have to keep up with his duties to the Justice League and Gotham, he had been working furiously at getting into the GIW databases and reading up all he could on ghosts. Finally, with much tried patience, Batman had hacked into the government computer. And quickly found out that he would have to be rather hard-pressed to believe everything he had learned.

According to the GIW, modern ghosts were easily explained by science. They were nothing like what you heard in horror stories about spirits being tied down to earth because they couldn't get into the afterlife. It was just a combination of ectoplasm and left over emotions strong enough to be considered an obsession which would then manifest itself into a sentient being.

The stronger the emotions, the stronger the "ghost".

Then there was the kid. Bruce had stumbled upon files of videos which had recorded "sessions" with the GIW. They had tortured and beaten him until he was unaware of what was going on, where he was, and even whom he was. Feeling sick to his stomach, Bruce paused the video and had to restrain himself from beating the computer into a useless pile of sparks.

The GIW claimed that the kid was a mixture of ghost and human, dubbing him a "halfa". Ectoplasm coursed through the boy's veins allowing him to take on a ghostly persona and even taking up their powers. Which was why they kept the collar on him, it apparently suppressing him from calling upon these powers. The GIW had hoped to use the boy, which they had called Phantom, as a sort of weapon.

A weapon against what? Bruce could only think against other ghosts, which begged the question of how many were there and if they were dangerous. More importantly, were the Justice League suited to take them down?

Bruce had then researched on everyone and everything related to the study of these ghosts, and was surprised a hit involved someone he knew. Vlad Masters.

Bruce Wayne and Vlad Masters were friends due to common interests and statuses, they were both filthy rich and retained high profile statuses. Personally, Bruce had always thought that Vlad was a little arrogant and self-absorbed, but nevertheless a dignified character that deserved his respect.

To him, Vlad had just been a very successful entrepreneur who liked to escape into the tranquility of the backwoods in Wisconsin. Bruce had actually hung out with him a few times, mostly at football games or charity events.

So imagine his surprise when he found out that Vlad was actually very interested on the concept of ghosts during his college years, and even dabbled in it still today. He wasn't even aware that Vlad had held a political office as mayor for Amity Park, Illinois for a short time before resigning.

Leaning back in his chair, Bruce folded his hands and held it up against his chin in a contemplating manner. It would seem that it was time for him to pay a visit to an old friend. Because according to the files, Vlad may have had something more in common with the boy then he did with Bruce.

In a well-furnished and elegant office, a man sat his desk signing various papers. The rather recent lines that appeared on his face gave him the appearance of looking constantly tired and down. His expensive and personally tailored suit was scuffed and wrinkled, and his long, grey unkept hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. Overall, it gave him the appearance of looking haggard and exhausted. A look that the man was not used to sporting.

The menial and redundant task of filling out paperwork took his mind off of... other things. An unpleasant and unfortunate series of events that he could not have prevented.

It was while the ink was still drying on the last paper that he felt a disturbance in his office. Over the years, his senses had been honed to near perfection.

Organizing the papers into a neat pile and stacking them, he made as if to head out the door before swiftly and abruptly turning around. Vlad had been very close to calling upon his alter-ego for help, and was glad that he didn't. Standing behind his plush office chair was none other than the imposing sight of Batman himself.

Fearing that this may have been a ruse, that the Batman had somehow found out about Plasmius, Vlad kept calm and played it cool.

"You certainly do have a way of making an appearance, don't you?" he asked dryly, moving the stack of papers into the crook of his right arm.

"What do you know about this boy?" Batman replied instead, throwing down an open manila folder. Vlad peered over curiously and nearly dropped the papers when he saw the picture of a very sick-looking 15 year old kid. A face that he had been so desperately searching for in the last six months.

"Daniel," he breathed quietly, disbelief painting his face in a pained matter, "how did you... it's impossible. They took him."

"They don't have him anymore. He's in Arkham now."

Disbelief turned into rage as comprehension sunk in. Vlad turned his attention from the picture to the Bat.

"What! That's ridiculous, why is he in there?"

"He's suffered a mental breakdown, but he's recovering. I'm assuming you already know about his ectoplasm-based powers, correct?"

Vlad pressed his lips together to hold in a surge of contempt, only managing to nod his head twice. That had been a secret, known only between four others including himself. Now this secret was losing its value as more and more people became aware of it.

"How are you two acquainted?"

"I..." Vlad started hesitantly, caught off guard by the question, "...was a friend of his family, the Fentons. You won't find a speck of their existence now; however, the GIW had completely wiped them out from the face of the planet, and any evidence that they ever existed. The Fentons, they ran a small family-owned business in Amity Park. Basically, they were ghost hunters. I found out about his powers before his parents ever did."

"The GIW got smart and somehow found out as well. In order to get to him, they... murdered his entire family. They set fire to their home and blocked all the entrances. I tried to save them, God knows I tried. But-"

Vlad couldn't continue with the tale. Choking on his words, the older man turned away in order to prevent the Batman from seeing his now glowing red eyes. Seeing how distraught bringing up these memories made him, Bruce interrupted.

"Why hadn't you went to the authorities with this?" He said instead, hoping to change the subject. Only to further frustrate Vlad as he cried out with barely contained anger.

"Don't you understand? The GIW are the authorities! Everything they did was completely permitted under the law!" He replied miserably.

"Then why didn't they go after you as well... Plasmius." And with that, Batman had dropped the bomb. Going through the files of the GIW, he had stumbled upon another possible halfa they had listed.

Looking back on it, Vlad realized that he probably shouldn't have been surprised that Batman knew. If he had found out about Daniel, then of course he found out about him as well.

"... I'm too well known and too powerful for them to have gotten rid of as easily as they did the Fentons. Billionaires don't suddenly go missing overnight without someone looking into it," the half-ghost admitted, in an almost defeated matter, without even trying to deny this truth. There was no point in lying to Batman. That much had been made obvious.

The vigilante nodded. He had already known that, he had only asked because he wanted to inform Vlad of his awareness of this knowledge.

"There is one more matter I would like to discuss. The only reason Plasmius isn't a wanted criminal is because he's virtually unknown to the public. But you've committed enough crimes to get locked up for a very long time: rigging elections, stealing massive amounts of money, and blackmailing business tycoons are just to name a few. By the law I am obligated to bring you in."

Vlad froze and held his breath as the Bat listed off the various felonies he has committed. All of them true. Preparing himself for a battle, Vlad reached for the ghostly core inside him.

"But-"

Vlad paused.

"I'm willing to let all that slide under one condition."

"And what would that be?" The half ghost regarded the vigilante suspiciously.

"You join the Justice League."

Vlad stood there dumbstruck. An invitation as a member of the Justice League was the last thing he expected, or even wanted. Being in the League most likely entailed that Plasmius would be making a lot more public appearances. Vlad never even had that strong a sense of justice, if anything he was on the opposite side of the spectrum. Being the hero was not his calling card, that had always been Danny's role. However, if it was the only way he would get to see Danny again then...

"Very well, I accept," he replied hollowly.

"Good. Daniel will be joining us in a few weeks, until then wait for me to contact you."

Plasmius had shown up at the Hall of Justice at midnight as per request. He and Batman had their little "chat" a little less than a month ago and since then Vlad had been anticipating another one. As soon as the Bat left, Plasmius entered the Ghost Zone and called Skulker, telling him to call off the search. He and everyone under his legion, which was almost half of the entire Ghost Zone, had been looking for Daniel since he had been abducted.

Now, standing outside the steps of the Hall in Washington DC, Vlad was starting to become impatient. He had waited this long, he was in no mood to wait much longer.

Finally the doors opened, revealing two members of the League that he recognized as the Green Lantern and Hawkwoman.

"Vlad Plasmius, I presume?" The Lantern questioned, out of formality. He nodded his affirmation.

"Follow us then." Both members then turned around and started walking away, leaving Plasmius to catch up with them.

While walking in the Hall, Vlad noticed several things about them. The Lantern had a very militaristic way of walking, almost marching even. He also noted his proximity with Hawkwoman, hinting that there might have been something like intimacy going on between the two of them.

They had first entered what Vlad presumed to be the lobby, where bronze statues stood of the seven founding members. He thought them rather tacky. The next room led to a library with a massive collection of books and a large computer terminal.

"When may I see Daniel?" the Halfa finally demanded, causing the two Leaguers turn to face him.

"He's actually not here yet," the Green Lantern explained, "we're going to meet up with him later somewhere else."

"Somewhere else? I've had enough of these games, why did you bring me here?"

"We're going to have to go through a Zeta-Beam to get where we want to go. It's a sort of portal, and I must advise you not to panic. They're completely safe," Hawkwoman replied this time. Vlad scoffed at her warning.

"I know all about portals, my dear. Let's just get this over with."

The two nodded and opened a private security door, thus revealing the Zeta-Beam.

"After you, then."

Danny was waiting patiently in the Warden's office, sitting in one of the overly plush chairs. When the doctors told him that they had finally found out his name, he treated this news with indifference. It was merely more convenient to be called by a proper name instead of "Patient 52" after all this time. Although, he did prefer Danny to Daniel.

His prison-orange jumpsuit was replaced with a pair of black jeans and a white sleeve shirt. Today was the day.

With him was the security guard whose name he found out to be Aaron Cash. He stood at the door, hands folded neatly in front of him. Neither had exchanged any words upon arriving. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet whir of the ceiling fan, having been turned on to battle the hot night. Spring had come and made its presence known.

"You're the guard that stopped that other man from hurting me, right?" Danny finally broke the silence in a hushed voice that had become characteristic of him.

"... That's right," Cash replied after a while. It was the first that Danny had actually directed a question at him. He wasn't sure what to make of having this attention turned on him. The young boy bit his lip before nodding slowly, almost in a contemplating manner, before responding.

"Well, thanks for that."

Before Cash could go on, the door opened revealing the Warden along with Batman.

"So my boy, how does it feel like to be a free man?" the Warden questioned with a plastered smile, showing off his perfectly straight pearly whites.

"I uh-"

"-Excellent! Now, as we agreed you will be leaving with Batman, and don't forget to keep taking your medicine," the Warden interrupted before the kid could even answer.

Not even bothering to reply, Danny instead turned his attention to the Dark Knight whom he hadn't seen in months.

"Where are we going?"

Initially Batman had been wary of bringing Daniel to the Watchtower. Technically the boy was still mentally unstable and a drastic change in environment was not encouraged. But as Wonder Woman pointed out, his room was already set up. Not to mention the lab in the Watchtower was the only place they had on hand that was properly equipped to preform complex neuro-surgery. Which would have to be done in order to remove the collar that still embraced the kid's neck.

The Amazonian princess was instructed to restrain the boy if he were to become overwhelmed and spiral into a panic attack.

"Come on this way Danny, we're almost there," Diana said reassuringly, and lead the boy into the library, with Batman taking up the rear. He was careful to keep his eye on the boy the entire time. There was no telling how he would react to suddenly finding himself in space.

"Here we are," Wonder Woman announced while punching in a code to a security door and a strange contraption was revealed behind it. The thing was burning a bright light and Danny could hear it whir.

"What is it?" He questioned, somewhat cautiously but mostly curiously. The Leaguer glanced at him before returning her attention to the Zeta Beam.

"This is our portal. It's going to take us where we need to go," she explained calmly. Throwing him a small smile, she walked to the front of it and stood there, "Come on now. It won't hurt you, I promise."

Danny didn't know why this Wonder Woman, and so many other people, felt obliged to assure him that he wouldn't get hurt. He was wary, sure. After all this was his first time out of the asylum, and as far as he was concerned, the first time out into the world. But he didn't suspect that anyone would hurt him. Nodding, Danny followed her into it. He could feel Batman right behind him, watching his every move.

To his surprise, he found that he actually liked being inside the portal. He couldn't really see anything except for white, but it seemed strangely familiar, and he derived comfort from that familiarity. Once he stopped on the other side, he was surprised to find a hallway, mostly made out of metal except for one side which was made entirely out of glass.

Suddenly, he realized that both adults were warily watching him. As if they were expecting something from him.

Looking outside the window, Danny saw stars. Billions of them, and beyond that it was just a night sky that seemed to stretch on forever. When he caught sight of the earth below him, he realized then that they were up in space.

Standing there, at the very edge of the other side of the window, he watched with an almost childish fascination. Danny couldn't help but smile, the smile that had become his first one in months. He could almost feel Batman and Wonder Woman breath a sigh of relief.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" The Amazonian asked, drinking up the sight herself. No matter how many times she had been up there, the sight would always continue to amaze her.

"Yeah, it really is."

"It's time to go," Batman interrupted, "there's someone waiting for you."

Having been broke out of his reverie, Danny blinked a couple times before looking up at the tall man.

"Who?"

"An old friend of yours."

AN: I just wannna note that before I was talking about John Stewart as the Green Lantern, and not the white guy. In JL:U he and Hawkwoman get together, and I really hope we get to see more of the League on this show.

Anyway, lot going on in this chapter. Danny's finally recovering, Vlad is making an appearance, he's joining the League, there's a shout out to Lemony Snicket, and Danny is about to meet someone that he doesn't even remember.

Also, some people pointed out that my chapters are kinda short. But in all honesty, I just write until I feel the chapter is finished. This one just happened to be a bit longer than others, but don't get used to it. And don't forget, please review. And thanks to everyone who has been. I appreciate them all.