Incision

Chapter Two

Of Broken Promises

If I play a villain, I try to find his lightness and his good sides. And if I play a hero or a good guy, I'll try to find his darkness or his flaws. Because I don't believe in good and evil, I believe in grays.

Joel Kinnaman


Phantom glared at the man standing before him. He could feel the cold coming from the man. Much like the people in the Far Frozen, except without the warm welcoming feeling that came with them. Phantom did not like this anymore than Robin did, but he didn't really have a choice now. He looked up at Freeze when he dropped his shield and let his powers override his fear.

"You don't look like any of Batman's sidekicks," Freeze said. "Or any of his friends."

"I'm new to this whole thing really," Phantom smiled leaning against the wall trying to calm his slightly racing heart. He needed to get use to using his powers again. Get use to all of it again.

To the fear again.

"How do you like the cold?" Freeze asked raising his hand to the ghost. Phantom only smiled.

"I love it," he laughed as he shot up and formed an icy trail around him. "I mean, it's in my very core."

"We're kindred spirits then," Freeze said as he fired at the kid.

"Not even close, you'd have to be dead," Phantom taunted as he avoid the blasts.

"Who says I'm not?" Freeze asked aiming at Phantom. "After all the cold is all I can survive in."

"'Cause I am dead, and let me tell you, it's not as fun as you'd think," Phantom vanished into thin air. Freeze laughed.

"Vanishing isn't going to help you," Freeze laughed as he pulled out his thermal scan.

"That would only work if the room was warmer," Phantom taunted letting his voice echo around the room. "Much warmer." Freeze looked around, but couldn't find anything to show that who he was up against was even there until he felt someone hit him hard making him lose his scanner. He looked up and watched as Phantom grinned at him from under his hood. Bright green eyes stared at him.

"What are you?" Freeze asked feeling cold for the first time in a long time.

"A Phantom," Phantom answered before pulling energy into his hand and shooting it. Freeze grunted as the blast hit him and bounced him into the wall. Freeze looked up at him before closing his eyes and losing consciousness.

"That was pretty good, and quick," Batman said as he entered the room looking down at a screen. Phantom glared at him. Batman was watching him and how he worked. Of course he was.

"I figured it was a test of some kind," Phantom muttered crossing his arms. It felt good to use his powers again, and for somewhat of a challenge. Humans were easy.

"Great, now that's taken care of," Robin growled looking up at his father in anger. "Can we leave? It's morning, and to be honest, we weren't planning on helping you."

"What did you plan to do today?" Batman asked looking at the two of them. Phantom looked away before glaring back at Batman.

"I wanted to work on my powers, but I'm going to without you. I don't trust you, and you already know more than I want you to," Phantom growled clenching his fist tightly. "You couldn't just trust your son to make the right choices, so you made them for him."

"That's not…" Batman stopped himself looking over at the teen who held his hand up where green energy danced along his fingers.

"Yes, it is. You just don't want to see it," Phantom whispered looking back at Robin who seemed torn between the two of them.

"Father, I think it would be best if Phantom and I stayed away for a little while," Robin said keeping his own temper down. It had been hard learning that, but Phantom was a pretty good teacher about how to control anger and direct it into something much less violent.

Or direct it into fighting.

"Alright, but if you plan on working together, at least ensure you each have a com," Batman told them both before heading out. "The police will be here shortly, make sure he's secure and get out." Phantom and Robin both nodded before Batman disappeared.

"He's never that easy," Robin whispered looking at Phantom. "What do…?"

"I'm pretty sure he knows just about everything if he got into their database," Phantom sighed as they headed out after cuffing Freeze to a bar. "Some of which I didn't even tell you."

"Some of which you didn't have to," Robin said as he grabbed Phantom's hand. "It was written in yours scars."

"They didn't destroy as much as I thought that they would have," Phantom smiled slightly hoping to lighten the mood a little. It was getting into the early afternoon. "We do have most of the day left."

"We could go to the manor then to work your powers if you still wanted to since Bruce knows," Robin suggested pulling Phantom to him. He hadn't wanted to do that, but it turns out that he didn't have much choice anymore. He didn't have any ideas for short notice areas. Not without a lot of conflict and fighting to get to them.

"Alright, how are we getting there?" Phantom asked as Robin grinned lightly before hitting a button on his cuff. A motorcycle zoomed out from an ally making Phantom jump slightly before glaring at him.

"We could ride there," Robin said as he got on and handed Phantom a helmet.

"Fine, but if we die, I'm blaming you," Phantom joked before slipping behind him. "I've never ridden a motorcycle before, just a heads up."

"You can fly, I'm sure this will be easy," Robin laughed before taking off making Phantom hold on to him tighter.


"Why?" Danny whispered feeling his limbs go numb. "Please make it stop."

"You're not human, scum," a man in white hissed.


Danny shook his head as Damian pulled his sword and a bo-staff. Damian could really go all out if he wanted to, and Danny was glad that Damian at least showed him some moves before deciding that this was a good idea.

"You're getting better at evading, but you rely a lot on your powers when you do," Damian started as he led the way out into the back yard. Danny looked out over the clearing this was going to either be really fun or really painful. He wasn't sure which one was going to be more fun.

"Yea, uh, I just wanted to run though my powers to see if they still worked," Danny said as Damian put down the two weapons.

"We are going to do that first, but I wanted to show you a few more things. We have much more room now than we did in the apartment," Damian grinned as he crossed his arms. "Now, what kind of run down do you want to do?"

"Well, we know my ice powers still work, or at least in colder temperatures," Danny mumbled as he raised his hand and let a blue glow form around it. A small ice crystal appeared in his palm. "Basics with invisibility and intangibility work, so all I really need to do is release some excess energy and see what happens." Danny changed into Phantom in a bright light before focusing on his core and letting out energy.

"Great, you made a nice day really cold," Damian muttered glaring at his boyfriend. Phantom opened his eyes with a grin before gathering green energy into his hand and shooting it into the sky causing a giant light show. He switched back into human form. "So?"

"It's all responding like normal," Danny shrugged. "I don't think too much damage was done, or maybe it just took it this long to really heal completely. Probably wouldn't have been able to do as much without your help. You really saved me."

"Well, awesome, so now we can…" Damian started only to be cut off by both Dick and Alfred running out to them.

"What the hell was that?" Dick asked completely freaked out. Danny looked over to Damian before pointing at him.

"He did it," Danny said as Damian whacked his arm. Danny laughed in response before looking at the two adults that were still out of breath. Dick recovered much faster.

"What are you two doing out here?" he asked glaring at the weapons Damian had put down on the ground.

"Training, what does it look like?" Damian sneered before grabbing his sword. Danny tensed as he watched. Damian never played by many rules when they practiced and he liked the element of surprise way too much for Danny's comfort.

"You're going to train him now?" Dick sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"This isn't the first lesson, and he's actually not that bad," Damian defended glaring at his stepbrother. "You can go now."

"Oh no, I'm watching this," Dick said as he sat down on the grass. "Let's see what your boyfriend can do." Damian glared at him before turning around and facing Danny. Dick grinned when Danny also sent him a glare.

"Alright, so we've done close combat, but not weapons," Damian said as he showed Danny his sword.

"That's because I had to set the rule in the apartment for no practicing weapons when you put a hole in the ceiling," Danny crossed his arms watching Damian carefully. He was not going to be sidetracked and whacked by Damian again. Damian did not hold back in training.

"Okay, that wasn't all my fault," Damian pointed out as he watched Danny. He liked catching his boyfriend off guard, but Danny was a quick learner and had an even faster reaction time. It was always a challenge.

"Well, then let's see his reflexes," Dick said wondering why Damian wasn't taking the openings. He grabbed the bo-staff that was still on the ground and tossed it to Danny quickly making the teen back away. The bo-staff stuck in the ground. Danny blinked at it before diving to his left away from Damian's sword.

"You're paying attention," Damian grinned liking the challenge Danny often posed. "You're getting much better."

"Thanks," Danny laughed. This type of training had been a lot different than back in Amity when he really had no idea what or where to even begin. Damian was a great teacher if a bit competitive.

"I wasn't expecting that honestly," Dick said as he stood up. Danny had fast reflexes otherwise Damian would have hit him, and Dick was a little concerned at how often they had been training together. "What else you got?"

Danny glared at him before slipping backwards as Damian came at him. Damian watched Danny's movements carefully. Danny was fluid and moved around easily, even without his powers. It made him hard to hit, but he had difficulty in offensive moves. Danny sidestepped and flipped around and kicked out at Damian hoping to knock him off balance, but Damian only dodged and flipped off to the side.

"Still a little off in offense," Damian commented watching Danny carefully. Danny could look off balance, but he worked without the same effects of gravity. He played in a different field where he could literally be weightless. Unlike the other heroes who could fly, Danny did not have the force of gravity to fight with. He simply existed in that spot at the time. Sometimes he would freak Damian out when he was asleep and floating.

"Dodging was necessary," Danny smiled as he jumped forward before ducking under Damian's sword and coming up behind him. Damian twisted around only for Danny to kiss him on the cheek and grab his sword pulling it away.

"That's cheating," Damian said as he lightly pushed Danny away. "You're not allowed to kiss the enemy."

"Just you," Danny laughed as he twisted the blade around in his hand. Dick looked up at Alfred who was watching the boys closely with a mix of awe and horror. Of course Damian would find someone who was willing to play dirty with him.

"I want to try," Dick said getting up. He wanted to see if Damian was taking it easy on Danny or not. It seemed like he might have been, and that he didn't want to hurt Danny. There were too many openings that Damian didn't take.

"Now that could be fun," Danny grinned behind Damian's ear. "What rules should be in place?"

"Ground and visibility," Damian said as Dick pulled out the bo-staff. "Try not to get hurt. He's good, and fluid."

"Me too," Danny said as he looked at Dick flipping the bo-staff around. "Besides, you forgot one. He won't be able to hit me." Damian sighed as he realized how much Danny was going to annoy Dick. He hated that his two lives came together, but Danny fit in so well everywhere he went. And sometimes, Damian hated feeling like he was an outcast. This was the first time he felt similar to that with Danny by him.

"Don't get hurt," Damian whispered as Dick and Danny circled each other looking for openings. Damian already knew where Dick was heading, but without knowing ahead of time how Danny worked, Dick was going to end up on the ground.

Dick headed straight ahead where Danny's middle seemed to be exposed until Danny's hand came down on the bo-staff forcing it downward while Danny went up and over Dick who could only watch as the teen vaulted over him and did two back flips before landing on his feet with a smirk on his face.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Danny taunted. Dick narrowed his eyes before running towards Danny who ducked down and slid over almost as if he was floating over the ground instead of standing on it. Dick twisted around quickly and aimed the bo-staff at Danny's head. Danny flipped backward and kicked the bo-staff out of Dick's hand before twisting around again in the same move to kick out Dick's feet.

Dick was able to jump out of the way before flipping around to punch at Danny's side; only Danny brought his arm up and around and redirected that movement to the side.

"You're good," Dick smiled surprised. Danny clearly had a natural talent, and he wondered where he picked up the movements. He's never really seen that type of fighting style before.

"I do my best," Danny laughed blocking a punch to his face again. He twisted lightly on his feet before turning around in a roundhouse kick to Dick who wasn't prepared for such a twist and got knocked down. "And sometimes it's just enough."

"You lost, Grayson," Damian laughed pointing at Dick. He was always annoyed since Dick seemed like he was one step ahead of him all the time. But Danny's fighting style relied a lot of redirection and near nonexistent movements. He was part ghost after all.

"How did you do that?" Dick asked. Normally he could watch for reflexes when someone goes for a kick like that, but Danny never showed any motion for it and was able to twist seemingly to define gravity.

"Eh, practice," Danny said with a shrug. He wasn't going to tell Dick that he learned from fighting in the air most of the time. He didn't want him to know that much at the moment. "You pick up a few things."

"Where?" Dick asked curious. Danny seemed willing to talk to him to a point and it made him wondered what changed between last night and this afternoon. After Batman got a tip on Freeze, he had been on his own at the manor with Alfred till the green light show.

"Places," Danny answered turning to Damian after and grinning. "What else ya got?"


Amity Park

Masters paced his study. It had been nearly two years since the capture of Phantom, but the hybrid seemed to have disappeared after escaping from the Guys in White a year and a half ago. Masters grumbled under his breath when an email popped up on his computer.

Someone had hacked into Phantom's Guys in White files.

That meant that someone was looking into Phantom and could lead him to the hybrid's whereabouts. Masters grinned as he looked though the file sent to him. It was nearly impossible to see who exactly did it, but there was a location.

Metropolis.

Phantom hiding with the protection of Superman would make sense. Danny wouldn't want the responsibility anymore, and he could hide without too much suspicious after most of the people in Amity left.

"Soon, Little Badger, you will be broken, and I will be the only one who can pick up the pieces."


Bruce watched the training that Damian was putting Danny though. It wasn't too difficult, but Bruce did notice that Damian was trying to get Danny to not rely on his powers. It seemed fairly difficult for the hybrid not too. His powers are second nature to him, and not using them would be like asking someone not to use their hands.

Danny moved like gravity wasn't affecting him like it did to everyone else. It was something he probably didn't even think about, and Bruce wondered how Damian planned on helping with that.

Alfred and Dick were both right about how different Damian was from a year ago. He thought that his son was just growing up, but it was probably more to do with Danny than anything else. Just meeting the teen and looking though what he could of his life, Bruce was able to figure out that Danny was someone willing to give second chances and who would rather make peace than fight.

Damian was the opposite of all of that, but he never seemed to take it out on Danny. Bruce wondered if and how they fought as a couple. He knew Damian had some anger problems, had them since he started living with Bruce, but Danny was a laid back person. He wasn't confrontational; that was shown when he was against Freeze. He simply stalled time, distracted him, and then disarmed him quickly. No real big fight or anything like Bruce had been expecting.

Danny is going to make an excellent addition to the Justice League someday, and that was something Bruce was sure of.


"Danny, are you a meta-human?" Dick asked as they headed back to the house. Damian had taken the weapons back leaving the two alone for the first time, and Dick wanted to know more about Danny and who he was.

"Nope," Danny answered. It was technically the truth. He wasn't protected by those laws, but he was targeted by ghost laws. It made things extremely complicated, but Danny knew that he wasn't a Meta. That much was clear when he was experimented on.

"Are you sure you don't have powers?" Dick pressed. He knew that there had to be more to it. There was still no explanation for that light show. Danny moved gracefully, but he seemed like he was trying not to.

"Having powers and being a meta-human are two different things," Danny said looking at Dick. "Being a meta-human protects you from the law. I am not protected."

"What do you mean?" Dick asked as they walked into the kitchen of the manor. Danny looked at him sadly.

"I'm not a meta-human. I'm not even considered a sentient being. Due to certain laws, the government can do whatever they see fit with me…and they have," Danny said. He wanted to crawl into a hole, but he knew that could never happen. He couldn't just disappear. There were too many things left unattended. Phantom had a job after all, and no matter what happens Phantom would always be needed.

"They used you as an experiment," Dick whispered realizing why Damian was protective and why Danny asked him not to go looking. "You're hiding from them."

"I have to. My very existence is against the law. I can't do anything but run for now," Danny sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe someday it'll get better or easier, but for now, I just got to keep running."


Well, I would like to keep updating at every ten reviews, or weekly, so there's that...

The more reviews, the faster it'll update fyi.

I'm so glad so many of you guys like this story. I'm one of those writers who wants to read something, but can't find and decides to write it, but then end up never finishing the story to begin with, but I finished this one, and everything is looking up and I can't find it to be sad anymore...okay, I can if I looked really hard, but who wants to do that.

So review and let me know what all you guys like about this story, and remember the more reviews the faster it'll update...

I may also be playing with making a sequel to this...maybe...if the ideas come...I don't really know.

It's sounds fun until I have to finish another story...whatever, you guys will take whatever I give ya and not really care what else I do right?