Black Phantom

Chapter Six

The Ballroom Dance

"I always tell my kids if you lay down, people will step over you. But if you keep scrambling, if you keep going, someone will always, always give you a hand. Always. But you gotta keep dancing, you gotta keep your feet moving."

~Morgan Freeman~

Bat Cave 0700 Hours

"That kid is excited to have his powers back," Alfred stated watching the hybrid sleep on the floor of the cave. He was surprised that the bats above them didn't wake the teen. Bruce smiled.

"It means he's getting better," Bruce smiled wondering how long it would take to help the hybrid. He even started looking better physically. "It even looks like he's gaining weight faster."

"You do remember the Charity Ball you are hosting tonight," Alfred informed. "The dining hall and ballroom are already ready for it. I would suggest you get some sleep while you can beforehand." Bruce sighed and banged his head on the desk jerking Danny awake,

"What?" Danny exclaimed looking around. Alfred shook his head as he headed out. Bruce sighed as he looked at the hybrid.

"Go to your room," Bruce mumbled. "I'm going to bed, and you could use some more sleep as well."

"What time is it?" Danny asked as he stood up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Bruce laughed.

"Just take a nap," Bruce stated as he led Danny to the bedroom in the cave. "I believe Dick is supposed to be back today, and I would like you to met him."

"Dick?" Danny asked raising an eyebrow. Bruce smiled.

"Robin," he answered as Danny entered his room and looked back at Bruce.

"Oh," he whispered as Bruce smiled.

"I'll see you later. Good night…well morning," he amended before turning around and leaving. Danny looked around the room and suddenly felt a little claustrophobic now. He was glad that Bruce was nice enough to go ahead and let him have a room. He didn't plan on staying long, but the longer he stayed, the less he wanted to leave. Maybe Batman wouldn't mind having another sidekick. Phantom sure could use a mentor. Even if he didn't know how any of the powers worked, he would still help him out more than Plasmius ever could. He didn't want Danny because of what he is, but because of who he is.

And Danny could feel like he could get use to being a sidekick to one of the greatest heroes in the world. He couldn't wait until he would be able to help Batman. It was exciting, and as he laid down to rest, his mind wondered to the future. Pain and torture was now in the past, and Danny felt like his future held more promise than it did before.

Manson Manor 1200 Hours

Sam paced her room angrily. She didn't want to go to this stupid Charity Ball at Wayne Manor. It's just a bunch of rich people pretending to help. It made her sick. Her mom had gotten her a black dress to wear, and she hated it, but loved it at the same time. It was strapless and went all the way down to her knees. It was straight black and nothing else. It was plain, but gorgeous at the same time. Then she had heels that were black with a little bow at the top. Her mom planned on doing her hair, but she threatened to shave it if she touched it. Her mother backed off then. Sam had started on not caring what she looked like after the apparent death of her best friend.

Sam laid back on her bed feeling like giving up would be the best thing. She missed Danny deeply, and every day that went by without hearing anything was starting to hurt. Tucker was still in the hospital, but he was able to go out at times. Every time he did though, he would get sick and fall back into a coma. He tried visiting Maddie, and she knew that. But he never could stay long before he was back in the hospital. The only reason she knew any of that was because he never let them take his PDA away from him.

"Sammykins, get ready. It starts at four o'clock," her mother informed though the door before trotting off to get ready herself.

"Whatever," Sam mumbled as she got herself ready. When she looked in the mirror, she didn't recognize the person that was staring back. She could tell that the person was beautiful on the outside. She couldn't deny herself that. Danny always told her to never think that, and she refused to let part of him go. But inside was empty. Her eyes were dead. The make up around them couldn't bring them alive.

Nothing could.

Gotham Hotel 1300 Hours

Maddie woke up and looked down at the small device and wondered if she could use it to contact Danny. She flipped it open, and it looked like a normal phone, except for the screen. It was blank. The phone was deactivated, and she didn't know how to activate it. It was like it was turned off, but the power button wouldn't turn it on.

"Probably is controlled by Batman," she whispered as she closed it and stared at the insignia on the top. She couldn't be any more proud of her son than she was in that moment. No matter what happened, he always surprised her. He would always be there to make sure that people were safe. She just hoped that Batman truly wanted to help him and not hurt him. He was the Dark Knight that protected Gotham.

She flipped the TV on and decided to watch some news to help clear her mind. However the story was on how Bruce Wayne was hosting a Charity Ball in his mansion. He hadn't had many people since his birthday party when he told everyone to get out and he burned it to the ground. Somehow he was more into helping than before. She growled out.

Rich people just go around pretending to help out and everything, but she knew better. They were all evil scum. All of them. Masters was the worst of them all. The lying bastard wouldn't know how to help someone with their math homework. She punched the bed with a growl and glared at the TV. At least Vlad was too busy in another state to even care about such an event. It was just the people in Gotham that would be there. They didn't know that there were people out there who were suffering. People like her son.

She wished that they could. That they could really start to see how people need help. Instead of giving to charities why can't they go on the street find some person who has nothing and help. It would probably do more good than giving their money to someone else who would probably keep it for themselves.

Wayne Manor 1400 Hours

"How is everything going?" Bruce asked as Alfred finished placing the table with food for the guests. Danny walked in and looked around.

"I'm guessing you're getting ready for a party," he mumbled. "I just was wondering if we were going to eat lunch together." Bruce smiled.

"Yeah, I'm not ready anyway, but people are usually used to me being late for things," Bruce smiled as he took Danny into the kitchen. "Alfred, don't wait up."

"Master Dick called. He said he'll be here any minute. He said something about finding out more about the lab in Amity," Alfred informed making Danny stiffen. Bruce smiled slyly.

"Well, I've got the number one source for anything Amity related. Should be interesting," Bruce stated pushing Danny into the kitchen.

"You sent him to look into Amity's fire before you meet me, right?" Danny asked hoping that was it, and that Bruce trusted him.

"I sent him to look into any labs that had suspicious activity. When we heard about the explosion in Amity, he headed there," Bruce explained. "It was before I found you, but whatever he knows, might be something you didn't. Or maybe a confirmation that we can use against Masters without him being able to do anything. He can't touch Batman."

"He could if he finds out who you are," Danny whispered. Bruce smiled.

"Very few people know who I am. The only two you haven't met that does know is Dick and Fox, but you know who they are," Bruce explained. "Everyone I know trusts you and will protect you just like they have done for me and Robin."

"Okay," Danny whispered with a smile. Bruce shook his head as he pulled out a tray of sandwiches.

"Dick should be here at any moment," Bruce informed. "You can stay up here for as long as you want, but in about an hour that party is supposed to start."

"Okay," Danny whispered. "Can I work on my room then?" He really didn't want to stay in the Batcave. It was boring and lonely. He also didn't want to bug the bats that seemed to hang out around there. Besides, they ended up getting him excited about having his own room.

"Where is it?" Bruce asked knowing that most of the party people would be hanging out everywhere downstairs. He could always say that the part where Danny was would be marked off limits for construction which wouldn't be a total lie.

"On the second floor in the south corner," Danny answered hoping that it was okay. Bruce smiled. Most of the south part was already marked off for being near the Batcave entrance anyway.

"Alright, I'll make sure that no one can get to that part," he informed as they ate. They ate in silence until Dick walked in.

"Okay, seriously, next time you send me on a mission outside of Gotham, can I at least…" he cut himself off when he noticed Danny. "Who's that?"

"A friend," Bruce answered motioning to Danny to stay quiet and that he wanted to annoy Dick a little for coming in here like that. Anyone could have heard, and he was glad that it was Danny and not anyone else. "Danny, meet Richard Grayson. Dick, this is Danny."

"Hi," Danny waved as he swallowed his food. Dick just sent a glare at him before looking at Bruce.

"Can I talk to you in private?" he questioned wanting to know what was going on.

"Why not here?" Bruce asked. "Everyone here already knows everything."

"How could you tell him?" Dick asked motioning towards the kid. Bruce looked at him for a moment.

"I didn't help him as Bruce Wayne. What did you find out about the fire?" Bruce asked wanting to see what all could be answered or questioned.

"That the generators had a malfunction," Dick answered. "Two people were in there and they were the ones that set it up. But apparently whatever they were trying to do backfired on them. What does he know?"

"Dick, Danny was in that lab. He escaped," Bruce answered looking at the kid who was just playing around with his food. "He was the first kid that they kidnapped." Dick seemed to relax a little bit more but remained cautious.

"Can you really trust him?" Dick asked as he sat next to the hybrid. Bruce looked at Danny and gave a nod. Danny held up his hand and created a green ecto ball.

"I'm half ghost," he explained as the ball disappeared leaving Dick open mouthed.

"You're a meta. They were trying to copy your powers, weren't they?" he asked looking back at Bruce.

"It's what I believe at least," Bruce informed. "They're trying to create a weapon that would leave almost any others behind. Danny's powers are pretty much the key to that. You've heard of Danny Phantom, correct?"

"Yeah, he was the local hero to Amity until the Guys in White caught him," Dick mused thinking while Danny straightened and starting shaking. He stood up and started heading out when Bruce caught his arm.

"Danny, you're safe here, they can't get you here," Bruce informed looking into the hybrid's eyes. They were wide with fear and panic. "It's okay."

"Can I please go?" Danny asked quietly. He just wanted out of there. He really didn't want anyone around when he broke down again. Bruce released and let him go. Dick looked at Bruce with sad eyes.

"If he was the beginning, then he was in the labs the longest," he whispered. "He's Phantom."

"Yeah. I plan on helping him as much as I can, but there are some things only he can get over. I hope to see him return to being a hero one day. Just to show people that no matter what, a person can be a hero at heart for life," Bruce explained.

"You plan on training him?" Robin asked wondering if he wanted him to be another sidekick. Would he be jealous? Yea, of course. Batman was his mentor. Would he be willing to help? Of course, the kid deserved a chance to shove it in the faces of those monsters that no matter he would always put others before him.

"If he'll let me. I'm letting him decide what he wants to do," Bruce informed looking at Dick with a smile. "All he has is his mother right now, but hopefully one day we can get him to be the hero he once was."

"Alright, well, I figured out that the main guy who in responsible for the labs funding is…" Dick started only for Bruce to finish.

"Vlad Masters. Danny knew that already," Bruce informed. "Masters is Danny's enemy. He's also half ghost and has been after the kid ever since he found out about his powers. He's tried to kill his dad in order to marry his mother."

"Alright, so sending me out was almost worthless," Dick sighed picking up one the sandwiches off the tray. Bruce noticed that Danny had only eaten half of his sandwich.

"No, because I knew that from Danny, but had almost no proof without telling the police where it had come from. I talked to Gordon about it, and he knew that the man had something to do with it because Masters tried paying him off," Bruce explained as he finished his food. He put another sandwich on Danny's plate before picking it up and heading towards the cave. He knew Danny probably decided he would hide out in there after that little episode, but he couldn't blame the kid. He did better than he had the last time they were mentioned. He didn't almost have a breakdown and destroy himself from the inside out.

He entered the cave to see Danny spinning in the chair in front of the computer. An article that had a picture of his mother was on it. Even though she looked nothing like that now, he still wanted to see her. It never mattered on how much she changed her looks; he could always know when it was her. Bruce shook his head as the hybrid stopped the chair.

"So, got any black paint?" Danny asked looking up at the billionaire. Bruce let a laugh escape.

"I can get you some," Bruce informed. "You can work in your room while I deal with a bunch of rich sobs. I'll probably crash in your room eventually and leave Dick to take care of everything else." Danny grinned.

"Alright."

Danny looked over his room with Dick. It was empty and there was only a desk in it. The walls didn't even have any paint on them. Just wood covering the drywall.

"So, black?" Dick asked holding out two cans of paint. Danny grinned and grabbed one.

"Yep," Danny chirped while he set up on a wall. "I know I want this one completely black. I might put a design on the others." Dick looked around.

"This wall is going to be where the foot of your bed will be facing," Dick mused looking at the hybrid who was studying the wall to the side.

"Huh," Danny muttered turning back around. "Uh, yeah. It's just that I wanted to base this off Phantom and my powers. I decided to deal with the colors."

"Black, white, and green, correct?" Dick asked knowing that from research he had done. He even was able to find a correct color of green. Danny looked at him confused. "They're downstairs. These things run forever." They headed down to pick up the cans together.

"I have one question," Danny asked looking at Dick. The other teen looked at the hybrid before nodding. "What made you become Robin?" Dick looked at him before answering.

"I wanted revenge, and Bruce helped me go towards a better option," Dick answered hoping that it would help the teen decide on how to move on. Although he had everything and still became a hero. He still had his parents when he did it. "Why'd you become Phantom?"

"I turned the portal on," Danny whispered. "I died hoping to help my parents. It turned into sort of an obsession to help people. It then involved protecting people from ghosts that I let out."

"Guilt," Dick whispered knowing that was a good motivator. Part of that was also on him. "Makes people do a lot of things. You decided to do something good that helped everyone. Very few would actually do that especially with the kind of powers you have."

"I've seen what happens if I let myself fall," Danny whispered as nightmares danced around in the back of his head. "I don't want anyone getting hurt."

"You've got a good heart," Dick smiled as they picked up the five paints cans. Danny just smiled shyly as they headed back. Alfred watched them with a smile glad that Dick was nice enough to go ahead and help out. They both had big hearts.

Bruce sighed. The party was big and boring. Dick was standing next to him watching as the guests mingled among each other. There were a few teens talking in a corner, but none of them seemed to like each other.

"I don't like this," Dick muttered pulling at his tie. Bruce grinned.

"I prefer doing something else as well, but we're stuck with this," Bruce muttered. "At least until later when no one would know that we are gone. We could go and help Danny with his room. I marked the area off with construction tape. No one should go back there."

"Nice," Dick muttered wanting to go hand out with the ghost. He was actually pretty fun to hang out with. "This is boring, and when I left, Danny was sitting on the ceiling flicking drops at Alfred."

"I noticed the black dots on the floor," Bruce smiled knowing that the hybrid had a mischievous side. It was good to know that the teen could still have fun. "At least he put the plastic down."

"I think he wanted to spatter paint the floor," Dick muttered with a grin.

"Mr. Wayne, Mr. Grayson," a voice called with a fake grin. Bruce sighed watching the couple cut across the room dragging their daughter behind them. Instantly Bruce recognized her from one of Danny's sketches.

"Mr. and Mrs. Manson," Bruce greeted wondering if the daughter was Sam. "How have you been lately?"

"Wonderful now that we've moved from Amity," Mrs. Manson informed in the typical rich sobby way. This was way he hated these things. "Sammy, why don't you get to know Mr. Grayson."

"Call me Dick," Dick whispered holding out his hand. She looked at it before shaking it.

"Sam, please," she whispered upset. Bruce motioned towards the part where Danny was. Dick looked at him oddly not sure. "So, what's going on?"

"Nothing much, just met a new friend," Dick stated confused. He knew that they were from Amity, but he didn't understand why Bruce motioned towards Danny. Sam nodded before looking away.

"Where's the bathroom?" she asked hoping to get out of talking to him. She knew what her parents wanted. Grayson would be the heir to the Wayne Fortune. It made her sick. Dick helped her there.

She looked in the mirror and wondered what the point of continuing was. Danny was gone. The chances of finding him again were low.

Dick waited outside and looked towards Danny's room. It was tempting to go over and chill with him instead when he noticed the air suddenly chilled and Danny appeared.

"Is someone in there?" Danny asked leaning against the wall with a grin. Dick narrowed his eyes.

"What are you doing?" Dick asked wondering why Danny had to bug him now.

"Haunting your hallway," Danny answered without missing a beat making Dick bite his lip to prevent himself from cracking up. After the night being so boring, it was nice having the hybrid crack jokes. "Although I noticed that it was girl that walked in. Didn't get a good look?"

"Sam Manson," Dick motioned towards the door and Danny stopped. Sam was there.

"Sam," he whispered looking at the door. Dick looked at him.

"So, you know her?" he wondered if Danny had gone to school with her.

"She's my best friend," he answered walking towards the door. Dick stopped him.

"No one can know you are here. It's dangerous," he warned hoping that Danny didn't do anything stupid. "Come on. If she's knows, it would not just put you in danger, but our secrets as well."

"She knows who I am," Danny whispered backing away not wanting to be near him. His best friend was just a door away from him. Dick looked at him.

"Batman created a few phones for you to use to people who you trusted. They are in the cave," Dick explained and watched as Danny slipped though the floor. He held in a gasp remembering that the kid was more powerful than he looked. Danny appeared a few moments later, and Dick had to wonder why women took so long in the bathroom.

"Does she have a purse?" Danny asked looking over the phone. He knew Batman had made them, but didn't think anything about giving Sam one. They had yet to be activated. He slipped a note into the phone telling Sam about it. Suddenly the door opened and Danny vanished. Sam slowly walked out looking like hell. Danny wanted nothing more than to hold her. But instead he just slipped the phone into her purse before watching as Dick led her down downstairs. Pain ached in his heart, but he knew that she was safe.

Manson Manor 1900 Hours

Sam sighed glad that it was over. She hated it greatly. She emptied her purse on the bed upset when she realized that a phone that wasn't hers fell out. She picked it up and her breath hitched. Phantom's insignia glowed on the front. She opened it and a piece of paper fell out. She picked it up and recognized Danny's hand writing.

Sam, I'm sorry that I can't tell you this face to face. But I am safe, so you don't have to worry. I would tell you that you looked nice, but writing this I only know you are here, and not what you look like. I'm glad that you are here in Gotham. I'm not far, but you are safe. I plan on getting out of this problem, and maybe even stop everything. It's hard, but this should be a comfort. The phone won't be activated for a while though. I'm still recovering. I don't have the codes, but I hope you keep it close. Also, don't tell anyone about this. Not Tucker or anyone. Please, it's important and I shouldn't even be doing this. I'm sorry making you worry, but after everything, I couldn't stay in Amity.

I missed you dearly though

Loves, Danny Phantom

Sam read it over and over again before pulling out her diary and locking the note inside. She studied the phone. She noticed a faint outline of a bat and instantly knew why Danny couldn't talk to her. He was with Batman. The infamous Dark Knight of Gotham. At least she knew that he was safe.

She lay in her bed sleeping peacefully for the first time since she left Amity. Phantom danced in her head with her as times when they were together came to mind. Her, Danny, and Tucker just hanging out and having a good time. Memories of what once was, and something that maybe she could get back. It gave her hope.

Wayne Manor 2400 Hours

Bruce walked into the room to see Danny leaning against the wall asleep with a smile on his face. It was nice seeing the hybrid so relaxed and peaceful. He looked up and noted that one wall was completely black while the top of the others were painted black about a foot from the ceiling. Danny was smart working from the top down. It made it look better professionally, but he knew Danny wanted to add details to the other walls.

Dick walked in seeing the room.

"He got a lot done," Dick muttered knowing that after Danny left Sam the phone he went back here and worked. "At the rate he's working, he could get this done in the next week." Danny shifted and fell to his side with a soft thump, but didn't wake making both Dick and Bruce laugh.

"As long as he can recover at the same time, then I don't have a problem with him working on his room," Bruce stated knowing that the teen deserved to relax and have a little fun. Danny groaned and rolled over before getting up entirely. He looked up sleepily to see both Bruce and Dick with smiles on their faces. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," Danny mumbled cracking his back and wincing. "Could go for a late night snack though."

"On it," Dick grinned running into the kitchen. He was thinking the same thing. Danny smiled and looked at Bruce.

"Thanks," he whispered with a grin. He was just happy now, and he had no idea that he could be anymore. But now he was. It might be because he seen Sam again or because he was sleep deprived, or because he knew that the future was no longer white. It was safe and clear.

Bruce nodded and smiled glad to have helped such a teen with so much potential to one day change the world. In more ways than one. He knew Danny would grow and do something special that could change how people viewed the world.

Reedited by Mai'shardstyle. May, 22, 2013