AN: HEY EVERYBODY! I am back and at least partially healed, so get ready to rumble!
I feel like you guys deserve to know what happened. I think I've mentioned that I work at a library. Well, every October, the library does this haunted tour of the basement, aka LEVEL 0, for the employees. I was at the back of the group when everyone started to freak out and run. (none of us were emotionally prepared to be down there.) Here's the deal, it was like pitch black down there. Only a couple of people had these really terrible red flashlights, and I was not one of those people. So I'm all like, "NOOO! Don't leave me!" So I start running too. Thing is, the opening in the doors down there don't actually go all the way to the floor. So I'm like flat out sprinting cause FREAKING ARMS ARE COMING OUT OF THE WALL and I tripped over the step and fell onto my arms. Which were locked straight out in front of me. Yeah… that didn't go too well for me.
Long story short, I am never going to a haunted house ever again in my entire life. I'll just write fanfiction instead. Much safer.
Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who wished me well in the reviews! It made me feel a lot better about not being able to move my arms. So thanks again!
BTW, I don't own Young Justice or Danny Phantom. Medical bills wouldn't matter if I did.
Danny moved quickly, keeping himself invisible and intangible as he moved through the facility. He ignored everything in his path, honing in on his ghost sense. She was close, he could tell. He wouldn't leave her behind. He couldn't. He could not lose her.
Danny barreled into a white room, looking around. He struggled to keep his breathing steady. This room was reminding him of the lab.
Focus. he growled to himself. This isn't the time to freak out. He shoved the feelings down, like he always did. It never seemed to be the 'right time' to have the freak out he had been ignoring. Part of him knew that he was only delaying the inevitable, but he didn't really care. He really couldn't afford to fall apart right now. He needed to get Dani and get out.
Danny approached the center of the room cautiously. He hadn't forgotten how he was captured in the first place. Luthor could apparently replicate the signals a ghost gave off. But Danny had a hard time believing that his scientists would be able to exactly reproduce the signal a halfa gave off. His kind were notoriously difficult to replicate.
As he searched the room, he spotted the device that Luthor had sucked Dani's core into. He rushed forward, examining the device. It looked incredibly similar to a Fenton Thermos. Danny had always suspected that the GIW had stolen his parent's research after they'd… after. It looked like he finally had his proof.
There didn't seem to be any traps connected to the device, but Danny was still wary. He really didn't want to breathe anymore ectoranium in. Once was enough. If only it had been once. To be honest, he had lost track of how many time the GIW had poisoned him with the stuff. It hadn't been his biggest concern at the time.
Stop thinking about it. Danny shook his head to rid his mind of screaming and blood. He reached out carefully, touching the device. When nothing happened, Danny picked it up gingerly, ready to flee at the slightest sign that something was wrong.
Nothing. Danny let out a slow breath. Thank goodness. Now to get out of here. Danny grimaced, guilt suddenly hitting him. Now that he wasn't in a panic about Dani, he realized what he had done. He had just abandoned his team in the middle of a hostile environment. What if something happened to them? He hoped that they had just left the building, but he knew that there was no way that they would leave him here. Even if he deserved it.
Holding the device protectively, Danny turned to leave the room. He froze when the door opened. He eyes grew huge when Robin was dragged into the room by his hair. Klarion laughed at Robin's struggles, not loosening his grip. With the door open, Danny could hear the sounds of fighting. Clearly the team hadn't been able to escape attention for long.
Luthor walked into the room after Klarion and Robin. He didn't seem surprised to see Danny.
"I should have guessed." Luthor said, shaking his head ruefully. "How did you escape? You shouldn't have been able to to."
Danny glared, not saying anything. Luthor shrugged.
"It doesn't really matter. It won't happen again. Now, hand over the device, or Klarion will snap Robin's neck."
Klarion grabbed Robin by the throat, holding him off the ground. The Boy Wonder kicked and struggled, but he was no match for the chaos demon.
Danny swallowed, panic clouding his mind. He couldn't let Robin die, but he couldn't give up Dani either.
His grip tightened on the device. Unfortunately, that caused him to activate it. Danny looked down in shock as the device lit up. He was in his ghost form, so there was no chance at getting away. Before Danny could react, he was sucked in.
Robin watched in shock as Danny disappeared. The device fell to the ground, clanging. Robin wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but he couldn't help but feel like it was a bad thing.
Luthor laughed. He picked up the device, looking at it fondly.
"Well, that was unexpectedly easy. I think it's for the best to keep him in there for now, don't you Klarion?"
Klarion laughed as well, dropping Robin. He hit the ground hard, coughing as he recovered from the near strangulation.
This was not asterious. Danny running off had been… unexpected.
Robin had cursed when Danny ran off. The rest of the team paused, noticing that they were short two members.
"Robin?" Aqualad asked.
"Shade ran off. He said he couldn't leave Dani behind."
Aqualad frowned. He peered down the hallway, hesitating.
"Miss Martian, can you find him?"
The Martian's eyes glowed as she searched for the wayward halfa.
"Got him." She said, frowning. "But he isn't responding to me. His mind is… a mess. He is panicking. I don't think he is thinking clearly."
Aqualad nodded, thinking. "Lead us to him. We can't leave him here, especially if he is emotionally unstable."
Miss Martian nodded, heading down the hallway. She hesitated at a split.
"What's wrong?" Superboy asked.
"Sorry." She said, eyes still glowing. "It's just, his trajectory is odd. We can't follow him exactly."
"He's going through the walls." Robin said, slapping his forehead. "Of course. We'll need to hurry if we want to have any chance of catching up."
"Just do your best." Aqualad told Miss Martian. She nodded nervously before heading off to the left. The rest of the team followed quietly.
They had hoped to find Danny and get out without any problems, but of course it didn't work like that. They emerged into a large warehouse type space filled with guards. In hindsight, they should have been more careful, but in their defense it had been a difficult day.
Robin barely remembered the fight. It was hard to concentrate while he was worried about Danny, but he could handle it. At least he could until Klarion entered the battle. He had been completely blindsided by the demon. Next thing he knew, he was being dragged away from his team by the hair.
Robin looked up, rubbing his throat. He would be lying if he said he wasn't aggravated. Once again he was used as the leverage, just because he was human. And the youngest. It was freaking annoying. People should really stop underestimating him.
Case in point. Both Klarion and Luthor were ignoring him, leaving him completely unrestrained. Not that he was about to attack Klarion. He wasn't an idiot. But there was something he could do.
He got to his feet silently, careful not to draw the attention of the two maniacs. All he needed was a second…
Luthor set the device back on its stand, turning to where Robin had been dropped. "Now, about you-"
Luthor stopped, eyes widening as he realized Robin was gone.
"Where is he?" the billionaire yelled, turning on Klarion. The demon shrugged, unbothered.
"Why do you care? It's just a human kid."
"Robin isn't 'just' anything!" Luthor yelled. "Find him!"
Klarion rolled his eyes, but he left the room, Luthor storming out after him.
Robin dropped from the ceiling, snickering quietly. They never looked up.
He grabbed the device, looking it over. He frowned, spinning it around. From what Luthor had said, he could only assume that Danny was inside the thing. Robin wasn't quite sure how that was possible, but whatever. Ghosts had their own rules. This wasn't the weirdest thing he had ever seen Danny do.
There were two buttons on the device. Luthor had pushed one of them to pull in Dani's core, and Robin could only assume that was also what sucked in Danny. So… the other one would release him, right?
Robin shrugged mentally. He didn't really have the time to think about it. The team needed help.
Hoping for the best, Robin pushed the button.
Danny blinked. This was… weird. Danny knew what it was like to be crammed into a thermos, and it was not this. He guessed that the technology could be a little different, but not enough to change the experience this much.
It was like he was standing in a fog. Everywhere he looked there was just more gray. He was starting to get scared.
"Danny!"
What? No. It wasn't possible.
"Dani?" he asked, turning around just in time for a small figure to crash into him.
Danny stared at the girl hugging him. It was her. She was finally here.
"DANI!" He yelled, grabbing her tight, burying his head in her hair.
Danny wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. It could have been a second, or it could have been a thousand years.
Finally Dani pulled back, looking up at her 'cousin'.
"I've missed you." She said with a huge grin.
"Me too." Danny said, his own smile a little more watery.
"Dani, I don't understand. How are you here?"
Her smile faded a little. "I'm not. Not really. We're both in the thermos and we kinda got… mixed up. My core is so used to being part of you that we just merged together."
Danny frowned. "Wait. But we could still separate, right? I mean, it's like it was before."
Dani's smile completely faded. "No. There's no going back this time."
Danny blinked a couple times before shaking his head. "I don't care. We can just… share a body or whatever. It's kind of weird, but we can make it work. It'll be fine."
Dani frowned. "No it won't. Quit being so stubborn. You can't support both of us. You know that. You've just been ignoring it."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Danny muttered, stepping away from his clone.
Dani rolled her eyes. "Fine, be that way. Make me spell it out. You have to let me go. I'll destroy you."
Danny shook his head, refusing to acknowledge Dani's words.
"Don't shake your head at me. You know what I'm talking about. The weakness you feel all the time, that's me. I'm hurting you Danny. And that was with you just barely keeping me alive. Now that we're all mashed together, you can't keep it up. It will kill you Danny!"
"Then I die!" Danny yelled, spinning to look at Dani. She jerked back at the sound, and Danny's face crumpled. He collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth. "I just… I can't lose you Dani. You're all I have."
Dani's face softened. She knelt next to her cousin, wrapping her arms around him.
"That's not true anymore." She said quietly. "Back in the lab, it was. I was happy about what you did Danny. I could help you, keep your spirits up. You needed me back then."
Dani pulled back, forcing the older halfa to look at her. She smiled.
"But you have a new family now. One that needs you."
"I promised to protect you." Danny sobbed.
"You did. You showed me what love really was. I was so happy with you Danny. But I need to go now. Please, let me go."
Danny swallowed, looking into eyes that were so similar to his own.
"I'll never forget you." He said with a trembling smile, holding Dani's hands in his own.
"I'd think not." Dani said with a smirk, though she was also blinking back tears. "You'd better name one of your kids after me, or I'll haunt you for the rest of your sorry life."
Danny let out a strangled laugh, hugging Dani close one last time. He took a deep breath, before finally letting go.
Dani sighed, eyes fluttering.
"Thank you." She whispered, before fading away. Soon, Danny was alone.
Danny made a strangled sound, curling in on himself. Deep inside, he felt something snap. All the grief and fear he had been suppressing for months finally broke free. Danny squeezed his eyes shut and screamed.
Danny opened his eyes to see Robin crouched in front of him.
"Shade?" Robin asked.
"Where is he?" Danny whispered.
"What?"
"Where's Luthor?" Danny roared, jumping to his feet. Power surged through him. Now that Dani was gone, the residual power in her core powering him, not draining him. Danny's face twisted at the thought. That was because it wasn't Dani's core anymore. It was his, and every part of it was thrumming with power. He knew it wouldn't last long. Once his body got used to the addition, it would settle down, so he needed to act fast.
Robin pointed to the door, opening his mouth, presumably to say something, but Danny ignored him. He stormed out of the room, the door blasting off its hinges without him even touching it. He stormed down the hallway, lights shattering as he walked past, following the sounds of battle.
Danny smashed down another set of doors and walked into chaos. Fighting was everywhere. He took in the scene quickly. The team was being overwhelmed. Klarion was quite the opponent.
Danny's lip curled. At least, he was for them. The way he was feeling right now, he was pretty sure the demon didn't stand a chance against him.
Without a moment's thought, Danny split in two. He had never been able to do the trick before, but now it felt laughably easy. The clone shot off, smashing through Klarion's shield with one blow. The demon spun in surprise but was too slow to stop the clone from grabbing him by the neck and slamming him headfirst into the ground.
Danny ignored the fight, stalking through the room. Anyone who tried to attack his got blasted backward. Electricity crackled over his skin, shorting out any electronics in the area. He felt like he was overheating, the energy running through him too much.
He finally spotted Luthor and headed toward him. The man backed away, his face pale.
"What's wrong Luthor? Bite off more than you could chew?" Danny spat, rage pouring off of him.
Mercy stepped in front of her employer, aiming her cannon arm at him. Danny flicked a hand and she flew across the rooming, smashing into a wall. She didn't get up.
"Isn't this what you wanted?" Danny screamed, spreading his arms wide. "The perfect weapon? Well here I am! Congrats Luthor, you win! You've unlocked my 'true potential.' You did in eight hours what the GIW couldn't do in eight months! I've finally snapped! I hope your happy!"
Luthor pressed himself against the wall. There was nowhere for him to run.
Danny continued forward, still seething.
"Do you know what it feels like to see someone hold your heart in front of you?" he asked, almost conversationally. "I do. Let me tell you, it isn't fun. In fact, I would say that it's agonizing!"
Danny's ghostly wail came out a little on the last word. Windows throughout the whole room shattered.
"And that isn't even the worst thing they ever did to me!" Danny said, a manic grin on his face. "Yet despite all that, I held it together. I refused to fall apart. Do you know how I did that?"
Luthor whimpered slightly. He looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him.
Danny shook his head. "Of course you don't. They didn't either. But it doesn't matter."
Danny fixed Luthor with a toxic glare. "You took away the one thing that was keeping me sane, Luthor. I hope you're ready for the consequences."
"Please." Luthor begged, his face contorted in fear.
Danny laughed. Once he'd started he couldn't stop. He doubled over, hysterical laughter filling the room.
"Do you think I'm going to kill you?" Danny asked through his laughter. He shook his head, finally gaining control of himself. "No. I'm not going to kill you. That would make me like him, and I promised that I would never do that."
"But," Danny growled, grabbing Luthor by the collar and slamming him against the wall. "I am not perfect. And if any of my family are ever threatened again, I may not be so nice. So I would suggest that you back off little man. Understood?"
When Luthor didn't say anything, Danny snarled. He grabbed one of Luthor's wrists and squeezed until it snapped. Luthor cried out.
"Understood?" Danny repeated, not loosening his grip.
"YES! Yes, please, just let go!"
Danny dropped the man. He stood and watched as Luthor scrambled away, fleeing the room.
Silence fell. Danny felt strangely empty. He turned to see the team staring at him in shock. He noticed vaguely that Klarion was gone. He wasn't sure where he'd gone. He could probably look through the memories of his clone and find out, but he didn't really care.
"Shade."
Danny looked at Robin. The film of rage fell away and all that was left was soul crushing grief.
"Robin." Danny swallowed around sudden tears, "She's gone."
Robin's face fell. "Danny…"
Danny's body shook as he tried to contain his tears. It was no use. Soon he was wailing, pulling on his hair. He searched desperately for the cold spot that was Dani. She was always there. She had to be there, she couldn't be gone. Why was she gone? He wanted her back. He needed her.
His knees gave out, but he didn't hit the floor. Robin caught him, lowering him to the ground. Danny latched onto the Boy Wonder.
"I promised." he sobbed, over and over. "I promised, I promised, I promised."
"I know." Robin said, tears welling up in his own eyes. "I'm so sorry."
Danny was aware of the rest of the team surrounding him, but he ignored them.
"They're all gone." he said, trembling. "They killed them, and they hurt me and they hurt her and it hurts. Why does it still hurt? I just want it to stop hurting, please."
"It won't." Robin said softly. "I'm so sorry, but it won't. It will always hurt, but that's okay. You'll keep going. Because you know that's what they'd want you to do."
Danny tightened his hold on the Boy Wonder. Somehow, that was what he needed to hear. It didn't make the pain go away, but it changed it into something different. Something… cleaner.
"Please don't leave." Danny whispered.
Robin sucked in a quick breath. He pulled Danny closer.
"I won't." The Boy Wonder said. "I promise."
AN: I literally made myself cry with this. I wasn't expecting that, especially considering I've been planning this from the beginning. I'm so sorry.
And, we finally explain the title! Danny wants to be double or nothing. Clever, right? I was pretty proud of it.
Anyway, the story is pretty close to done. There will probably only be one more chapter, maybe two. Not quite sure how I'm going to end this exactly. It's kind of sad to see the story go. Thanks for coming on this wild journey with me!
Bye guys!