Author Note: Thanks for all the favorites, follows and reviews!
~CWA

Chapter 11- Probabilities:

Danny:

After that incident in Bialya, I locked myself up in the room. Everyone had forgotten their memories of the past six months in Bialya thanks to Simon, which wasn't too bad. Sure Superboy was pretty much a blank slate, but I would take that over forgetting that you're dead. I hit my fist against the table with my eyes clenched tightly. At first, I thought it was just another sick experiment by the Guys in White. M'gann was the first person I ran into and she was kind enough to help me piece together some things, but it was awful. Everything had hit me at once. The memories of the experiments during those six months. Remembering my own death. It was a lot to take in- so much that I was barely any help on the mission because I kept zoning out or nearly killing some of the soldiers. The bright side was remembering everything that happened with the Team- aside from them, there was no good memories that M'gann restored.

I looked around my new room. It was personalized now that I've been with the Team for a while. On the table there were a few letters- one was handwritten neatly with cursive while the other was made from cut out letters and words from various magazines that were glued together on the paper to form sentences. I picked them each up with a small smile. Harley, Ivy and I stayed in touch even after I left Arkham. Batman let them write letters, which they put in the prison mail (which was read and tested by guards), unknowingly to them, Batman would pick up the letters himself, check them off (reading them, testing them for various things including laughing gas, poison, and even checking for hidden messages), and when he deemed them safe (which was usually after removing the explosive chatter teeth Harley somehow managed to hide in the envelope), he gave them to me. The Team didn't know and I was sure the League didn't either. I had wrote back to them of course. I told them I was doing fine, I was legally sane, and I had moved across the country to get some peace. I never told them my location and they didn't ask- well Harley did but I made it clear that I was 'nomadic' and going from state to state made it impossible for her to visit.

I had designed some blueprints that were sprawled across the table and pinned to the wall. I even had some blueprints made from memory to create a portal and a new Fenton thermos. If I had enough courage to explain to Batman what I was, then maybe I could show him the designs. I couldn't do that though. If I told him, if he knew I was a ghost, then what if he regretted saving me? What if he turned me back over to Arkham? Or worse to the Guys in White?

I clenched my fists tightly. I can't go back there. In a time like this, when I wasn't sure what to do, there was one thing I was sure of. Clockwork would know. I hadn't seen him in a while. I smirked to myself and focused my energy into my hand, focusing on making a portal. It took a few tries, but eventually a slightly unstable portal to the Ghost Zone opened. Giddy, I eagerly headed through the portal, which closed as soon as I went through. Thankfully, it landed me in a part of the Zone I knew. Which means Clockwork's lair should be right about…There! I could spot the familiar clock tower in the distance. I headed over, for once I was really happy about seeing the old stop watch. He was the one person I trusted most. I mean, I liked my friends and all, my team, but did I trust them entirely? Not really.

Clockwork was waiting for me inside which was to be expected. When he gave no sign of acknowledgement, a part of me felt disappointed and then… I got angry. He ignored me for all that time I was getting experimented on. He ignored me enough to deem it not important to intervene when my family was killed. He will not ignore me now when I am right here. I slammed my fist against the wall of the tower,

"Hey!"

"Hello Daniel," Clockwork greeted, "I see your temper has gotten shorter."

"Well that's what happens when you get killed."

I scowled and Clockwork shook his head slightly,

"I do not expect you to understand, Danny, but all of it was necessary."

"My family getting killed? Me killing everyone in the town, barely managing to not become Dan and still fighting not to become him? The Guys in White experimenting on me? Killing me? It was necessary for what?!"

My eyes were turning red again, I could feel it. Lately, I hadn't been getting as angry as quick. I had M'gann's meditation techniques to thank along with the medications (but I rarely took the meds anymore because they have been starting to make me emotionally numb). I had yet to have an actual 'episode' in front of the team. I mean, I got on the brink of it, but it wasn't 'I'm going to kill you' bad. Right now, however, I was beyond pissed. I had come here for answers and I deserved to know them!

"Necessary for you to live, Danny," Clockwork snapped harshly, causing me to back away in surprise, "You are a ghost, but you are still here, you still have a chance to right your wrongs. Would you like to know what happened in the other timelines?"

My eyes were back to normal and I took a hesitant step towards Clockwork's screen that he was pointing at. He never really snapped at me before. What did he mean to right my wrongs? Did that mean I really had a chance to fix it? The screen showed me, except I resembled Dan without the blue skin. I was killing thousands, millions. I was fighting the Justice League, the Team, every hero… I took them down. I killed them.

"In one timeline after the Guys in White had killed you, you scheduled a breakout yourself and killed all of the agents before moving onto the world, killing for fun and killing anyone who got into your way."

The screen changed. On the screen, I still looked like me, except my red eyes had no hints of green. I was wearing an odd black and red costume and Harley and Ivy were at my sides.

"In one timeline, Bayou never gave you the amulet. You were adopted by Pamela Lillian Isley, or Poison Ivy as you knew her. You lasted only a few months in Arkham before you decided to use your powers. You destroyed it, killed the guards and freed everyone. With Arkham gone, the villains were shipped all over, creating mayhem all over the country. You joined the villains of Gotham as Casper…"

"….I didn't pick that name, did I," I asked weakly, trying to make a joke.

Clockwork looked at me slightly amused, seemingly calmed down,

"I believe it was Miss Quinn's, or rather Harley's, idea…. The point is, Daniel, in nearly all the timelines you became a villain, a king, or a pariah. In one you even created an army of ghosts to take over, making humans your slaves. The timeline where your parents didn't die, and the one where you didn't die, didn't end well either- both ended with you committing suicide, robbing the world of possibly the greatest hero. This is the only timeline where you are good. You have a chance to become that great hero because you understand the hardships and with support of your new team and future new mentor, you will do great. Do you understand me, Danny?"

I blinked in confusion a bit, his words sinking in… All that happened, happened because it was supposed to forge me into a great hero. Clockwork said I'm a great hero. He actually said that and he called me Danny…

"Yeah, stopwatch, I get it… I hope I make you proud."

"If you continue on the path of righteous, you will."

When I got back to the cave, everyone was doing their own thing. Megan and Connor were cooking in the kitchen. Artemis was sharpening her bows. I didn't see Wally anywhere, but Robin was talking to Batman in a hushed tone. He stopped when he noticed me watching. My interest piqued and I headed over towards them.

"What's up," I asked casually.

Robin looked at me like a kid in the candy store. He was jumping up and down. He turned to his mentor,

"Can we tell him?"

Batman gave a small nod and Robin cheered.

"Dude," Robin announced, "Bats said you're cleared for school! You've been too anti-social recently and even Megan and Connor go to school so you're stuck here alone with Red Tornado half the day on weekdays which cannot be fun. I talked Bats into agreeing, but you would be going to Gotham Academy where Batman and I can keep an eye on you."

School. Batman actually deemed me sane enough to go into the possibly most-annoying, provoking environment there is in the world. It was a big step. Batman was deeming me safe enough to actually hang out with normal people… It had been a long time since I had been to school…

"I'm not anti-social," I huffed, "I'm anti-stupid, which is what schools are full of… But if it'll get me out of the mountain, I'm in. So I take it you're a student at Gotham Academy?'

"Maybe," Robin said mysteriously, "Maybe not."

"Ah right, your secret identity… Speaking of, how exactly am I going to be going into school if I have pure white hair?"

"Easily fixable with this high-grade wig," Robin said, pulling a wig out of seemingly no-where.

The wig in question was bright vivid pink long hairstyle. Robin was laughing his pants off, causing Artemis to look over, but she just brushed it off. I felt my eye twitch,

"No."