Hello! Thank you to the huge amount of people who read/reviewed my story. Seriously, I don't think any of my updates have been that popular before.
As always, happy reading!
NORMAL POV
The phone rang. Robin glanced at the clock to see it past five, so she would not be with a client. Robin wasn't superstitious, but he admittedly crossed his fingers that she would be around her phone to hear the ring.
Halfway through the fifth ring, she picked up. "Hello? This is Jasmine Fenton speaking."
Robin took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, thoroughly glad he wasn't speaking face-to-face with her. He just had to remind himself that he could do this and then say: "Hi, Jazz. This is Robin from the Teen Titans in Jump City, California."
"Really?" a skeptical voice appeared from the other line. Robin really couldn't blame her. Why in the world would a internationally known crime-fighting "superhero" like himself be calling an average joe such as her?
"No, look, I know this sounds crazy but this is me. I don't really have any way to prove to you that I am Robin just yet, as we are over the phone, but stay on and I promise you you'll understand why I'm calling."
"Okay," she said slowly, holding out the 'y' sound like she was unsure exactly how to respond. Her voice was tight and impatient. Robin pictured her standing there, arms crossed and foot tapping, staring at the clock as she waited for this phone call to end.
"I-uh-there really is no easy way to say this and this really isn't a conversation we should be having over the phone, even if this line is secure, but...uh...you see..." Robin faltered. How could he possibly phrase this? It wasn't like he could just say, "Oh yeah we have your brother who you thought was dead but really he's just been tortured by the GiW for the past three years and now he's totally messed up and by the way what's your favorite sports team?"
"Just tell me," she said in a soothing voice, one completely different from the skeptical tone Robin had heard previously. It made him feel like he could really trust her with anything. Robin realized that just like how he was born to fight crime, she was born to be a psychologist. They really weren't so different. Robin fought the physical fight while Jazz fought the mental one.
Maybe that's what got Robin to release the bit of air he was holding captive in his lungs and admit, "I have your brother."
A bang resonated from the line as the phone slipped out of her thin fingers and clattered to the floor. Robin heard a muffled sob escape from her lips as she bent down to pick up the phone. "W-what?" she gasped.
"Your brother is safe with us. He's resting in our medical bay." Robin paused as he heard a tremor of sobs from Jazz. "It's okay, Jazz, he's safe now."
"How...how c-can I trust you?" Her voice was thick with emotion. "H-how do I k-know you're r-really Robin? What if you're lying to me?" she all but whispered.
Robin, before he could think properly, blurt out, "Your brother, Danny. He is both Danny Fenton and Phantom. The Guys in White kidnapped him three years ago and held him from you. He was transferred over to Jump City's asylum where he escaped. We found him and brought him in. He's here with us now."
"Danny was always a fighter," Jazz commented. "I don't understand, though, I used the boo-merang. It always used to lock on his ecto-signature but then after he left it stopped working and I thought...I thought he was d-dead" her voice cracked again as she descended into another fit of muffled sobs. "How is he?"
"He's suffering from no permanent physical injury. In fact, all his vitals seem to be in near perfect shape, save his heart which is beeping at nearly half the rate of a normal human. Though, that was expected."
"But how is he?" Jazz begged the question. "How is my little brother?"
Robin knew exactly what she was asking. This, in his mind, was probably the toughest part about the phone call. "That's actually why I'm calling you."
"What happened?"
"Jazz, first please don't freak out until I'm done. This is difficult to explain-"
"Then just say it!" her tone bordered on frantic. Robin had to remind himself that this woman had lost her brother, and then her parents. Then, to top it off, she got a phone call from a complete stranger who claimed her brother was held in captivity for three years by the government where they experimented and tortured him. It was as if life did not want to give her a break.
"When he first, uh, arrived here he was doing better than when I visited him at the asylum a couple weeks ago. Then we got kidnapped by a villain who calls himself Mad Mod where we had a nice interaction with Slade, who I'm sure you've heard about in the news-"
"He's the most wanted criminal in the United States! Of course I've heard of him!"
"Right, well, it wasn't a friendly meeting. He did a number on Danny."
Robin heard a sharp inhale coming from her end of the secured line. "What do you mean?"
"Slade is a genius in a sense. He not only has an enormous amount of book-smarts along with an almost inhumane level of fighting, but he is also great with people. Like, he takes psychoanalyzing to a whole new level. And since he already did his research with Danny prior to our interaction, he knew exactly what would make him crack."
There was a pause as Jazz soaked in the overwhelming amount of information. Finally, she sniffed and asked softly, "Is he going to be okay?"
Robin sighed. "That's where you come in. The reason why I did not call you as soon as we attained Danny was because he refused to call you himself. I felt like it was wrong to deliver Danny's story to you myself. He needed to do it, and he was too scared to at the time." I hesitated as I heard a choked gasp from the phone. I hurried on, "However, we need you now. Danny needs you. We don't think he's going to get better without seeing a familiar face. Jazz, I'm asking you to fly down to Titan's Tower, I'll cover your plane ticket and everything, to see Danny. I don't know how he'll react because it's been a week since he's spoken to anyone, but I think you're the key in turning this whole thing around."
Robin allowed her a minute to cry out her bottled emotions that he was sure she had been burying under her work before finishing. "So, do you want to do this?"
"O-of course I want to! I can come down next weekend. I'm sorry I just can't believe Danny's alive. Just for final evidence, could you email me a picture of him please? I just need to be sure. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Jazz, I completely understand. I will get that to you the minute we get off the phone. But thank you, Jasmine, you have no idea how much you're going to help him. There's just one thing you need to know before we hang up."
"What is it?"
He winced, "I know that this is huge for you and you're probably going to want to take him, but you can't. I'm under a deal with Doctor Chaff who runs the asylum where he won't reclaim Phantom as long as he remains hidden with us. He can't leave the tower, especially with the GiW tracking him down since his escape. I'm sorry, but I can't risk anyone removing Danny from the tower."
"It's fine, Robin. I just want to see him."
He let out a sigh of relief. Honestly Robin was expecting more of a fight. Jazz seemed like the overprotective type. But then again, she was a smart kid, so really it should not have been so surprising.
"Thank you, Jazz."
"No, thank you."
They finished, exchanging emails, before hanging up. Robin went up to Danny's "room" to find him opening and closing his fingers as if they were some strange, foreign, magical contraption and snapped a quick photo of him to send the Jazz. Being the paranoid person he is, Robin then made sure to hack into her email and delete the picture from it after she replied to him. That forced him to send yet another email apologizing for deleting the photo, but Jazz assured him it was fine and necessary. Though it shocked Robin how she seemed totally unfazed by him hacking into her email, he didn't question it. She was probably still in shock over finding out the truth of her lost brother.
And now he waited.
ROBIN'S POV
*one week later*
I paced the floor impatiently as I waited for Cyborg to get back from the airport with Jazz. Cyborg messaged me when he got her and the anticipation was killing me.
"Robin, if you walk in a circle one more time I think you're going to cut through the floor," Beastboy commented, hanging upside-down from the couch.
"Shut up, Beastboy. I'm trying to read." Raven hissed from the corner of the room. "And Robin? Sit down."
"I-I can't," I said, my voice shaking. I was so damn nervous. "I'll be upstairs. Tell me when she gets here."
"Uh, Robin?" one of Beastboy's sensitive ears twitched. "I think your wait is over."
LINEBREAK
"So here he is," I said, opening the door to Danny's room to reveal a thin, tired looking raven haired boy who was staring lazily at a spec of dust on the wall. Jazz nonchalantly wiped an escaping tear from her eye as she quietly entered the room. Raven and Cyborg followed suit. Danny didn't acknowledge our presence. Lately I had been wishing I could read minds. It would be interesting to find out what he was thinking.
"Danny? Someone here wants to see you," Cyborg said softly.
Danny's eyes wandered all over the room as he tried to find the source to the noise before settling on the red-headed woman who was cautiously inching her way closer to the medical bed. His eyes widened in shock and he stiffened, clenching his jaw in the process.
Jasmine Fenton stared at Danny Fenton for a moment before breaking out into a teary smile and saying in a voice just above a whisper, "Hello little brother."
Danny glared up at her in response. If looks could kill, she'd be vaporized instantaneously.
"Danny," her voice was thick. "I m-missed you so much. I know Robin said you don't like being touched-" Danny's eyes stole a glance to me, and I saw the absolute murder in his blue eyes. "-but I wish I could hug you right now."
She paused, and I saw a glimmer of hopefulness in her eyes that Danny would suddenly spring up from his bed and hug her while exclaiming how much he missed and loved her. Unfortunately, he didn't.
"I know you must be pretty angry with me," a pained expressed enveloped her face as she broke eye contact with her long lost sibling. "I would be angry too-furious, even. I hope you know that I never stopped searching for you. You weren't...weren't in the n-normal GiW lab. I don't know where you were, Danny. I wish I did. The boo-merang couldn't even track you. I'm so sorry, little brother. I love you and I failed you and I'm so, so sorry."
She sunk to her knees, burying her face in her hands as her entire body shook with sobs. Raven knelt down and wrapped an arm around Jazz' slender shoulders. I looked back to Danny and, to my frustration and fury, saw no visible difference in his glare. I had to restrain myself from marching on over to his bed and slapping him across the face. I knew it wasn't his fault, but still. I couldn't help myself. His sister was a mess and the ghost-human hybrid remained as dispassionate as ever.
"Danny I'm here for you. Even though I wasn't before, I am now. And I just want you to know that because even if you want to give up, you can't. There's still people, like me, who still c-care, Danny. And I want you to get better so I can see you and talk to you and be the overbearing sister you always complained about me being. I miss all that, Danny, don't you?"
I noticed his arms shaking a little. So maybe he was responding.
"Do you remember when we would go watch the fourth of July fireworks with Mom and Dad? And then you and I would sneak off with a plate of Dad's fudge and climb that big oak tree and eat it and just talk until Mom and Dad finally realized we were missing. Do you remember that? That is one of my favorite memories, Danny. You and I up in that tree, watching the fireworks explode into different colors above us. On clear nights you would even point out different constellations and planets. You were so eager to learn, Danny. And even though ghost fighting got in the way of school sometimes, you were still always a hardworking, eager kid. I miss that, Danny. I miss all of it."
Danny squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head so his black bangs fell over his eyes. Though, I was still able to pick out a tiny clear tear that rolled down his cheek. Relief spread through me like wildfire. I couldn't believe this actually worked! It was probably the only thing that was going our way but hey, I was gonna take it.
Danny picked his head up and opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but closed it last minute and lowered his gaze once more.
Baby steps, Robin, baby steps.
After it was clear by the way that Danny's eyes glazed over as he stared at the ceiling, I stepped in. "Okay, I think that's as far as we're going to get."
Raven glared at me, as if scolding me for being insensitive or something. In response, I cleared my throat and awkwardly asked, "Uh, Jazz, would you like some tea or something?"
Jazz nodded as Raven escorted her out of the room.
"What now?" Cyborg whispered to me. "We got nowhere with that kid."
I turned away from him and grinned. "We got further than you'd think," I whispered. "I think-know-that Jasmine Fenton penetrated that thick wall of fog."
Cyborg looked at me in shock, "Seriously?"
"Yup. Now all we have to do is help clear the rest of-SHIT!" my eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I turned back to our patient.
"Oh no," Cyborg looked at the bed.
"I can't believe it," I slapped my forehead. "We were so close."
"Well believe it."
"What are we gonna tell Jazz?"
"Nothing, man. Not a word."
I nodded as I hopelessly viewed the medical bed. That was the problem: it was only a bed. There was no one occupying the bed. Danny, it had seemed, turned invisible and intangible in the split second our backs were turned and escaped from the room.
And in a big city? He was going to be impossible to find.
Hello! Here's a nice, juicy chapter for you all! It's super heavy, but I think you guys can handle it!
Reviews: (there was so many of them!)
IWasNeverReal: Thank you!
ipeach: Do feel proud! You helped me a lot! Yes, they had a great relationship. Jazz really won't appear a lot, as I'm trying to keep Amity characters (aside from Danny) mostly out of this fic. But I think this chapter really features her so yay.
BloodBlossom88: Anddd it was Jazzypants! Haha I like writing Beastboy.
KuriMaster13: Oh yes, I shall do more! Mwahahaha!
Lucky-the-cat: Thanks!
idk: Nope but good try!
missNOBODYa. : Me too!
Person: Omg. THANK YOU! I'm actually asexual so when everyone's like "Danny needs to have a gf" I'm like, "WHY?" I'm sorry I just don't get it! Also I'm no expert (obviously) but I'm pretty positive you cannot go straight from being tortured to immediately going into a relationship.
GriffinRose: So the world doesn't know that Danny's still alive right now because, remember, this is all kept a secret. That's why Vlad and the other ghosts don't go after him. The only reason why Slade knows is because he's crazy-obsessed with Robin.
secretwhovianpony: Yeahhhh Robin is pretty impulsive, isn't he?
16ckelmen: I'm glad people like crazy Danny. Though I didn't write any this chapter, you'll see that again soon!
LoveLess Ema: Yay, thank you Ema!
Mazamba: Good guess! And, well, no. But close. Uhh I would get into these trances and one day I snapped out of one as I was trying to kill myself in a dark room in my school soooo I DID get help, but I never actually told anyone I was trying to kill myself (since it freaked me out) so I was never actually hospitalized. Yeah, paranoid delusions get messy when untreated. But I'm 150% fine now so go me!
cartoonlover 1: Don't worry, another chapter is here!
Spiritwolf13: Okay I am sorry you feel that way, though I'm glad my writing is able to make people feel things.
Feferi pixies: Haha well thanks!
lipidcreeper: Okays!
KodiakWolfe13: Thank you! And awww omg I'm so sorry! He sounded like a great doggy and I'm sure you made his last days his happiest because they were special: they had you in it. I'm always here to listen if you need to!
LightShadows: I like your name. (speaking of names) And I like Beastboy's too, I think it suits him, but idk the thought just popped into my head. If I was a superhero, I would want some awesome synonym-type name rather than AmazingGirl. (or something boring like that)