Chapter 25: Tower Sweet Tower

The road rushed past before him, scenery changing every moment. Danny sighed and rested his head on the window, the cool glass pressing against his forehead.

"You okay" Cyborg asked turning his head slightly to glance towards the passenger seat. Danny nodded silently, a yawn escaping his lips. "Yeah, just ready to see the tower again." He said. Cyborg ave a small smile, only to jump as Beast boy perked his head up, placing his hands on the robot's shoulders. Cyborg gave a small yelp as the car swerved, making the occupants in the car lean to the side, then roughly jerk back.

Danny gave a small groan as his injuries flared up again. Sam shook her head, trying to clear the ringing in her ears, Tucker and Jazz merely glaring at Beast boy, Cyborg doing the same as he gazed at the changeling behind him. "Dudes! I cannot WAIT to get back! First I'm gonna play Mega-Monkeyz 4, then I'm gonna take a 3 hour nap, THEN I'm-" "Beast boy! We don't need to hear your play by play agenda!" Cyborg growled back. He shook his head. "Why did I agree to let Beast boy ride in the car?" He asked. "Because nobody else would take him." Robin said over the communicator built into the car. The Boy Wonder sped by beside then on the R-Cycle, while Starfire and Raven flew above them.

Beast boy growled at the remake. "Hey! I'm not that bad! I'm awesome. I even come with jokes! Okay, okay. What does a nosey pepper do?" He asked. Nobody answered. He frowned but continued anyway. "Get jalapeño business!"

Everyone groaned, including the ones who weren't in the car. "How much would it hurt if I jumped out of this car right now?" Danny asked, rolling his eyes. The others chuckled, Beastboy growling and sank back down into his seat.

Danny smiled slightly, then gazed back out at the rushing sights, falling back into deep thought. Cyborg glanced over, a slightly worried frown on his face.

After another half hour of unbearable jokes, several threats and at one point, a smacking contest between the changeling and the robot, which ultimately led to Danny driving for a split second, Titans Tower finally came into view, causing everyone in the car to start cheering-well, almost everyone. Danny simply gave a small smile and continued to blankly stare ahead.

Cyborg sighed in relief as he turned of the car and stepped out, breathing in the ocean air that surrounded the tower. "Awww, yeah!" He said with a grin. Danny gently grabbed the door handle and exited the car slowly and hesitantly. He stared at the tower and gave a small smile and sigh of relief. Beastboy jumped up onto Cyborg's shoulders. "FINALLY! Man, it's good to be home." He sighed. Cyborg grabbed his hands and dropped him onto the ground. Robin walked up along with Starfire and Raven. "Yep. Good to be home." Robin said as he placed an arm around Starfire, and the other around Danny.

The 9 of them linked together and stared out at the bay, the setting sun casting a warm golden light on the glistening waves below them. Then heard the sound of a door opening and turned to see Bumblebee fly out. She smiled and flew over, landing in front of them. "Hey, guys. Good to see ya." She said, shaking hands with Robin. They all turned back towards the door as the sound of bickering increased.

"You CANNOT believe that!"

"I do, and you should too!"

Speedy and Aqualad exited the tower, each fuming. They turned back to each other, continuing their pointless debate. "That's basically murder!" Aqualad growled. "Yeah, the most delicious homicide ever. Face it, seafood is delicious!" Speedy smirked. Aqualad snarled at him. "It's SICK!"

Bumblebee calmly walked over and slapped them both upside the head. They whined, rubbing their now sore heads, then walked over to the Titans. Suddenly a white and orange blur sped past them and stopped in front of them. Mas and Menos said something to each other in Spanish, then turned to face the Titans. Robin stepped forward. "Danny, Sam, Tucker, Jazz...meet the Titans East." He said. The four turned to the team. Bumblebee flew forward, then stopped when she saw Danny.

"Wait, wait, wait...! Danny? As in Danny Phantom? THAT Danny?" Said person glanced back and forth nervously. "You've...heard of me?" He asked. The others on the team walked forward. "Well duh! Almost EVERYONE knows about you! You've been blared on almost every news station for months." Speedy said. Mas and Menos sped forwards and said something excitedly in Spanish. "Sí , sí, hemos oído mucho acerca de usted y sus amigos" (Yes, yes, we have heard much about you and your friends). Danny nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Hehe, most people have only heard the bad things." He said with a slight frown.

Bumblebee shrugged. "Almost everyone say the live broadcast of the Justice League explaining everything. They also said that Danny and his friends had joined with a new team of superheroes, but I didn't know the new members you guys talked about were the SAME people!" The girl said with a smile. She turned to Cyborg. "Why did this never come up, Sparky?" She asked with a furrowed brow. Cyborg chuckled and quickly changed the subject. "So...thanks again for watching the city while we were gone." Robin nodded. "Yeah, we're really sorry for the short notice, but we really needed to help Danny." He said.

Bumblebee nodded. "Yeah, it looks like you needed it." She said, glancing at Danny's slung arm and wrapped body. The boy sighed and averted his gaze.

They said their goodbyes to the Titans East, and continued on into the tower, each of them grateful to be back home. Most of them decided to hang in the living room, Raven deciding to meditate in her room.

As Robin sat down on the couch, humorously watching Cyborg, Beastboy and Tucker fight over a controller, Jazz and Sam by his side, he noticed Danny wasn't with them. He turned his head and saw that the boy was quietly limping out of the room. "Where you going, Danny? Don't you want to watch Sam cream the others...again?" He asked, smirking as he finished the last statement.

Danny turned back and gave him a small smile. "No thanks. I thing i'm just gonna retire to my room. Besides...I can watch Sam beat them up anytime." He said with a smirk.

"Hey!" The three boys wrestling yelled. Robin watched with mild concern as the boy left. Jazz glanced at him. "What is it?" She asked.

Robin shook his head. "Danny, he's acting..." "Acting like he was tortured for more than a week. You can't expect him to jump right back, Rob. Just give him some time." Jazz explained. Robin furrowed his brow. But he seemed...okay last night. Was he just pretending, did he not fully realize what happened, or did something happen last night? Robin asked himself.

After absentmindedly watching the other Titans compete with each other on the game, which was mostly just a jumble of threats, cheers, sobs, curses, and fights, Robin finally realized his mind wouldn't let him rest until he figured out what was going up with Danny.

After Jazz reminded him dinner would be ready in a few minutes from the kitchen where the girl was preparing their meal, Robin excused himself from the room and made his way to Danny's room. He knocked on the door, waited a few moments, then softly called the boy's name when there was no answer.

Finally, the door opened a crack, an icy blue eye peeked through. Once it saw Robin, the entire door opened, revealing a tired Danny, the boy absentmindedly running his fingers over the bindings across his arm. "What is it, Rob?" He asked, walking back into the room. Robin followed slowly, as Danny walked over to his bed, silently taking a seat on the edge. "I just wanted to see if you're okay. You've been really quiet since this morning." Robin said. Danny gave him a small smile. "Yeah, I've just been tired. I didn't sleep that well last night." He turned back to gaze at the water as the last of the sun's rays ducked down behind the tall buildings in the background.

Robin furrowed his brow, knowing that wasn't it, but sighed when he remembered what Jazz had told him. He stood up. "Well, Jazz also wanted me to tell you that dinner is almost ready." Danny nodded and stood, with aid from Robin, and the two boys exited the room and made their way to the living room, where the Titans, including Raven, were now starting to get situated at the table.

Danny and Robin took their seats, signifying they could start eating. While they ate, Beastboy kept them entertained, if you could call it entertainment. Mostly, he would just tell cheesy jokes and share stories about him, or one of the other Titans, which they DIDN'T appreciate.

"Okay, okay. What do you call a fake noodle?" Once again, nobody answered him. He shrugged and continued anyway.

"An IM-PASTA!"

They all groaned, considering it was probably the 54th joke the changeling had cracked. Raven, having enough of the boy's jokes, reached out wit her magic and slammed the boy's head into his food as he began to tell another joke. The Titans around the table cracked up as Beastboy raised his face, which was now covered in mashed potatoes. Robin glanced over at Danny and frowned in worry when he saw the boy slowly twirling his fork around in his plate, barely touching his food.

"Okayyyy...On that note..." Jazz said, getting up and taking everyone's dishes and placing them into the sink. She returned to the table with a large one-tier cake and placed it down in the middle of the table. Beastboy, Cyborg, Starfire and Tucker stared at it in awe. Jazz smiled. "Thought we should celebrate being back in the tower, after being away for a while." She said. Sam smiled. "Looks great, Jazz." She said. Starfire grinned. "Oh, yes! It looks glorious!"

Jazz walked back into the kitchen for a moment, returning with plates, napkins and a long, sharp object that made Danny's eyes widen.

A knife.

Everything around him faded away, only to be replaced by white walls, agents swarming around, glowing green knives in hand as they approached with evil grins. Danny felt his breath hitch as he started shaking. Robin glanced over and stopped what he was doing when he saw Danny shaking and breathing heavily. "Danny?" He called. The others stopped and turned their heads to look at the boy. Danny stared back at them and shook his head to clear the images that were appearing before his eyes. He gave a weak smile and started to back up, the chair behind him falling over as he made his way back. He gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh...t...thanks for d...dinner. But I...I think I'm g...gonna t...turn in early." He said, his body still shaking. He turned and swiftly fled the room.

Robin started after him, but felt a gentle hand grab his arm. He turned back to see Jazz shaking her head. "Let him go, Robin. He...he just needs some time to calm down. I think he needs to be alone." She said. Cyborg nodded. "Yeah, man. Maybe all he needs is some time."

Robin sighed and sat back down. What his friends were saying made sense, but he knew they were wrong. He just knew it.

5 hours later

Danny panted, running down the hallway as he heard the sounds of guns being charged behind him. But he didn't care, he just had to get as far away as possible. The walls around him started to turn lighter and lighter until they were a pure white. How could such a bright color turn so evil?

He panted as he continued to sprint down the hallway. Suddenly, his body slammed hard against something and he fell backwards. He groaned and rubbed his forehead. He glanced up to see what he had hit and paled. A glowing green ghost shield sparked in front of him. His body started to shake as he heard footsteps grow louder behind him. He glanced around wildly, a new hallway materializing to the side.

He jumped to his feet and ran down the hallway. As he ran, the white walls around him started to darken. Danny glanced at them in confusion as he ran and felt his breath hitch. As he ran farther and farther down the hallway, the more the walls seemed to become splattered with ectoplasm mixed with red blood.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain flare up at the base of his back. He cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground, rolling on the ground as he tried to regain his bearings. He groaned as he opened his eyes again and found he was surrounded by agents with guns. They all gave him wicked smirks, soulless eyes hidden behind glistening black glasses.

He felt his body shake as he tried to control his breathing. One of the agents stepped forwards and grinned at the boy. "Welcome back, freak." He said as he pointed his gun and fired. Danny shut his eyes as he was engulfed in a blue light. He expected to feel immense pain, but when it never came, he opened his eyes and gasped.

He had been transported back into the experimentation room and was now strapped back into the steel table. His breathing quickened as he struggled and pulled against the restraints, but it was no use. If anything, it made their grip tighter. "No use trying. Those are inescapable." Commander said, walking out of the shadows. Danny glared at him. "I escaped them once!" He snarled. The man only laughed. "Please! You didn't escape. You were rescued. Rescued by idiots who can't see the monster you really are. But don't worry. They won't make that mistake again." He said, stepping away to reveal more figures emerging from the shadows.

Danny's eyes widened. "No..." He whispered as he gazed back at the 8 figures who stared at him. They looked at him with disgust written on their face.

"Why we ever freed a creature like you I'll never know." Sam sneered.

Jazz and Tucker nodded in agreement.

"I am ashamed for ever calling you my friend." Starfire growled. Raven narrowed her eyes in disgust, Beastboy curling his lips in a sneer. Cyborg crossed his arms and gazed at him with disdain. "You were never worth our time, our friendship.

"Mom and Dad were right about you." Jazz snarled. Robin walked forward, his eyes not revealing anything. Danny gazed at him in fear. "Robin...please. You have to help me. Y..you have to get me out of here! Please! You're my friends, my family! W...why are you doing this?!" He asked between sobs.

Robin snarled at him. "Why wouldn't we? No really! WHY wouldn't we? It's not like we actually considered you one of us. HA, I mean, when you were taken, we were ecstatic. We were finally rid of you! Don't you wonder WHY we didn't come sooner? Do you really think it was because we couldn't find you? REALLY?! You were in the most obvious place possible! No, we didn't come sooner...because we didn't want to rescue you. The only reason we did, is because we just wanted to give you some hope..."

Robin gave a small smirk as he carefully picked up a needle filled with a mysterious liquid. "So that we could rip it away from you." Agents surrounded him from all sides, each with different tools and syringes. The Titans, his friends, his family, stood beside them, gazing at the scene with smirks on their faces.

Robin leaned close to Danny, the restrained boy gazing back at him with a look of pure terror and betrayal. "You don't belong with us. You don't belong with humans. You don't belong with ghosts. You're a freak. A mistake. A lab accident. An accident...that can be fixed." Robin said as he gazed curiously at the liquid in the needle, then back at Danny. He gave a wicked grin.

"I wonder what this does."

Danny screamed.

Robin woke with a start, a scream echoing throughout the tower. Danny! Robin thought instantly, leaping out of bed, quickly changing into his uniform. He rushed out of the room and saw the other Titans doing the same. Cyborg checked his arm. "Security systems don't detect signs of a break-in. Nothing strange got in." He said.

Robin narrowed his eyes and ran to Danny's room, the other Titans following close behind. They stopped outside Danny's closed door. Robin turned to the others. "I'm going in." He said. Jazz opened her mouth, only to have Robin cut her off. "Isolation isn't going to work Jazz, not if it's what I think it is. I need to talk to him, find out what's going on."

Jazz hesitated, then nodded her head. She would have offered to go in as well, but she knew the two boys were very close, realizing Robin might be able to coax the boy into talking or talk him off a cliff if necessary. The boy turned back to the others. "Okay, go back to bed. I'll call you guys if it's something serious. Just try and get some sleep." He said.

Beastboy sighed. "No problem." He said, yawning after finishing his statement. Cyborg turned him and pushed him down the hallway, following behind. The others did the same, Jazz turning back to Robin. "You sure about this?" She asked. Robin stared at the door. "...no. But I AM sure that something's wrong with him." He said.

"That's what I'm afraid of." She said as she turned and walked away, fear for her brother still churning in the pit of her stomach.

Robin turned back to the door and knocked. It was no shock to him when there was no answer. He opened the door and walked into the dark room. "Danny?" He called. No answer. He reached into his belt and rubbed his fingers against the small flashlight, pulling it out and turning it on. The room seemed empty. The bed was a jumbled heap of wrinkled sheets and torn pillows. Robin furrowed his brow in confusion as his light illuminated the empty bed, void of any life.

"Danny? Where are you?" He called, even though he didn't expect the boy to answer. He slowly made his way around the room, finding nothing out of the ordinary to suggest where the boy was. He wouldn't leave...would he? Robin asked himself, shaking the thought out of his head. As his light scanned the room, it stopped in the cracked closet door. He narrowed his eyes slightly and walked over. He placed his hand on the door and slid it open. "Danny?" He called softly. He pushed the clothes aside and stopped when he saw a shivering boy crouched in the corner, face hidden from view. "Danny?" Robin called once more.

He carefully stepped over and crouched down next to the boy, who gave no indication he was even aware of Robin's presence. The Boy Wonder hesitated, then reached out to place a hand on Danny's shoulder, only to have the boy jerk back and gaze at him with unadulterated terror. "Stay away from me!" He cried out. Robin gazed at his face and could see the faint shine of tears sliding down the boy's face. "Danny...it's okay. It's me, Robin, remember. I'm not gonna hurt you." He said as he tried to convince the shaking boy.

But nothing worked, for the boy seemed to be in a state of panic, his eyes playing tricks on him as he tried to comprehend where he was. Robin heard him mumbling things under his breath. "Freak...lab accident...nothing...no..hope...nothing...no..escape...more..tests...nothing..." He whispered, moments from his dream replaying over and over again.

Robin sighed and took a seat next to the shivering boy, gazing at him sadly as he tried to convince him of where he was and who he was with. After a few minutes, Robin saw the boy blink a few times and stare at him. "R...Ro..Robin?" He whispered. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, Danny. It's me." He said, briefly hugging the boy as he returned back to reality. Danny pulled back slowly and stared at him. Robin gave him a confused look. "What happened?" He asked gently. Danny turned away, raven hair falling into his face, hiding his eyes. Robin placed a hand on his shoulder once again. "You can tell me, Danny. You know that, right?" He asked softly.

Danny sighed. "Just...another nightmare." He said softly. "Another?" Robin repeated with confusion. Danny nodded. "Last night...was my first one." He explained. Robin lowered his gaze. "Is that why you seemed...distant?" Danny shrugged Robin taking that as a yes. The Boy Wonder sighed and got up, extending a hand of Danny, who accepted as he was gently hauled to his feet.

Both boys walked over to the large window overlooking the bay. Danny took a seat on the large windowsill that was big enough for someone to lay down, Robin taking a seat a few feet away on the ledge.

"The nightmares, they're about the labs, aren't they?" Robin asked, already knowing the answer. As expected, Danny nodded. "Look, Danny. I know what they did was horrible, but you have to believe me when I say we'll never let them hurt you again. You just have to trust me on that." He said. Danny clenched his fists. "Trust you?! Why should I trust you?! For all I know, you WANTED them to take me! You guys were probably so happy when they did, finally rid of me!" Danny yelled, words from his dream worming their way into his mind. "Why wouldn't you be happy?! I'm NOTHING to you! Just a freak! A lab accident! That's ALL I am! An ACCIDENT!" He shook, his nails digging into the palms of his hand as he clenched his fists. "My parents know it, those agents know, you know it, and deep down..." He trailed off, his head resting on the cold glass of the window. "...I know it."

Robin stared shocked at the boy. "Danny...you can't really believe that.." He said. Danny turned away and shut hi eyes tightly, trying not to let any more tears escape. Robin's eyes widened in realization. "That's what the dreams have been about, haven't they?" He asked. Danny hesitated, then gave a slight nod. "I...I finally put everything in perspective after that dream yesterday. I finally registered everything. It all started to rush back to me...everything..." He said, trailing off.

Robin sighed and turned to the boy. "Danny, I need you to listen. Whatever you've heard, whatever you think, whatever those monsters told you, you HAVE to forget it cause it's not true. None of it. We DO care for you because you ARE one of us. We wouldn't have risked so much turning to the League, busting into a government building if we thought otherwise. You're as big a part of this family as any of the other Titans, and they would all say the same thing." He said, placing a hand on the boy's goof shoulder.

"I don't care what those agents think, I don't care what the League thinks, I don't care what your parents think, or the media, or the frikkin' world thinks. You're a Titan through and through. You've proven it time and time again, no matter what anybody says. Everyone in this tower thinks it Danny. Everyone. They all love you just as much as they love each other, cause you're part of our family of misfits." He said with a smile.

"You may think you're an accident, and you know what? You're right. You are an accident." Danny turned to face him, but Robin kept smiling. "But you know what? There ARE such things as happy accidents. And Danny? You are the PRIME example of this! You might just be the best darn accident ever! If I, or anyone in this tower could go back in time, none of us would stop that accident from happening, cause it brought you to us. You and Sam, tucker and Jazz. That accident increased out family. So, that's a pretty good accident in my book." He said with a smirk.

Danny glanced back at the moonlit waters below. After a few minutes of silence between the two, Danny finally spoke. "That was pretty cheesy, Rob. I thought you wanted to cheer me up, not make me throw up." He said, smirking at the boy. Robin glared at him playfully. "I thought it was pretty good, thank you very much! Lets see you give a pep talk at 2 am!"

They both laughed, the dark mood lifting in the room. The two boys talked for a while, both missing their early-morning talks. Finally after a while, Danny started to drift off. Robin gave a small smile, and stood up. He walked over to Danny's bed, grabbed one of the sheets and draped it over the sleeping boy's shoulders. He sighed in relief and started walking to the door, relieved he now knew the problem at hand and could now work to help resolve the anxiety with the boy. He smiled, happy to have his best friend back.

Cyborg glanced back at the others in panic from his position at the door. "He's coming! Scatter!" He whispered loudly.

The eavesdropping Titans all ran back the way they came, leaving the hallway empty as Robin opened the door and exited.

The Titans all poking their heads out from around the corner, watching as the boy walked away. "If you're trying to hide the fact that you were eavesdropping, you guys aren't doing a very good job at it." Robin said. The Titans all gasped and ducked their heads back, each either flying or sprinting back to their rooms to escape their leader's wrath.

Robin gave a small smirk and chuckled slightly. He hadn't been trained by the World's Greatest Detective for nothing. "Just wait till training tomorrow." He laughed to himself as he walked back to his bedroom,