Black Canary stared at Danny in shock. It was the closest thing he'd said about his ordeal since he'd arrived. She recovered her composure and nodded.

"Of course Danny, if that's what you want. Did you want to start now?" Black Canary agreed. Danny dropped his arm from behind his neck and gave her a nervous smile.

"If that's alright with you. I'm not very good and I might use my powers on instinct," Danny warned. Black Canary shook her head.

"That's fine Danny. If you want to learn, I'd be happy to teach you. Ready?" Black Canary assured him. Danny took a calming breath and nodded. He back pedalled a couple of steps.

"I need to see your level. Are you up for a spar?" Black Canary asked. Danny gave a serious nod and slipped into a ready stance. It looked almost natural for him, surprising Black Canary and the team.

While they'd heard that he fought ghosts in his home town, they'd never considered the nervous teen they'd met and the broken victim they'd rescued was capable of actually fighting. The team wordlessly decided to step back into the room to watch, the showers could wait. Black Canary adopted her own ready stance. She quickly saw that Danny wasn't going to make the first move. It showed already that he wasn't a novice and that his fights usually started with him defending himself. So Black Canary made the first move. She lunged forwards at the teen, deciding to hold back. But the hit never made contact, Danny expertly ducked under the hit and rolled away. Black Canary turned to the teen and bit back an impressed smirk. Maybe she could have a real spar like the ones she had with the team after all. He did seem to have recovered his speed and agility.

So Black Canary kept lunging at Danny in various tactics, most of which Danny spotted and dodged. Some he was forced to block though which surprised Black Canary again. Eventually, Danny made his move against Black Canary who had left herself open. He punched at her and she was forced to shift into more defensive moves. Danny's style was rough and unrefined but powerful. He must have learnt a lot on the job and had been involved in fights akin to street fights among thugs. But Black Canary also noticed that he did have to hesitate and refrain from using his powers, it was obvious from his expression. He was thinking about what he did. So she gathered that he relied heavily on them when fighting.

It gave Black Canary a clue as to what happened to Danny. The team didn't know for sure as his friends hadn't known the details. They learned what happened from rumours. All they knew for certain was that Danny had been outnumbered and caught by the Guys in White. Black Canary theorised that while those facts were true, he must have been made powerless or his powers were made pointless. That would have been enough of a distraction in a heated fight to make him a lot easier to catch especially if he was surrounded and outnumbered. It made Black Canary understand further why Danny wanted to learn to fight properly. He wanted to be able to protect himself if that ever happened again.

After a wild punch, Black Canary caught Danny's arm and flipped him on to the ground. Panting, Danny stayed down conceding defeat. Black Canary smiled and helped the teen up.

"You sell yourself short Danny. You're a lot better than I thought after everything you said," Black Canary commented. It was true, Black Canary had expected the spar to end within seconds but instead it had lasted a couple of minutes. The team and Garfield had watched in stunned silence at how well Danny had fought. It had been unexpected. Danny took a few deep breaths to get his erratic breathing under control and shrugged.

"My mom is a ninth degree black belt. She taught me a little self-defence when I was younger. And I've been fighting ghosts almost constantly for two years. But this is a lot different to a ghost fight," Danny admitted as he dusted off his jeans.

Black Canary frowned in confusion.

"If your mother is such a good fighter… Why didn't you ask for her help?" Black Canary asked. Danny rubbed his neck.

"Using my powers is instinctive sometimes. I was close a couple of times in that fight," Danny answered. Black Canary was struck by sudden understanding. He couldn't ask his mother for help after he got his powers because he didn't want her to know. So, in order to keep his secret, he'd learnt by himself. Black Canary nodded.

"Well, your attacks are sloppy and you definitely leave yourself open to a lot of hits but overall… not bad. If you made your moves more concise and tighter, you'd do a lot better," Black Canary advised and showed him a tighter fighting stance. Danny slipped into his normal fighting stance and corrected it the way Black Canary instructed. It wasn't a large difference but it would take time for him to correct the automatic stance.

Black Canary smiled encouragingly and showed him a few more ways of improving his already established techniques before telling him to get freshened up. As the team, Danny and Garfield left the training room, they all flocked to him and complimented his hidden talent. Black Canary decided to contact Batman. Maybe integrating Danny into the team further would help the teen to relax and open up about how his trauma affected him. Black Canary could sense that Danny was hiding his deepest mental scars from them and maybe even from himself.

So Danny is going to utilise Black Canary's fighting lessons to improve his own techniques and protect himself. At least he's making the most of his situation.

How will the team feel about Danny joining them in their lessons?

Until the next chapter.