Danny's relaxed posture was gone instantly. He jumped to his feet in a ready position, his eyes darted around the area, searching for any sign of the ghost he had sensed.
"Danny?!" M'gann exclaimed.
"What was that?" Garfield asked.
"Ghost sense," Danny answered distractedly.
"What does that mean?" Zatanna inquired.
"It means there's a ghost nearby," Danny explained as he turned in a slow circle, searching for danger. The teens in the water noticed Danny's unease. They'd all grown protective of the boy since they saved him. They knew he could fight but they also could see that his ordeal had left its mark, some more than others, but they all knew it.
The rest of the team gathered around Danny, asking what the problem was. Danny allowed the other three to answer, using his experience to try and figure out where the ghost was. He bit his lip and recalled that his thermos was in the medical facility. Danny had been offered to be given a proper bedroom, but after everything, he didn't want to leave his safe haven just yet. He knew that his new room would be just as safe and probably even more comfortable with the lack of medical equipment lying around, but the medical facility still felt the safest in the cave to him. It was where he learned he'd been rescued. Where he learned that he would be protected. So he wasn't ready to leave that security blanket just yet.
Problem was, he needed his thermos. So he could either turn his back and run inside and get it. Or ask one of the others to fetch it for him. Glancing at Garfield, he decided that the younger boy was the one he trusted the most. He liked the others but he was closest to Garfield.
"Gar, I need you to go to the medical facility. Furthest bed from the door. Top drawer in the bedside cabinet. There's a metal thermos. Please bring it here. As fast as possible," Danny muttered as he scanned the surroundings. Garfield blinked in surprise. No one was allowed in the medical facility. It was a big rule as they all understood what that meant to Danny. If Danny was asking him to break that rule, it was important. He saluted.
"On it," Garfield announced and sprinted back inside the cave.
The team watched the halfa, concern dancing in all their eyes.
"You're sure that there's a ghost Danny?" Artemis asked. Danny spared her a glance and nodded.
"My ghost sense is never wrong," he confirmed. Kaldur scanned the beach himself. He couldn't see anything.
"Spread out. We'll find this ghost if it's here," Kaldur ordered. The team followed his order.
"Kaldur, that's not a good i-" Danny began but was caught off guard by a glowing blue net as it wrapped around him the second the group scattered.
"Danny!?" a number of the teens shouted in alarm. Danny scowled at the net despite his mounting terror. He tried to push the fear away. This was Skulker. He knew that. But his only thought was that the Guys in White were going to hurt him. He'd been caught and now he was going to be taken back to that hell. He could hear that sick scientist assuring him that his torture was helping to understand ghosts already.
"Well, that was disappointing. You've lost your touch whelp," Skulker commented. But Danny was overcome by his panic and terror by now. He couldn't hear Skulker at all. He no longer saw the glowing blue net, he saw the blinding white lights in the lab. His own muffled screams of agony around his gag echoed in his mind. He began to hyperventilate and tremble. His normal response kicked in. The temperature plummeted and frost began to coat the net.
Kaldur and Robin jumped into action and tried to fight the robotic ghost hunter away from Danny while Artemis and Raquel tried to get close enough to free the panicking halfa. But they didn't know how to fight a ghost. They weren't equipped. Robin's kick passed harmlessly through Skulker's intangible body and a missile threw Kaldur back. Another missile pushed Raquel and Artemis back from the net. Skulker grinned and strolled over to Danny.
"Ha, your ice powers aren't going to help you ghost child. That net's specially made. Despite the disappointing hunt, I will gladly take your pelt," Skulker bragged.
"Pelt? That's gross!" Wally exclaimed disgusted. The others were inclined to agree.
Garfield ran back out of the cave, panting from the sprint and saw the situation. Without a second's hesitation, Garfield changed into his gorilla self and charged at the ghost. Skulker's arm beeped.
"Gorilla attacking? What the?" Skulker muttered and looked up as Garfield pounced on the robot. Skulker screamed in alarm and attempted to protect himself. But with the hunter distracted, the team could run over to Danny. Conner pulled off the net but Danny didn't even seem to notice. He shook with fear and his eyes were clamped shut. The air felt like the arctic, the sand was laced with a frost beneath them. Kaldur took one look at Danny and knew they needed help.
"Wally, find Black Canary. M'gann help Garfield. Does anyone else have their equipment?" Kaldur delegated. Wally ran off at full speed to find the team's psychologist. Robin noticed the thermos Danny had asked Garfield to fetch. Garfield the gorilla had dropped it when he attacked Skulker. The boy wonder picked it up and studied it.
"Kaldur, I'll try and figure out how this works. It must be useful otherwise Danny wouldn't have asked for it," Robin pointed out. Kaldur nodded his agreement and ignored Robin as he ran his fingers over the device and muttered comments to himself. Artemis and Raquel didn't have their equipment and so volunteered to stay with Danny and try to calm him down until Black Canary came.
Kaldur, Conner and Zatanna turned to the fight with Skulker and charged in as Garfield the gorilla was swatted away from the ghost. Zatanna muttered her spells and Kaldur made use of the ocean beside them, he had collected his water bearers from where he left them on the sand before he ran to Danny. Conner ran over to Garfield to make sure the boy was alright. He seemed only stunned.
Robin experimentally tapped a button and a stream of bright light erupted from the thermos. He cried out in triumph and turned to the ghost. Skulker saw the danger of being caught and phased down into the ground and escaped. The glowing blue net lying beside Danny faded away. At that moment, Wally and Black Canary ran over to them.
Did anyone guess it would be Skulker attacking?
How will Danny recover from this freak out? What will Black Canary do?
How will the team feel?
Until the next chapter.
