Danny took a deep breath as he stepped back outside. He had to find Skulker regardless of his fears and uncertainity. Skulker went after rare and unique specimens. Garfield and Conner could fit that criteria. Maybe even Wally, Kaldur, Zatanna and M'gann. The robotic hunter would have been nearby for a few days, waiting to see Danny. Inside the cave, Skulker ran the risk of detection by Danny's ghost sense. But outside, he could keep watch from afar. If Danny just shied away from this, his new friends could become targets and be taken out. Danny considered changing into Phantom and flying around. It would be easier and quicker but the idea… it sent a stab of fear through him. His flashback was still playing on his mind and right now he wasn't sure he could change without lapsing into another panic attack. Using his powers could cause a similar situation.

Danny took another steadying breath and began to walk across the beach, the other teens and Garfield trailing behind him. He had to find and face Skulker. If he didn't, then it would be his fault if one of the others got hurt or taken by Skulker. He'd deal with his irrational terror once he faced the hunter. He'd managed to leave the medical facility because he had to, to help Garfield. Maybe he needed to face Skulker and be forced to use his powers to conquer the uncertainty around his powers.

In silence, Danny walked to the middle of the beach and scanned the area. Now he knew which ghost was present, he'd be able to predict where the hunter would lie in wait. Thermos tightly grasped in his hand, he spotted a wooded area to the right. He walked over to it. The others followed without question. Once they reached the tree line, Danny's ghost sense triggered and he allowed himself a small smirk of satisfaction. He might be rusty, but he could still hunt ghosts. Now he just had to prove to himself and the others that he could still fight one.

They walked through the trees and came to a clearing. Skulker stood in the centre, waiting. The others hung back worriedly but Danny strode straight up to Skulker.

"That was a coward's trap Skulker," Danny growled, trying to hide his nervousness with aggression. Skulker shrugged.

"The hunt is neither brave nor cowardly. It is what it is. But I must say, I was surprised by how easy it was," Skulker replied. Danny scoffed.

"I thought you were all about honour. Shooting me while my back was turned? That can't be right," Danny pointed out. Skulker frowned.

"Those ghost hunters really did break you," Skulker remarked.

Danny scowled angrily at Skulker as a wave of terror flowed over him. He didn't want to talk about that. Especially not to Skulker.

"What makes you say that?! I'm here," Danny growled and brought up his thermos for the hunter to see. Skulker shook his head, almost pityingly.

"Whelp, I'm a hunter. I can see the signs clear as day. It's in your eyes. You haven't even changed and those children know your secret. Usually you've thrown a punch by now. That net! Before you would have broken through it and come back fighting. I saw what happened ghost child. You're broken," Skulker replied.

Danny was painfully aware of the eyes on his back. He didn't want them to know how badly his time with the Guys in White had affected him. It was one of the main reasons he refused to get in contact with his family and friends. If they knew, they'd treat him differently. He'd constantly be seen as a victim and that just forced Danny to think about it. He wanted to bury those thoughts and feelings until he felt ready to deal with them. But Skulker had seen through it.

"Why are you here?" Danny demanded, determined to change the subject. Skulker shrugged.

"I heard the rumours of your capture. I wanted to see if they were true. So I watched your friends as they ran around searching for you. Then one day, they just stopped looking. I realised that you must have escaped. So I began to track you down. Now I see that you're not even prey worth my time," Skulker answered.

Danny felt like he'd been slapped. It was insulting. Skulker deemed him, Danny Phantom, too weak to bother hunting down! Initially, when Skulker started hunting him, it had been frightening and felt almost degrading. Hunted down like an animal. But after a while, Danny started to see the veiled compliment. Especially after the time Skulker tried to hunt Danny and Valerie at the same time because he couldn't decide which of them would be better to hunt. Now to be told that he wasn't worth the effort… it was an insult.

Danny's fear vanished and his eyes burned bright green. Skulker blinked in surprise at the change and took a wary step back. Danny glared at the hunter.

"I am not broken!" Danny hissed. Skulker realised that he'd made a mistake. Danny's free hand glowed bright green and without thinking Danny aimed the shot right at Skulker's head. The robot was thrown off balance and was left unprepared for Danny's follow-up punch. With Skulker dazed, Danny opened and activated the thermos and sucked the ghost inside. Danny shut his eyes and took a calming breath and allowed himself a small smile. He used his ghost ray. The last time he did that was the day he got caught. He'd used it and it had worked fine. He was in control. His eyes dimmed back to their normal blue and his thumping heart slowed to its normal rate.

The team watched Danny uncertainly. It was the first time they'd seen Danny's powers. They didn't know it, but they'd glimpsed the true strength of Danny Phantom. For an instant, Danny had been his old self. He mightn't have changed into his ghost half, but his fears had vanished for a moment and allowed him to be himself. The halfa remained still, huffing like he'd run a marathon. Biting her lip, Zatanna edged forward.

"Danny?" she called warily. Danny glanced at them.

"Are you okay?" Zatanna asked. Danny nodded.

"Yeah," he muttered as he turned back to the thermos in his hand.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Zatanna suggested. Danny shook his head.

"No. I need to send this to Amity Park. Excuse me," Danny mumbled, already hating the pitying looks the teens were giving him.

The team let Danny leave the clearing to head back to the cave alone.

"I wonder if that ghost was right. About Danny being broken," Wally whispered once the halfa was gone.

"I wouldn't blame him. He's been through hell," Robin replied. The others glanced at him. Robin sighed. He knew they weren't going to drop their unspoken questions.

"I don't know everything but I… I saw a few of the things Danny went through when he was with the Guys in White," Robin admitted.

"How?" Conner demanded.

"I copied everything on the Guys in White database into my gauntlet. I saw a few of the reports, only for a split second but you don't need to read a report to know that the word autopsy is bad," Robin explained uncomfortably.

The team gasped in horror. They suspected experimentation, but an autopsy! Artemis and Wally paled at the word and were suddenly glad that they didn't know much about where Danny was being held.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Raquel growled. She, like the rest of the team, saw Danny as a friend and they wanted to help him.

"I didn't want to tell anyone stuff that Danny didn't want us to know. You should have seen Batman after he looked through the reports. I've never seen him so angry. So I really don't blame Danny for acting the way he does. You saw how he reacted to getting caught in a net," Robin defended himself. The teens nodded.

"Do you think Black Canary knows what happened to him?" Artemis wondered. Kaldur frowned.

"I don't know. But I think we should tell her what we heard from that ghost," the Atlantean decided as they turned to return to the cave.

Danny beat Skulker but what will that mean for the team and Danny?

It was mentioned before that when an autopsy is performed on a living creature it's called vivisection. But I just wanted to explain why I use the word autopsy. The word is taken from Guys in White reports which believe Danny to be a ghost and so a dead thing. True he has a human half but the Guys in White still consider him more ghost than human.

Until the next chapter.