Kaldur frowned at Danny sitting in a seat near the back beside Garfield. Both had insisted on coming on this impromptu mission. They didn't even have clearance from Batman and they were bringing two non-team members. Danny had refused to stay behind. He even threatened to sneak on board or convince Sphere to take him. And once Kaldur had to relent to Danny, Garfield had refused to be left behind on his own. Making claims of how unfair it was that Danny got to go and Garfield didn't. It had saved a lot of arguing and a bigger headache to just let them come. They'd just have to keep them out of the fighting.
Kaldur sighed.
"Alright. So the details of the trap are a rogue ghost is going to lure Danny or rather Danny's cousin to the location of the ambush. From there it gets vague so we'll have to be careful. Danny, you're going to stay with me and Robin. Gar, you're staying near M'gann and Conner. Alright?" Kaldur decided, giving both guests on the Bioship a stern look. Garfield nodded in understanding without question. But Danny looked away defiantly.
"Danny. On this team, you listen to me," Kaldur informed the halfa. Danny glanced at the Atlantean.
"You haven't dealt with them Kaldur. And you've never met Danielle. I'll listen to you as long as I don't think you're making a mistake. I get that you're trained for dangerous situations and covert operations and stuff, but this is ghostly in nature. And you don't know what I'm capable of, let alone what my cousin is capable of," Danny argued.
"Danny please. I don't want your cousin to get hurt any more than you do. Can't we work together on this?" Kaldur requested, seeing that being the macho leader wasn't going to work on the halfa.
"I know Kaldur. And I don't want to go against you. But I will if I have to, to protect Danielle," Danny concluded.
"I don't get something. If ecto-signatures are unique, how come you share one with your cousin?" Zatanna asked. Danny bit his lip before sighing.
"I guess you guys deserve to know the truth. But Dani's probably gonna be angry I told you guys. She's not my biological cousin. She's actually my clone," Danny explained.
"Clone?!" Conner repeated incredulously. Danny nodded.
"Superman isn't the only one who has someone obsessed about him. A fruit loop I know tried to clone me. Numerous times. Danielle was the only one with her own mind. I don't know how she differed from the others but she is," Danny elaborated.
"So you just told her to leave?" Conner growled. Danny repressed his fear with difficulty.
"No. She chose to leave. She wanted to travel. I couldn't stop her. Besides my situation is… was tricky. How could I explain to my parents that either I have a cousin they've never heard about or someone cloned me without telling them about my powers?" Danny retorted.
Conner blinked and glanced at the halfa. He frowned guiltily as he noticed Garfield shivering and realised he frightened Danny. The team had been told about Danny's fear of anger and his cold response when he got scared. Black Canary had explained it after the net incident. Not that they wouldn't have figured out the whole "things get chilly when Danny gets scared" after that by themselves anyway.
"Sorry Danny. I shouldn't have gotten angry. I didn't think of your situation," Conner apologised. Danny nodded.
"I get it. You and Superman haven't always been great pals," Danny assured with a shrug.
The Bioship lapsed into silence. No one quite knew what to say after that.
"M'gann, connect us up," Aqualad ordered as they neared the trap location. Miss Martian nodded and her eyes flashed a pupil less green.
"Mind link established. Everyone linked up?" Miss Martian announced telepathically. Danny winced and put a hand to his temple.
"Ow," he moaned.
"Sorry Danny. Forgot that you're not used to this. You get used to it quickly," Miss Martian apologised. Danny nodded.
"So, all I have to do is think what I want to say and you all hear it?" Danny muttered.
"That's right," Rocket confirmed.
"Can you separate conversations? Like if I just wanted to talk to, say, Robin without you guys hearing, is that possible?" Danny wondered.
"No. It's an open link between the entire team, you and Gar," Aqualad answered. Danny nodded.
"That's fine. Just curious. Does stuff we say out loud get broadcast over this link?" Danny inquired. The team shook their heads. Danny nodded again.
"Try to remember to use the mental link during the mission. Normal coms run the risk of interference or hacking. This is a covert mission. So we need to stay quiet and unseen," Aqualad advised with a pointed look at Danny and Garfield. Garfield nodded. Danny smirked.
"You're talking to a half-ghost Kaldur. I know how to be unseen," Danny remarked and flickered invisible for show. Aqualad rolled his eyes and glanced at Robin.
"ETA three minutes," Robin answered Aqualad's unasked question. The leader gave a quick nod.
"Zatanna and Raquel take the east. Wally and Artemis, you two take the west. M'gann, Conner and Gar, you take the south and Danny and Robin, you'll be with me at the north. Hold your positions until Danielle springs the trap. That way we'll know what we're dealing with," Aqualad delegated. The team gave grunts of affirmation, all but Danny. Danny already planned to defy Aqualad. Letting Danielle trigger the trap... if this trap was anything like his had been, that would be too late.
The Bioship landed and everyone dashed off into the orange burnt gloom in the industrial sector and followed Aqualad's orders. They didn't have to wait long before Danny's ghost sense went off. They looked up as they saw a green, cackling ghost fly overhead. Aqualad glanced to Danny, but the halfa had disappeared.
"Danny, what are you doing?!" Aqualad hissed.
"Sorry Kaldur. But I can't let Dani trip this trap," Danny replied. The Atlantean looked up as a thirteen year old girl with white hair and piercing green eyes wearing a two piece black and white jumpsuit appeared above flying towards them.
Yeah, I think it was pretty obvious it was Danielle Phantom, but what will this trap be? Will Danny and the team protect Danielle? How will Danny handle being so close to the Guys in White?
Until the next chapter.
