The team and Garfield sat outside the medical facility waiting for any news. Black Canary had been in there for a long time with Danielle and Danny. Their worries obviously were founded. Kaldur stared at the door, anxious for news on the damaged boy beyond. He should have fought harder to leave Danny behind. It was his fault that Danny may have lost all his progress in getting over his trauma. The teens wanted to go in and help comfort Danny, but they all felt that Danny had his reasons for locking the door. He wanted to be alone and they all remembered the last time Danny broke down with fear. That day at the beach was burned into their memories.
Danielle had come out for a few minutes and asked M'gann to make a cup of tea and get some food for Danny. It was a relief to hear that Danny was in fact in the room. That he hadn't run away or done something that he'd regret. There were a lot of sharp objects in that room. They'd been surprised to see Danielle in her ghost form but then again, Danny froze things when he got overwhelmed. The girl must have done that to get close to the halfa.
Roughly twenty minutes after Black Canary went into the room, the door unlocked and Black Canary stepped outside, closing the door behind her. The team jumped to their feet.
"Is Danny okay?" a number of them asked. Black Canary sighed and nodded.
"He'll be fine, but I doubt he'll be coming out today. So go on, if you need me, I'll be in here," Black Canary assured them. The team could sense that the heroine hadn't wanted to leave Danny but had wanted to assure them that the halfa was alright. Reluctantly they nodded and with muttered assurances that if they were needed they'd help, they left the medical facility door.
Danielle joined them soon after.
"Dani, what happened in there?" Wally inquired. Danielle smiled sadly.
"I think Danny just got a little overwhelmed by last night. He froze the room by accident. That's why he locked the door. But Black Canary's talking to him now," Danielle told them. The team and Garfield shared worried looks amongst themselves.
"But he's alright now?" Artemis ventured. Danielle shrugged.
"He's talking. I got the impression that it was about stuff he didn't want me to know about though so I didn't ask. He drank the tea but didn't touch the food," Danielle answered.
The team didn't like the sound of that. Since being at the cave, Danny hadn't skipped any meals.
"I shouldn't have let him come with us," Kaldur whispered. The group turned to him.
"Kaldur, he wouldn't take no for an answer. Remember he threatened to stow away anyway," Robin reminded the Atlantean.
"Besides, it's not your fault. I wasn't careful enough. I don't usually go chasing ghosts like I did. But I was curious. I should've ran away when that stray shot missed me," Danielle spoke up. The teens turned to her.
"What do you mean? It's not your fault. It was a trap. You couldn't have known that," Zatanna assured the clone.
Danielle sighed and nodded.
"Maybe. But I should have checked in on Danny when I heard the rumours. I just assumed they were lies. If I'd checked in, then maybe I would have gone looking for him and he wouldn't be like this. I'd at least have been more careful and wouldn't have been caught," Danielle retorted.
"You don't know that Dani," Raquel muttered. Danielle shrugged.
"I know. But I want to help him now that I can. But Danny doesn't ask for help unless he really needs it. And he's really stubborn," Danielle replied.
"How well do you know Danny?" Conner asked.
"Not really well I'll admit. I've only met him twice. The first time was when I… I was working for my creator. But I did get to spend a little time with him before… well before I betrayed him. The second time was when I was destabilising. I kind of got used as bait by a ghost hunter. But she was cool once Danny explained a few things. At least that's what she said," Danielle answered.
"Then how do you know him so well?" Robin inquired.
"I don't know him well. But I'm his clone. I was designed to be as close a copy as possible. But somewhere along the line the DNA got messed up or something and I ended up a girl. But I know that he'd never hurt me. Even when I was trying to take him back to my creator, he refused to fight. He saw that every clone he fought, destabilised and turned into a puddle," Danielle explained.
"Clones? As in plural?" Artemis pointed out. Danielle nodded.
"My creator tried to clone Danny a bunch of times. Most didn't even take a form. Binding human and ghost DNA isn't easy. There were four others besides me. The "good" clone never left its pod. But the other three, my creator used them to trap Danny… well them and me. Actually my creator wanted to take a mid-morph sample to finish his "good" clone. Made us "imperfect" clones try and force Danny to change," Danielle confirmed, saying the words good and imperfect with venom.
"How?" Wally asked.
"Overshadowing. But Danny's not easy to control. My creator learned that the hard way," Danielle answered with a smirk.
"Overshadowing?" Garfield repeated confused. He wasn't the only one.
"Oh, right. You guys are pretty new to this whole ghost thing aren't you? Overshadowing is a form of possession. Most ghosts can do it. Danny and I can. Basically it's taking control of someone's body and beating the subconscious into submission. Strong willed people can fight it off though. Well, it depends on the ghost and human. Like natural enemies with strong wills generally battle for control. But if one is weaker, then they lose. Also time is a factor. The longer someone is overshadowed, the more likely they'll fight off the ghost. I can show you if you'd like?" Danielle explained. The team quickly declined the demonstration. Being controlled wasn't something they wanted, especially after the previous New Year.
"What powers do you and Danny have?" Zatanna wondered aloud. Danielle shrugged.
"I don't know all Danny's powers. I know he has the basics, invisibility, intangibility and flight. Ghost ray is pretty standard too and overshadowing. Oh and a ghost sense. We both have those. But that's all I have. Danny has his ghostly wail. And I guess he has ice powers. But I've only seen him in like two fights. The first he didn't really have a chance because it… well it was two against one and he didn't know that. The second, he was more worried about me than fighting my creator," Danielle answered.
"So you don't know what these tricks he said he had are?" Robin muttered. They were all intrigued by those.
"Sorry, no. The ghostly wail is the only one I know of. But like I said. It's powerful but exhausting for Danny," Danielle retorted.
"Say, Dani. What does Colorado mean?" Kaldur asked, recalling the mention from the rescue.
"It's where my creator took him and made me. He used his ghostly wail to destroy the lab and the cloning equipment. He completely exhausted himself and I couldn't protect him without using my powers and destabilising. Luckily Sam and Tucker got there in time," Danielle replied.
"Sam and Tucker. You've met them," M'gann realised. Danielle chuckled nervously and rubbed her neck.
"Yeah. Kind of got them into a lot of trouble by starting a food fight at their school and they got blamed. Not sure if they like me or not but they were there for Danny," Danielle admitted.
Just a bit of explanations for the team and them learning about Danielle.
Do you think that Danielle will be able to help Danny though?
Will Danny have lost his progress?
Until the next chapter.
