M'gann's eyes glowed green and she connected everyone in the room to a mental link. Danielle hissed in discomfort.
"Ow," she complained.
"Sorry Danielle. The first time is always a bit painful. But you'll be used to it in minutes," M'gann apologised over the mind link.
"Huh? What's with the mind link?" Danny inquired.
"Well, since you can't hear us, we thought we could communicate using this for the time being," Kaldur answered. Danny nodded.
"Oh, makes sense. Did I miss much before you set this up?" Danny replied.
"I said that you calming down Wolf and Cujo was amazing," Garfield interjected. Danny smirked.
"Not really. I just know that Cujo's really protective. He was a guard dog before he died. So showing him that Wolf is a friend… I kinda figured that it would help," Danny retorted.
"Er… so you just think what to say?" Danielle asked.
"Yep," a number of the team answered.
"So Danny, is your deafness permanent?" Wally inquired. Danny shrugged.
"No way to be sure. RT said that normally the damage done is irreversible but since I heal faster than normal people there's a chance I could get my hearing back. He didn't know about Cujo though because he doesn't know dog anatomy or ghost anatomy," Danny replied.
"I'm sorry Danny. If I had been faster at directing team beta, they might have reached you before Luthor turned on that frequency," Robin apologised. Danny shook his head.
"I doubt it Rob. The second things went wrong, Luthor would have turned it on anyway," Danny retorted.
"By the way Danny, when Vlad was strangling you. How did you get free?" Artemis asked after a short pause.
"Wait! Vlad was strangling you?!" Danielle exclaimed. Danny sighed and subconsciously rubbed his neck, the bruises were already fading.
"Yeah, he did. But you shouldn't be all that surprised Dani. I got free because I went ghost and shifted my presence on this plane," Danny replied.
"Huh?" Danielle retorted. Danny smirked.
"I learnt to do it when I got thrown into the bay during a ghost fight. As a ghost, I can shift my presence in the Real World. Jazz reckons that's how I can turn invisible, intangible and fly. I no longer follow the laws of physics because I shift my presence here to a degree that they have no hold over me. Most of that science stuff goes over my head. But it means that if I concentrate, I don't need to breathe while Phantom. So that's what I did to stop Vlad choking me. Of course once I returned my presence to this plane, I needed to breathe again but I got my point across," Danny explained.
"Can you teach me?" Danielle requested. Danny shrugged.
"Sure. First, change into your ghost form and try to force yourself to not breathe without holding your breath. It's hard to do consciously but practice makes perfect," Danny instructed. Danielle nodded and changed into her ghost form and began to try the technique.
"How's Icon and Plastic Man?" Kaldur asked, glancing at Danielle with slight concern. Raquel nodded.
"RT thinks they'll be fine. They were sedated with a drug designed to work on Icon. They'll wake up soon, RT says by tomorrow hopefully" Raquel answered.
"Dani, you're going blue. Take a breath," Danny warned and the others turned to see Danielle's face going blue as she held her breath.
"This is hard," she complained.
"Yeah, especially since you've never done it. I'll show you in a bit alright," Danny offered.
"Wait! Show!? You'd have to change," Zatanna interjected. Danny smirked.
"You mean, like this?" Danny replied and in a flash of light changed into his ghost half and began to float with his legs crossed casually.
"You don't have a problem changing now?!" Garfield realised with a broad grin. Danny nodded.
"Since when?!" Wally demanded. Danny chuckled.
"Last night. Don't tell Vlad that though," Danny answered.
"So he helped you?" Robin inquired in confusion. Danny scowled in dislike.
"He gave me a push. That's all. Admittedly a push I needed but he didn't know that," Danny explained.
"That's how he teaches," Danielle mumbled, before realising what she said.
"Ignore that!" she yelped.
"Dani, Vlad told them that he created you. It's okay," Danny assured her. Danielle gave a sigh of relief before glancing at everyone.
"I don't blame you for not wanting to share that though. The guy is horrible," Artemis interjected. Danielle nodded.
"Yeah. But he still made me," she mumbled. Danny sighed and landed on the ground smoothly and crossed the room and gave his clone a hug.
"Dani that creep never deserved you for a daughter. No one here cares that he created you," Danny whispered in her ear so no one else would hear. Danielle smiled and hugged her cousin back.
"Thanks Danny," she whispered back but was unheard. Danielle drew back out of the hug and gave Danny a grateful smile. He nodded to her reassuringly before stepping beside her and floating casually in a sitting position.
"There are seats Danny," Raquel remarked gesturing to one close to her.
"I know. But in ghost form, this is natural. I used to do this a lot. Don't mind me," Danny replied.
Black Canary walked in and stared at Danny in shock.
"He changed," she pointed out.
"Yeah, he's says that he's been fine with changing since last night," Wally informed her. Black Canary blinked and turned to Danny as he waved at her.
"Hey Black Canary. I'm fine. Been able to do this since last night," Danny informed her, not having heard Wally explain that already. Black Canary smiled at the halfa, deciding not to inform him that he'd told her something she'd already been informed of. M'gann served the sandwiches and everyone raced to get a few before Wally ate them all.
Black Canary motioned for Danny to follow her and she led him into a quiet room with Batman. She handed him a page.
"We want you to explain what happened on the mission, including how it affected you emotionally," the page told him. Danny raised an eyebrow before he shrugged and reverted to human and sat in an empty seat opposite the two heroes.
"Okay, well I guess I should start with how I snuck on to the Bioship," Danny began.
And cut to black. (I couldn't resist that one)
So how will the successful mission affect Danny and the team?
How will Danny and Danielle's lesson go?
Until the next chapter.
