Having returned the sugar to the kitchen, Danny followed Black Canary to a quiet room that was reserved for interrogations which the team rarely performed. They were rooms left over from the days when the Justice league used the cave. He'd reverted to human before leaving his room. If he wanted to keep his secret from these heroes, he couldn't have them connecting Phantom to the Fentons.

Black Canary opened the door and let Danny head into the room while she excused herself to get Red Tornado. Danny waved to the group nervously.

"Hi," he greeted them. The group of men smiled at the halfa and gave their own greetings that Danny couldn't follow as he wasn't sure who was talking when. His limited hearing was clear enough that he could recognise voices if not what they were saying, but he'd never met and spoken to these people before and so it was impossible to recognise who was speaking. Red Tornado and Black Canary then entered. Danny's lessons with Red Tornado were exceptionally difficult now that he couldn't hear. The android had no lips for Danny to read, so Red Tornado had to write everything down for him to read in order to be taught.

Batman clapped his hands and motioned to the table with eleven seats arranged around it. Batman took the head seat and Black Canary took her seat beside Green Arrow. Martian Manhunter sat beside Batman and Flash. Superman and Icon sat on either side of Doctor Fate. Aquaman gestured for Danny to sit between him and Red Tornado. Once everyone was seated, Batman turned to Martian Manhunter and requested that he set up a mental link with Danny and relay everything being said, earning the dark knight and the deafened teen curious looks. Danny shifted nervously under their scrutiny.

"I'm almost completely deaf. Still learning to adapt since it happened last Saturday," Danny admitted to them.

Superman raised an eyebrow and a few of the other heroes sent the teen sympathetic looks.

"Alright Danny. My name is J'onn. Can you hear me?" the Martian asked having set up a mind link to the teen. Danny smirked.

"Poor choice of words J'onn," he joked. The Martian blinked in surprise before giving the teen a friendly smile.

"It is done Batman," J'onn informed the dark knight. Batman nodded, giving Danny a small smirk in response to the comment, deducing what J'onn asked.

"Danny, these are the mentors of the team. Doctor Fate used to be Zatanna's father. That is why he is present," Batman informed the teen, relayed by J'onn telepathically to ensure that Danny understood exactly what was being said. Danny realised what Batman was saying. He was asking to tell the heroes about Phantom. He bit his lip before sighing.

"Alright," he muttered, his friends could always talk to their mentors if they did something to threaten his secret. Batman smiled and Black Canary gave the teen an encouraging look.

Batman then turned to the heroes, most of whom were completely confused by Danny's relenting agreement.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Batman began the meeting officially. The adults, bar Batman, Black Canary and Red Tornado, shared confused looks.

"Why does that matter Batman?" Superman asked.

"Because before I met Danny, I didn't. I thought ghost stories were only of things that couldn't be explained or were completely fabricated to frighten tourists or children," Batman answered.

"Why would meeting Danny change that?" Flash inquired.

"Because his family are ghost hunters. Right Batman?" Icon interjected. Batman nodded.

"Yes, but also because Danny is half-ghost," Batman replied.

The room stared at the dark knight, and Danny held his breath. J'onn had been relaying the entire conversation and Danny was hoping that the adults learning what he was wasn't going to backfire. It hadn't been a problem for most of the team, but adults tended to be a lot more unforgiving when it came to believing in ghosts. Danny had seen that first hand from watching his parents be labelled crackpots.

"Half-ghost? How is that even possible?" Aquaman asked, glancing at the teen beside him. Batman motioned for Danny to take over. He'd investigated the halfa himself, but he never learned how Danny had become half-ghost. Danny scanned the faces looking at him and took a deep breath.

"Alright, my parents have been studying ghosts since they were in college. It was how they met. And a couple of years ago, they finally finished their own working Ghost portal," Danny began.

"Ghost portal?" Green Arrow interjected. Danny paused, hearing the voice and then J'onn's repetition of the question telepathically.

"Yeah. You see there's a place called the Ghost Zone. The Ghost portal is a machine that, in my dad's words, busts open a hole into their dimension. Well, it didn't work to start with. For some reason my parents put the on switch on the inside and forgot to switch it on before connecting the power. So when I got persuaded to check it out, I didn't really think much of it. So I put on a jumpsuit because my parents drilled it into me and Jazz, my sister, that they had to wear one around the portal in case of contamination. I stepped into the portal and accidently touched the on switch. Got electrocuted with pure ghost energy," Danny explained and the adults winced in sympathy.

Danny gave a grim shrug.

"Not nice I know, but that's what happened. Not entirely sure how it works, but I'm half-ghost now. My ghost half is called Danny Phantom," Danny concluded.

"Ghost half? Do you mean to say that you have a second appearance?" Superman asked. After a moment, in which the question was relayed to him, Danny nodded. A ring of light appeared around him and split. As the rings slid across his body, his jeans and shirt were changed into a black and white jumpsuit with his symbol. His eyes changed from a vibrant human blue to a glowing neon green. His hair changed from black to a white whiter than snow. His body glowed and he emitted a very slight chill.

He spread his arms nervously in a "ta-dah" motion. The adults unfamiliar with this phenomenon gasped and stared at him.

"You see where my new found belief in ghosts is from then," Batman remarked. The heroes glanced at Batman before returning their stares to Danny.

"I'm sure you've seen weirder right?" Danny commented, a slight echo to his voice. The adults blinked before realising what they were doing and cleared their throats and mumbled apologies that Danny didn't hear but could sense from their body language. Danny then reverted to human, feeling more comfortable in that guise in this situation.

"How… how is it that we didn't know about this!?" Aquaman demanded. Danny flinched at the sudden raised voice beside him.

"Because Danny didn't wish to make this public knowledge and until now I haven't questioned that desire. You knew he was in protection, what you don't know is why," Batman retorted. Aquaman blinked and the table turned to Danny again. Batman watched Danny and gave him an encouraging nod. Danny sighed.

"Ever hear of the Guys in White?" he asked the room. Most of the adults shook their heads.

"They're ghost hunters employed by the government. Have it out for Phantom and over three months ago they caught me," Danny informed them, lowering his gaze to his lap. He didn't want to explain the details himself. Not to a bunch of strangers.

"Three months ago? Why is that important?" Green Arrow inquired, seeing Danny's closed off posture. Black Canary watched the teen with concern.

"Because the team rescued him two months ago from imprisonment there," Batman answered with a soft growl to his voice.

"Rescued!?" a number of the adults exclaimed.

"Surely if the boy showed he wasn't a proper ghost, they'd free him," J'onn commented. Batman turned to the Martian and shook his head.

"Because of Danny's… uniqueness, he became a topic of interest for them. I don't want to disclose anything he's not comfort sharing, but he was experimented on for almost seven weeks," Batman explained, glancing at the teen. The room became silent as the other heroes took this horrific answer in.

"Poor kid," Icon whispered.

"But Danny's recovered exceptionally well. Hence the reason for this meeting," Black Canary interjected. Danny looked up at this comment, J'onn still relaying everything being said telepathically.

Finally an answer and an unresistable cliffhanger.

Last chance to guess why Batman called this meeting.

Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.

Until the next chapter.