A/N: Wow, the overwhelming positive response from you all has given me confidence and incentive to continue. Thank you so much for your encouragement, sometimes as a writer you wonder if what you're doing is actually 'good'. I really needed to read what you all had to say, and I'm very thankful for all of the constructive criticism you have to offer. So without further adieu, I give you the next chapter. (More build up)
* = added notes at the end of the chapter.
Chapter 4
"Uhh…yes?" Danny asked when he opened the door to see the green changeling practically fuming at him. He considered shutting the door back in his face momentarily but Beast Boy's outburst stopped him.
"Dude you've been stuck in your room for a week! You're just as bad Robin!" He yelled. His voice carried through the hallway to catch the attention of the others. It was true Danny had been in his room for about a week now, but no one had gathered the courage to knock on his door. They figured Beast Boy was practically begging for a death wish because he then proceeded to grab Danny's arm and pull him out the door. Danny was too stunned at the action to resist.
"It's our day off and we're all going to the park. And you're coming with us." Beast Boy added and continued to drag Danny through the corridor passed his friends who eyed them in astonishment. It took Danny another minute before he finally stopped walking and he quirked a brow in question to Robin who merely shrugged,
"Not my idea, but it is a good idea Danny. Even heroes need a break every once in awhile."
Danny managed a slight scowl while Beast Boy began tugging at his arm again. He wasn't sure if he was doing it to be annoying or persistent, but Danny was definitely getting annoyed.
"There's still more things I need to do in order to follow my next lead." He protested calmly.
"Please friend Danny, you must join us! For we plan on having a most wonderful time at the park." Danny looked up to see Stafire's pleading eyes. He stared at her for a minute then averted his eyes and sighed in defeat, not wanting to see the disappointment in hers,
"Fine." He allowed both Beast Boy and Starfire to quickly tug him to the T-Car, ignoring their shouts of satisfaction. He was pretty sure they held onto him so he couldn't change his mind and turn back around to his room. The others followed shortly after with pleasant surprise, who knew Starfire would ultimately be the one to finally get him to spend more time with them?
"Booyah!" Cyborg yelled as he ran to the driver's seat. He was glad that Danny was coming but even more excited for the day off. It had been a long time since any of the Titans were able to just relax. The others all piled in, Robin opting to take his R-Cycle so there would be enough room for Danny who sighed again, this time in irritation. Starfire and Beast Boy managed to push him in the middle while Raven slipped silently in the passenger's seat. She looked back and gave him a pointed look making him roll his eyes. The message was clear: Don't disappoint Starfire. Meaning he had to participate in most activities, joy.
The ride was short which Danny was thankful for because Beast Boy constantly chattered to no one in particular while Starfire would gasp, point, and shout with glee at anything she found worthy of drawing attention to on the way there. That left Danny crossing his arms looking very displeased in the middle.
"Oh glorious, friends! It is such a wonderful day and there are many children to run and play with!" Starfire shouted and clapped her hands, spinning around in the air with joy when they finally stopped and made it out of the car. Danny simply raised his eyebrows where Raven remained silent.
"Yeah maybe they'd wanna play stankball with us, whaddya think Cy?" Beast Boy asked producing said stank ball. The smell has almost palpable and Danny really tried his best to resist the urge to gag. Needless to say he failed.
"I don't think that 's a good idea BB." Cyborg put his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder who slumped in response, putting it away.
After Robin showed up and parked his R-Cycle the team started towards a particular shady area under a large oak tree. Raven was the first to sit down after they spread out a picnic blanket, and was content to read her book. Danny begrudgingly sat beside her while the others kicked around a soccer ball. Soon enough some of the kids wandered over and they were happy to let them join. Danny smiled unconsciously as he watched some of the kids cheer when they scored against Robin who then high-fived them.
Danny didn't notice as Raven stopped reading to instead watch him. It was interesting to look at one's expressions when they were seemingly unguarded and the small smile that graced his features almost made her want to smile as well. It was the most she had seen him smile the entire time he was with them, which of course wasn't very long. If she focused she could begin to feel emotion slowly lapping from his unguarded aura. She felt melancholy.
"Why don't you play with them?" Raven asked him and was only slightly surprised to see his smile immediately disappear and instead replacing it with a faint frown. She felt his emotions seal back off completely.
"Don't know how." His response was curt and she didn't pry although she knew it was a lie, even she knew how to play soccer.
Danny on the other hand, was having a hard time trying to relax. With the case on his mind, more than once he caught himself analyzing the park, looking for anything. There was some movement to the left of him and he turned curiously. Raven followed his gaze and widened her eyes.
"Run!" Danny grabbed her hand and they scrambled up (as eloquently as they could) just as Beast Boy and Cyborg along with a few kids sprinted towards them with water balloons. Apparently they had snuck off without either of them realizing it. Raven was just a bit slower which ultimately led to her demise. By choosing her book over her own welfare she surrendered to the kids as they completely doused her with the balloons.
Later that day she would admit to herself it was worth being drenched over if only to hear the sound of Danny laughing uncontrollably beside her. For now though, she was going to get even.
"So you think that's funny?" Danny heard the smirk in her voice a moment too late and his eyes widened as she drew her powers to bring the remaining water balloons out of Beast Boy's and Cyborg's hands. In an instant Danny was drenched. Everyone was suddenly quiet, not sure how he was going to react. He stood very still with a strange haze in his eyes. Another minute passed by and then he started to chuckle. Beast Boy joined and then it turned to giggles. Starfire covered her hands over her mouth in amusement. After another minute he sobered and Raven almost missed the evil glint in his eyes, she took a step back warily as he smirked and walked towards her in a predatory manner.
"Oh, it's on."
Needless to say after that, everyone on the team was thoroughly covered in water save Cyborg who had a legitimate excuse. Even Robin was drenched after Danny and Starfire surprise attacked him (Well what really happened was Starfire held him down while Danny pegged him but it still counts). Danny couldn't remember the last time he had a day off just to have fun. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he was actually having a great time and he found himself laughing without it having to seem forced.
The others were busy spraying each other and the kids with water guns, which Danny was honestly not sure how they got a hold of, when it happened. Just a few short seconds was all he had to prepare when he jumped and tackled one of the kids out of the way of an attack, not even having time to yell a warning. He rolled over with the boy, nearly missing another attack. Electricity shot through the ground beside them and Danny gritted his teeth, shielding his body from the child. Immediately the team was in battle mode, it looked like it was-
"Overload! Get the kids out of range!" Robin yelled and threw a few disks that exploded upon contact, leaving Overload temporarily distracted. Starfire lifted two in the air and out of Overload's electric shots, towards their parents. Raven grabbed the others and Beast Boy groaned, transforming into a T-Rex.
"Come on, this is our day off!" He whined and rammed overload in his side throwing him off balance though not for long. Danny looked down to see the boy unconscious. He cursed and quickly picked him up, cradling him as his eyes searched for his parents. He spotted them yelling a good distance away and Danny took off in a sprint not bothering to look behind him.
"He's okay, the blast just shocked him. Take him to the hospital anyway." He ordered when he reached the parents who graciously took them while simultaneously thanking him. Another explosion prevented him from talking to them further.
He turned to see that Overload had short circuited Cyborg's arm causing a sonic blast to spurt out right at Raven. The two fell and Cyborg didn't get up. Overload came closer to the half human, intent on finishing him when Robin drove him back with his bo-staff. Overload threw him into Starfire and together they landed in the swings becoming entangled with the chains.
Danny looked around quickly, scanning the park. There had to be a water source somewhere…there! The fire hydrant stood roughly 100 yards away. Beast Boy rammed into Overload again, knocking him about 10 yards closer.
"Raven, the hydrant!" Danny called to her and she looked in the direction of his gaze. Recognition flashed in her features and she nodded in understanding before throwing up a shield as Overload threw electricity in her direction. Danny narrowed his eyes when Overload turned to focus his attention on him.
Robin and Starfire managed to disentangle themselves and Danny jumped out of the way as Overload shot electricity straight at him. He flipped backwards once and then again as it followed him. He widened his eyes as he watched Overload's form dissipate and then follow the flow of the electricity. It then appeared right in front of him and he wrapped himself around Danny who cried out in shock, faintly hearing someone call his name.
First he felt shock, then pain. Then strangely the pain subsided shortly aftter and all he felt was the odd thrum of electricity coursing through his body. His eyes widened in understanding when he realized that it was his ghost core. * It had neutralized the electricity Overload had tried to overwhelm him with and was keeping him from being shocked. Overload seemed to notice he wasn't having any effect on him either, because he let go allowing Danny to fall to the ground on his hands and knees. Robin threw another disk that exploded leaving Overload encased in ice.
He broke free and Danny was quick to react. Danny ran and used his distraction to jump right onto Overload. He un-clipped the gun at his side and shot a few rounds where he thought his central system would be. He then covered his ears when Overload shouted an eerily static like yell in pain. Danny looked up to see that Raven had made it to the hydrant. He jumped back off and kicked Overload to the ground leaving him momentarily hindered. Robin took the time to throw another disk encasing him with ice once again.
"Raven, now!" Robin ordered, and with a shout of her mantra Raven sent water spiraling in Overload's direction just as he freed himself from the ice. Danny quickly flipped out of reach. There was a pause, and then Overload visibly shook and there was an audible noise of electrical blasts. Soon after he fell to the ground in a heap, finally rendered useless. The Titans didn't hear the cheers, or the flash of the cameras or the reporters, they were used to that. Robin turned to help Danny on shaky feet while the others went to Cyborg who was now conscious. Robin turned to Danny, clearly surprised and slightly skeptical. There was no way a human could endure an electrical shock like that and remain unscathed, though Robin didn't bother to question him, for now.
"Are you alright?" He asked and watched as Danny nodded in response and then shake him off. Without a word he began to walk off in a different direction than the others and Robin raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Starfire however did,
"Danny to where are you traveling?"
They all watched as he hesitated, then turned back to face her. They were surprised that he actually answered,
"To the hospital, I won't be long."
Although Danny was walking to specifically check on the boy he tackled earlier, he also needed time to think. It was frustrating how easy it seemed for him to fall back into the mindset of a hero, and to fight so fluidly alongside of the Titans even in his human form was alarming. He didn't really want this did he? It was purely instinctual to save the boy and if Danny thought back on it, he wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
What was really bothering him though, was that his ghost powers seemed to have acted out on their own accord. He tried so hard to keep his powers dormant, and one fight with a meta-being had drawn them back so reflexively. If he were to stay with the Titans and continue on with this case, how long would it be before he would be tempted to use even more of his powers?
As hard as he tried to forget, the day he lost his family played like a broken record in his mind, over and over again. In an attempt to save them, it was his powers that had failed. He couldn't reach them in time before the blast took them,* and although he knew there was no way he could have known about it he still blamed himself. If he was just one step closer, one second faster, then maybe…just maybe they could have been saved. But they weren't, and although Danny would do anything to have them back, he can't. When he chose to stop using his powers he did it so that he wouldn't have to live with the guilt of not being able to save anyone else, because he wasn't good enough. He didn't want to live with the knowledge that he was responsible for another death, and he didn't want to be a hero. He was always confident he had made the right decision, until now. Watching the Titans he realized that even though they knew they were not invincible, they didn't care. They continued to fight. It made him even more confused about his decision.
Danny cleared his head as he walked up the steps towards the entrance to the building. He found that the boy, who's name was Alex, was indeed alright and only suffered a minor concussion. The doctor recommended he stay overnight just so they could monitor him through the night. Alex was pleased to see Danny and he smiled as he was given the opportunity to personally thank him for saving his life. Danny waved him off and they talked for hours before his parents shooed him out of the room. It was night time and Alex needed rest and Danny chuckled when Alex protested. After all, Danny had plenty of exciting stories to tell that Alex was more than interested in hearing. With a promise that he would visit him sometime he left and started the walk back to the tower which was conveniently five miles away.
It was around midnight when he got back and was rightfully stunned to see everyone waiting on him in the common room. Robin was the first to react,
"I take it your meeting went well?" He gestured to the smile that still remained on Danny's face. To everyone's surprise he kept it.
"Yeah, it did."
"You know it's technically still our day off, wanna watch a movie?" Beast Boy asked, his question directed towards Danny. He looked at everyone, they were all grinning albeit tired. He paused for a moment, then grinned boyishly and they were all reminded just how young he really was.
"Sure, if I get to pick it out."
Danny simply laughed when it started a very heated argument between Cyborg and Beast Boy which ended in reprimand from Raven. Eventually they were all able to agree on a movie and they watched it. After the movie everyone got up to walk to their respective rooms.
As Danny walked back to his room his last thought before he fell asleep was 'Maybe the Titans weren't so bad after all.'
So being with the Titans is making Danny reconsider his decision to swear off his powers. More to come later, I'm absolutely thrilled when I can have enough buildup to start putting my plot into action. Keep Reviewing, and thanks guys. I really appreciate you all.
*Danny has Cyrokensis, the ability to manipulate ice/water. It occurred to me that naturally they would be a part of his ghost core and would kick in instinctively in order to preserve his life.
* The blast has no correlation to TUE (The Ultimate Enemy) and Dan will not be making an appearance in this Fic.
