The Watch Tower

Danny slowly regained consciousness only to be greeted by the face of the oddest man he had ever seen. If he hadn't been able to tell by other means than sight, he would have thought that the man was a ghost. He blinked, gaining the attention of J'honn (the alien dude taking care of Danny). He watched Danny for a moment. Danny felt a buzz in his mind.

"You are finally awake, Danny." His deep voice seemed to drill into Danny's head.

"Not for long if you keep shouting and get out of my head, telepath, it hurts." The pain vanished suddenly and the man looked shocked.

"I did not mean any harm; I was simply checking to see if you were mentally damaged."

"Not in anyway you can help." The room looked a lot like the med bay at the Titans Tower, but much larger. It was large and sterile; the very feeling it conveyed made Danny shiver. It didn't escape the notice of the other man, so Danny changed the subject before it could begin.

"You know my name, so it is only fair that I know yours" He tried to keep the harsh edge that was creeping into his voice out.

" I am J'honn, a Martian."

"Danny, and, since the ghost blabbed first, I am half ghost."

"You were aware of what was happening?" J'honn could not believe the resiliency that this young man was showing. It was rather frightening.

"Vaguely." Danny was in no mood for twenty questions. He sat up quickly and slid off the bed.

"Why am I here?"

"You were injured, and the wounds contained some sort of poison. We had to purge it from you system, then treat you for an infection."

"How long have a been out?"

"About 12 hours."

"12 hours. I am so grounded."

"I do not understand."

"Where is Tucker?"

"The boy who was with you?"

"Yes"

"In the conference room. After I give you some medication for the pain, I will show you."

"Thank you, but skip the meds; I can deal with it."

They walked out of the med bay and into the elevator, which took then to a large, circular room. The entire Justice League was assembled and looked like they were holding a trial, but most likely it was an entertaining game of twenty questions, thought Danny wearily. J'honn smiled. He liked this kid.

"Where is Tuck?" He looked around and didn't see the other boy.

"I am over here, Danny." He followed the voice. Tucker was over by the far wall, bothering Batman. Danny nodded and headed in that direction, but he was waylaid by Flash.

"You alright, kid?"

"In time I will be. Thank you for your help back there."

"Wow, Bats, this one is polite." Flash had obviously spent an extended amount of time with Tucker.

"Wonderful" was the droll reply. Tucker cut in quickly.

"Danny, are you okay? That panther ghost took a huge chunk out of you. You had better call your parents." Danny waited a moment before answering, studying the room and the people in it. The room was huge with the ceiling at least 5 stories above the halfa's head. It was almost as sterile looking as the med bay, a far cry from the….he didn't have time to think about that now.

Danny didn't even bother trying to explain why his parents would freak knowing he was with the Justice League. The three weeks when he was gone from Amity Park were an off-limit subject, and Tucker knew it. Batman had come up behind him while he was talking.

"Robin is on his way to make sure we haven't hurt you. He hasn't forgiven us for being intercepted that night."

"I don't blame him." Danny's voice was oddly flat as he replied, revealing nothing of what he was thinking. He knew from the news that there was nothing the older superheroes could have done, but it didn't help the empty feeling that he felt when he thought about that night over six months ago. He knew Batman was looking at him funny.

This wasn't the boy that Bats had meet when Robin brought his team to the Watch Tower for a day of training. That Phantom was happy and charming. Robin had told him that Danny had changed, but it stunned Batman to realize how much. He held his tongue and went to wait for his son's arrival.

Tucker was looking even more strangely all the while, trying to figure out why Robin would care about Danny, and why Danny was being so rude. He failed on both counts, so he just stood there making funny noises.

"Tuck, get ready to go right after Robin gets here. We are going to say hi, and then we are going home. Got it?"

"Got it." Whatever was wrong with Danny, he wasn't going to ask questions. That was Sam's job, because she could afford the bodyguards. Danny had been different since he had come back from where ever he had been. He had seemed old, more confident, and yet strangely distant. He didn't even bother running form Dash the other day. He just kinda stared at the bully, until Dash had broken down and ran off. He hadn't even been looking at Pauline, and that was strange, in fact he had ignored her completely for six months straight. Robin was walking up! Tuck sat down quickly.

Danny had been thinking about the same thing as Tuck had been. He knew that his time in Jump City had changed him, even more than two years of being half ghost had. He had tried to keep up a charade of normalcy, but he was failing miserably. He sighed. He felt and hand on his shoulder, so he turned around to tell Tucker off, only to come face to face with Robin.

"Hey Phantom, long time no see."

"How you been?"

"Obviously better that you have." Robin gestured to Danny's arm and back.

"It is just a scratch."

"Sure it is." He changed the subject. "We are having a birthday party for BB, and he wants to know if you can come."

"I am grounded for life by now as it is. When is the party?"

"In about two hours." Robin stopped to study his friend and former teammate. He looked tired and much older than his sixteen years. He no longer wore the T-shirt and jeans that he had when they had first meet. It was replaced with a black tee and jeans with sturdy black boots. It made him look washed out. His blue eyes glowed from underneath his black bangs. Robin felt so sorry for his friend.

"Fine, I will send Tucker home with a note to my parents."

"Hey don't I get to go?"

"No Tucker you don't."

"Why?"

"Mom and Dad need to know that I wasn't killed by a loco ghost."

"Fine but you owe me, Danny."

"I beg to differ." Tucker knew that this conversation was over. Man, he wanted the old Danny back.

"I am afraid that Mr. Phantom is not leaving the station for a while, Robin. You will have to have your party here." J'honn had shown up just in time to realize that Danny was planning a trip. "You are much to injured to be out of the med bay for extended periods of time. It will be several days before you can go home. I have already phoned your family, as they realize your extra activities."

"They freaked out right?"

"Indeed, but, in the end, they agreed. You mother insisted on coming up and watching over you. She should be here within the hour."

"Oh man!" Robin cut in.

"We can have the party here. I'll have the guys bring up the stuff." He took his leave. Danny slumped against the wall, too exhausted to act fine. J'honn wordlessly guided him back to the med bay so he could sleep.