Danny groaned and slowly opened his eyes, his body stiffened and tensed up at the sight of the lab-like room, ignoring the screaming pain that shot through his body from that one small action.

"Careful, your body should be incredibly sore after the surgery and what you put that wound through before the operation.", Batman's voice filled Danny's ears, causing him to jump in surprise before slowly allowing his body to relax.

He turned to see Batman, Superman, and Aquaman standing there.

"Oh, hey guys.", Danny greeted, voice raspy from having just woken up, "How's everyone?"

Batman's eyes narrowed, but he answered anyway, "Everyone's fine. You're the only one that came out injured. Mind explaining?"

Danny sighed leaning back tiredly in the medical bed, because he could be nowhere else but at Atlantis's medical area.

"You saw.", was the only thing he said.

"You collapsed the moment everything was over, your suit sticky with some sort of green fluid.", Aquaman explained, "We had to check you over to make sure it wasn't life threatening, of course we saw, everyone did."

"The other three are talking everything over with the Queen, taking care of some last loose ends.", Batman informed, "They should be here shortly. I suggest you start talking then."

Batman glared as if to tell him he would tell them, making Danny grimace at the thought.

He knew there is no way out of this talk.

As promised, it wasn't long before Diana, John, and J'onn entered the room. The two males wore unreadable expressions, but Diana's was clear with worry. The Amazonian princess sighed in relief at the sight of Danny up and awake. Still looking shaky, but he was okay.

Danny knew it was time for him to talk the moment everyone was settled and staring at him expectingly.

Sighing once again, Danny tiredly ran his fingers through his hair, not sure where to start. Superman saw this and decided to help him along.

"How long?", Superman spoke up.

"Huh?", Danny asked, head snapping up towards the Kryptonian in confusion.

"How long during the mission where you hurt?", Superman asked.

Danny wouldn't meet the other's eyes, not answering right away.

"...The entire time.", he finally answered.

"What happened?", breathed out Wonder Woman.

Danny wasn't quite sure he really wanted to answer that, his hand trailing to his chest, fingering the zipper, then finally giving it a good tug. Revealing the newly wrapped bandages that were already lightly stained from the little movement he did.

The stains formed the shape of a Y.

He looked up to the league, grimacing at their multitude of expressions. Most of them horror, despite having seen the grotesque wound before, Aquaman looked angry, like he wanted to smash something, or throw someone, angry, and Batman was hard to read, but Danny can only guess from his narrowed eyes and tense posture that it was a mix of the two emotions.

"Despite the facts and/or opinions of the world, I'm not very liked by my town. In fact, they hate me enough to call me a menace, a villain.", Danny explained, "And most of that is because the ghost hunters, besides Red Huntress, that resides there all say that Ghosts are all evil and feel nothing, no pain, no emotions.

Two of the residents got a lucky hit while I was distracted, just finished up stopping a robbery and making sure the criminals were secure for pick up. They caught me and they took me to their lab. And that's when they... um..."

Danny trailed off, unsure on how to explain what happened without sending these overpowered people off on an avenging spree against his parents. Not to mention he really didn't want to say it. Saying it made it real.

He shuddered.

Okay, maybe he should think about staying at Jazz's for that second week so he could psych himself enough to be with his parents and act as if nothing happened.

"They dissected you.", Batman's voice was hard, his eyes narrowed on the halfa, "Alive."

"And awake.", Danny added weakly as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "They're good people... they just... don't understand."

"Don't?", asks Green Lantern with an arched brow, "Or won't?"

"They're also stubborn.", Danny mumbled, his voice raised to normal volume as he continued, "And dedicated to their work. Thanks to some help, I have used some of their tech when Ghosts were usually my enemies back in the past."

"... What happened next?', Superman asked hesitantly.

He wasn't quite sure he wanted to know. But at the same time, he felt like he needed to, that they all needed to hear what happened to their youngest teammate.

Danny shrugged, "They wouldn't listen to anything I had to say. Fortunately, Red Huntress had a plan in case one of us were in trouble or captured and needed help. A bit of a tracker that alert's the other person when they need help. I was able to activate mine. She flew in and freed me. Gave me the scolding of a lifetime afterwards. Much like a mother would."

"But by then, how far did they get by the time she arrived?", Aquaman demanded, his eyebrows were deeply furrowed as they stared down Danny.

Danny gulped.

He knew his next answer will determine Aquaman's next course of action. He also knew that he couldn't lie, and something told him that Aquaman would know if he tried.

Danny quickly mumbled his answered, but his words were incoherent, worrying the adults more than angering them, if anything.

"Danny...", Diana said, arms crossed, her tone was one of warning.

There's now a mama bear that has entered Danny's life.

Damn it.

"They may have talked about breaking my ribs in order to have a better look at my organs by the time she arrived and we destroyed everything they had on me.", Danny said weakly, head bowed.

He swore the room temperature turned cold, practically freezing, and it wasn't even his doing.

"I'm going after them.", Aquaman suddenly said gruffly.

Danny paled; this was exactly what he was afraid would happen.

"Aquaman no!", shouts Superman.

"Count me in, I'll call in Hawk girl and tell her to bring her mace.", Green Lantern pipes, voice hard and ready.

"John!", shouts Superman in shock.

Green Lantern shrugged, holding his hands up defensively, "She would want to know. And bring her mace. Flash should know too."

"Guys it's fine, I've handled it for years. There's nothing for you guys to even do.", Danny protested, hoping to prevent the demise, not death's mind you, of Jack and Maddie Fenton.

"You are a kid, Phantom. A child!", Aquaman snarled, Danny stiffened listening intently to Aquaman's words, "No matter how long you've been a ghost, whether you age or not as a ghost. But you are a child, and they did that to you. And if you say you were awake and could feel and see the entire thing? In pain?"

Aquaman's expression grew dark, as well as John's, Diana's twisted in anger, and J'onn... Danny's pretty sure he just made the Martian relive some of his PTSD from Mars.

He's doing a fantastic job of keeping this situation under control.

Superman and Batman were the only ones with unreadable/stoic expressions. But Danny knew very well from their postures that they weren't happy.

"I can only imagine the pain you were in.", Aquaman's voice rumbled with barely contained anger, "The screams you let out and yet they continued, not even believing the truth right in front of them that ghosts can feel. That you felt everything they were doing to you. That your pain in front of them were proof right then and there that even though you are dead, you are still very much alive."

Danny grimaced, because Aquaman was not wrong. He still thought to himself, why would they continue when Danny was in obvious pain. No one, not even a Ghost whose power was to mimic and/or act, could fake the pain Danny expressed.

They should know this. They've studied Ghosts for years, even long before they were married.

So why didn't they stop?

"I can only imagine the delight on their faces as they did the deed.", Aquaman growled his last sentence.

Danny flinched; the action didn't remain unnoticed from the others. But the halfa was too busy being lost in thought to notice.

He remembered their wide excited grins as they opened him up, poked and prodded at his insides, thank God they weren't able to take out any organs, and the ones they could, they decided against.

But God, their excitement, their squeals in delight and triumph when they found his core. They touched it with a scalpel, Danny felt immeasurable pain and has never felt more vulnerable and helpless as he did then, his core froze the scalpel. And his parents cheered.

They talked about removing it from his body.

"You're a just a kid Phantom.", Superman repeated Aquaman's words, "Granted a powerful one, and a dedicated hero. But you're still a kid, and you shouldn't have had to go through that."

Danny thought over his words before sighing.

Yes, Jack and Maddie hurt him, they didn't believe him when he tried to explain he was their son. In fact, they most likely forgot it in their excitement, minutes, no, seconds after he tried to reveal himself in order to stop them from dissecting him.

He will never be able to look at them the same again. Knowing or not, they still hurt him, tortured him. He will never be able to comfortably call them his mom and dad ever again, because who does that to a child, their own kid even. How can be a parent and yet willingly hurt a child, no matter what they are.

You just don't do that. But they did.

But even though he is now practically scared to death of them, and will probably never be able to trust them again, Valerie even tried to get him to run away afterwards, to get him out of that house in fear of what may happen to him if they were to find out what he is.

But he still loved them.

"They have kids too.", Danny mumbled, staring down at the ground in front of him, "Their daughter's name is Jasemin Fenton, she's been in college for a year, they have a sixteen-year-old son named Daniel Fenton, who just switched to online classes and is trying hard to prepare himself for college. She wants to become a psychiatrist; he wants to be an astronaut. Danny actually helped patch me up in my earlier reckless days when I first became a hero."

Does it count as the truth when he did, indeed, patch himself up since he is also said kid?

He looked up to the heroes, "They're family is weird, the Jazz and Danny share a close bond. Their parents were already barely there for them during their childhood, why should I take that away from them?"

Superman sighed, unsure on how to go by this, how to handle this.

Danny seeing this continued to push and use Superman's uncertainty to his advantage. There are so many reasons why they can't go and see his parents. Vengeance aside.

"I'm fine, I just have to be more careful is all.", Danny said, "There is no need to interfere."

"But Phantom-.", Diana tried taking a step forward.

"There is no need for you to interfere.", stated the boy with finality.

Diana stepped back with a small sigh.

The room was filled with a tense silence before Superman spoke up.

"Alright.", Superman agreed, "We'll leave it to you."

"But next time something like this happens, let us know, so we can at least treat you so something like this never happens again.", Batman interjected, "When it gets worse, and it will, we won't stand by."

Danny sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to have it any other way. He has to give a little just like they are.

"Fine."

With that said, Danny put his jumpsuit back on and in order.

"Thanks for fixing me up, but I got to get going.", Danny said sincerely before flying off to Jazz's apartment.

He has some work he needs to make up.

Besides, there's no way it can get worse than that, right?

Right?

Oh man, how the heck will it get worse than that nightmare?