"Alright," Dani grunted as she helped Connor out of the portal, his arm was slung over her shoulder, and her hand was wrapped around his waist as he held an ice pack to his head," Ya know," She pulled his arm further over her shoulder," This would be much easier if you just let me carry you," She hissed out.
There had been an accident while training and now she was helping the poor teenager back to the cave.
Well, it hadn't been a training accident. Danny would be upset with her if he found out after he woke up.
Connor, who was surprisingly accepting of all the ghosts that he met over the months he had been training with her, had grown unexpectedly close with one of the teenagers from the Far Frozen, Iskald.
Iskald, who was training under Frostbite to become a representative of their tribe in the future, had tagged along with his leader with a meeting with Danny. After the meeting, The training Connor had been doing with Dani had caught his attention and after asking if he could join, the two had become friends.
While Iskald had more than a few centuries on Connor, he was roughly the equivalent physical and mental age with the male clone, and they had quickly become friends. The added friendship of yet another being that was his age, had done wonders on Connors social cues and skills. Yet another reason Danny and Frostbite approved of their friendship.
And as strong as Connor was, Iskald had forgotten that while Connor was not a human and could handle more, he still wasn't as strong as the halfas. Connor was still young chronologically, and it was still going to be some years until he was fully matured physically, assuming that he would remain stable.
Sure, he was probably going to be just as strong, or stronger than Superman, but until he was fully matured, he was not going to be on par with his original. Nor was he going to be as hardy as the half-humans he knew.
Which was something that Iskald forgot because now, Dani was the one helping Connor back to the cave after Iskald pinned him to the ground with a little bit too much force.
"mphmpmm-no," Even in his concussed state, Connor was still stubborn and did not want to get carried.
It was kinda cute.
" Had 'nough when you grabbe' me in the wa'ch'ower." She snorted.
Someone was still bitter at the way she picked him up when they first met. Granted, she knew that it probably hadn't been fun when she just picked him up and tucked him under her arm. But it was funny.
"Come on Con," She helped him hobble further into the cave," That was the best part of us meeting," She let out a quiet chuckle," It was our bonding moment."
"No I' wasn'." She let out a laugh and as she expected, her laugh made one of the teenagers come out of their rooms and see what was going on.
Much to her relief, it was one of the older members, who was quick to run over and help support him. Connor grumbled as the older teenager took his hand away from his face and slung his arm over his shoulder.
"What happened?" his eyes -Aqualad's if she remembers correctly- were narrowed in suspicion as he lead her to the infirmary.
She huffed at the way he was silently accusing her with his eyes and hugged Connor closer to her, taking on most of the weight of the Kryptonian.
"Wasn' her faul'" Connor mumbled out, barely being able to keep his head up," was Is'al's."
Connor slurred out the name to the point where if you didn't know what he was talking about, you couldn't understand him. When Aqualad looked over at her, she clarified," He's talking about Iskald, he's a teenager from the Far Frozen from the Zone. They got a little rough when they were messing around."
"Imma ge' 'im back."
Dani sighed and said as if she was scolding a child," No Connor, you will not be getting Iskald back. He didn't mean to use so much force," Poor kid was nearly in tears because he truly did not mean to hurt Connor," He's older and stronger than you."
"Though' he was my age."
Now Dani was chuckling as she helped Aqualad sit Connor down onto the cot," No Con. He's the equivalent of your age, he's older than all of us."
Connor hummed tiredly, and didn't fight them as she pushed him back into the cot," How ol' is he?"
Dani hummed as she pulled the blankets over him. She had to resist the annoying urge to fix his hair," Few thousand years old. I think he just turned three thousand years old a few months ago.
"Wow…" Connor said quietly, batting away Dani's hand that was trying to put the fingertip heart monitor on his hand," Ol' as shiiii'"
"Yes he is old as shit-Connor!" She snapped sharply. Connor stopped moving completely and let her put on the fingertip monitor," Stop moving and let me get you set up!"
Aqualad rose an eyebrow at the way Connor immediately folded under her anger and was subdued as she fussed over him. That had to be the first time he had ever seen the teenager so compliant from a single warning.
Interesting
"The medicine Frostbite gave you is going to help with the concussion," She said as she pulled the blankets to his chest," You're lucky that its safe for Kryptonians, you'll be fine in the morning, but it should be knocking you on your ass by now right?"
Connor foolishly nodded his head and winced at the movement. Dani chuckled and patted his arm in a comforting manner," Yeah you'll be fine. I'll check on you before I leave and in the morning. Okay?"
He hummed tiredly and mumbled out something that sounded like thanks and a promise to get Iskald back before finally falling asleep.
She motioned for the leader to follow her out," Sorry," She closed the door behind them as she started to walk back to the main room," Superman is off planet on a mission and he didn't want to stay in the Zone overnight."
Aqualad nodded his head," There is no problem, thank you for assisting him. You are Phantom correct?"
"Uh," She rubbed the back of her neck, a quirk she had picked up from her original," I'm Phantoms clone. That's why I'm the one training Connor. We're both Phantom, but just call me Dani."
The teenager looked like he wanted to ask some questions, but had the manners to restrain from asking said questions.
She had arrived sometime in the early evening, so she wasn't surprised when she returned to the main room, just to see the rest of the team.
Her presence caught the attention of the others and before long, she had a teenager who looked like he took a bath in mustard and ketchup, in front of her.
He was trying to be suave, but he was about five years too young to be able to win her over, she snorted and flicked his forehead," Cute. Come back when your voice is done cracking." The comment made the teenager turn red, and it made the shortest and youngest start laughing.
His laughter was loud and echoed around the cave, but it just made his age all the more obvious. She may have not been older than the kid, time-wise. But she had traveled the world enough where she had a good idea of people's ages based on their voices, and she could tell that the kid was 13 at the most.
She was quick to make him blush," I would be quiet short stuff. Sounds like your voice hasn't even started cracking."
She grinned when he joined the blushing mustard kid that was in front of her and took in joy in the fact that she made the blonde in green start laughing," I like her."
As she thought, and as she wanted, she started talking to the younger heroes. She had a small conversation with them, revealing that she was Phantom's clone ( It was nothing she was ashamed of. It was just life) and that Connor had been training with her for that exact reason.
What she didn't tell them, was that they often had conversations with each other about their feelings about being clones. Dani often detailed her struggles about finding her own identity in the beginning.
Somehow, Danny's interests had been given to her, and while she didn't mind in the beginning, her interest eventually waned and she truly found her own. Only that had taken almost two years until she found her own interests. And those entire two years, she felt like she was supposed to be some sort of backup of Danny like she was just there for spare parts. It had helped that she had been by herself and had little to no contact with Danny, but she knew that Connor couldn't do the same.
Connor didn't have that luxury of being able to take a few years to find himself. Dani was lucky that Danny didn't have any expectations of her, he just wanted her to go and live her life. Unfortunately, Connor had huge expectations put onto him, granted, she was the clone of the Ghost King. But Connor was the clone of The Man of Steel, one of the world's superheroes that were widely known.
As soon as the world found out that he was a clone ( Ancients forbid that they do) there was going to be a shit show, and she was in the same situation, the only difference was that Danny wasn't that well known.
Perhaps that is why they got along so well since they were in a similar situation.
"So," Megan said quietly, looking up at one of the few female heroes in the league," How is Phantom doing?"
Dani answered her question with a smile," He's doing fine. He's still sleeping, but he might wake up in a few months or so." Danny had been sleeping like a baby. Every time she visited him in his bedroom, he was either in a weird sleeping position, or had a long trail of drool going down his chin and onto his neck.
"Isn't that a long time?" Megan had an innocent tilt to her head as she asked that.
"Nah," she waved her hand around dismissively," Us ghosts get stronger the older we get. And Danny is the King of the Ghost Zone. It's going to take him some time to regain his power but he'll be fine."
"Wait," The mustard and ketchup kid, who he had learned to be Kid Flash, also known as Wally interrupted," If he's the king, does that make you the queen?"
She hummed in confirmation," Yeah. Temporarily though, as soon as he wakes up, I'll happily hand everything back over to him. "
"Not everything we made it out to be as children?"
Dani let out a bark of laughter," Nope! Pain in my ass!" A shiver went down her spine, her bond with Connor reminding her that he was injured. She shook out her shoulders and stood up, the urge to check on him was too strong to resist," Sorry kiddos. I gotta check on Connor before going back home."
Before Aqualad or anyone could offer to take her back, she told them that she was just fine.
Within half a minute, she was next to Connor again, shaking him awake," Connor," She whispered his name and shook his shoulder.
Luckily, he woke up at the first call of his name, his eyebrows crinkled and in a way that was oddly cute, he slightly scrunched up his nose, " Dani?" Hey look, he wasn't slurring his words anymore," Owwww," He hissed through his teeth, his hand going up to his head," Why does my head hurt?"
She chuckled and sat on the edge of his bed as she said," Iskald forgot that you're not a halfa like me and Danny."
He groaned, his lovely blue eyes opening to look at her, " I'm so getting him back."
"Be nice," Was this how Danny felt when he was telling her that all those months ago," He didn't mean it. Poor dude was even crying."
Connor groaned again, only this time, it was in exasperation," fine." He did not look happy," Only because he cried and I feel bad."
Dani snorted and ruffled his hair, much to his annoyance," Good," He swatted away her hand," Ima go to sleep. I'll come and check on you in the morning."
He hummed tiredly and nodded his head," Ok. Tell Iskald to not worry about it. Night Dani."
She patted his hand, and pulled the blankets further up his chest," Night Con. See you in the morning."
Dani walked through a portal and she struggled to squish down that feeling she felt in her chest after he said her name and how he looked so cute being so sleepy and tired. The way he laughed and smi-
She scowled.
Stupid mating bond.