AN: A guest asked a question that I couldn't answer via PM, so let me clarify here: Batman knows who Danny is. He has known pretty much the entire time Danny has been on the team. He just didn't tell them because a. It wasn't relevant and b. Danny didn't seem to want anyone to know. (Similar to how he didn't tell them about Artemis's family.) When Batman does that spiel about how the Fentons died, he is saying the 'official' version. He and Robin are both smart enough to put the pieces together and realize who Danny is. So Batman and Robin both know that Danny is Daniel Fenton, and that his family and friends were killed by the GIW. Hope that clears up any confusion.

We've gotten to the dreaded middle section of the story. I had a clear view of how this would start, and I have a clear view of how it will end. Unfortunately, we are in the gray part between those two. Hang on everybody, this may be a bumpy ride!

Oh dear. Um, warning I guess. This chapter gets pretty dark, and a kid dies. If that bothers you, you can skip the middle section. The first and last sections are actually really nice and fluffy, and you can prolly guess what happens in the middle part.

PS, I love you… creators of these shows. Which are definitely not me. (What am I referencing? If you get it right, you get an intense feeling of satisfaction!)

Wally lay upside down on the couch, eating popcorn. He was staring very intently at something on the opposite side of the room. The object of his scrutiny ignored him, but Wally didn't mind. No one could ignore him forever.

Wally waited for another minute before getting bored. He tossed a piece of popcorn across the room, nailing his subject directly in the forehead.

"Hey!" Danny yelped, brushing off his forehead. He glared at Wally, who grinned and waved. Danny rolled his eyes before burying himself back in his textbook.

Wally frowned. Danny had been unusually studious the past few days. Danny didn't actually go to school because a. It was dangerous for him to show his face in public and b. He had missed almost an entire year of school. Instead, he was… well, homeschooled for lack of a better word. Red Tornado was his teacher, trying to catch Danny up so that maybe he could attend school once it was safe for him to do so.

Danny tried, he really did, but he wasn't exactly the most stellar student. School hadn't been a priority for him in a long time, and it was hard to get back into that mindframe. Which made Danny's unusual amount of studying worrisome. Wally couldn't think of a good reason that Danny would suddenly decide he had an unquenchable thirst for algebra, a subject which he had said that he hated multiple times, a desire to learn so great, that he would read the freaking textbook in his downtime. No, Wally recognized this. Danny was looking for a distraction, and he was so desperate to find one he would stoop to doing anything, even reading about math.

Wally hummed to himself, thinking. If Danny wanted a distraction, he was glad to provide one. He could be much more entertaining than some boring old textbook. But what to do…

Wally glanced at Robin, who was sitting next to him on the couch. Normally he would ask his friend for ideas, but he had the feeling that wouldn't fly today. Rob had also been acting strange since the whole Scarecrow disaster. He was constantly on his laptop, typing away at full speed, usually with a scowl on his face. Wally recognized this too. Robin was trying to hack into something, and judging by the muffled curses he was constantly muttering, it wasn't going well.

That really was strange. For Robin to work so consistently for so long on trying to hack something, only to not make any breakthroughs at all? Unheard of. It made Wally wonder what on earth he was trying to hack. It couldn't be the Pentagon or the Justice League, or anything like that. Robin could hack those in his sleep. Well, whoever they were, Wally felt bad for them. Robin would eventually break through, and when he did, he would be pissed. And the last thing anyone wanted to deal with was an angry bird.

Considering that fact, Wally weighed the pros and cons of bothering Robin. On the plus side, it would be very funny, and would most likely be an entertaining show for Danny, distracting him from whatever had pushed him into schoolwork. On the downside, Robin would probably kill him. Which would admittedly also be distracting for Danny, but Wally wasn't sure he was willing to go quite that far in the name of entertainment.

Idea discarded, Wally cast about for a new one. The problem was that he didn't know much about Danny. Sure, he had been living in the Cave for two months, but he never really talked about himself. Wally didn't know if he liked sports, or his favorite food, or where he grew up, or anything really. Wally didn't hold it against him. He had been tortured for months, that would change a guy. Wally wouldn't be surprised if Danny was still trying to remember who he was. But the problem remained that he wasn't sure what would be the best way to distract Danny.

Wally's eyes wandered around the room, looking for inspiration. Suddenly, it hit him.

"Hey Danny!"

Danny sighed, before looking up at Wally.

"Wally, I'm trying to study. If you're bored, why don't you go watch a movie or something?"

Wally waved a hand dismissively.

"I'm not bored. This is important! Besides, you've been reading that book for hours. You need a break."

"I've been reading it for thirty minutes." Danny muttered, but he closed the book and set it aside. He rested his face in his hands and stared at Wally. "Go for it."

Wally flipped around so he was right side up, copying Danny's position.

"Danny," he said seriously. "What do you want your superhero name to be?"

"Seriously?" Danny threw his arms up, exasperated. "That was your big important thing?"

"It is important." Wally whined. "When the law is changed, you are going to be introduced as an official hero, and you'll need a name! Honestly, I'm kind of surprised that Batman has allowed you into the field without one."

"Artemis doesn't have one." Danny grumbled, reaching for his book.

Wally zoomed across the room, shoving the book away while simultaneously wrapping an arm around Danny's shoulders.

"Artemis doesn't count." Wally said, ignoring Danny's flinch at the sudden contact. "Her name fits her superhero persona creepily well. No one will believe that you chose 'Danny' as your superhero name."

"Leave him alone KF." Robin said, not looking up from his laptop. "He doesn't have to pick a name yet if he doesn't want to."

"Come Rob, I thought you'd be on my side." Wally made puppy dog eyes at Robin, which was pointless considering Robin wasn't looking at him. "The criminals need something to scream when Danny dishes out some ghostly justice on them. Something like, 'Ah! Here comes Dead Guy! Run!'"

Danny couldn't help but laugh at that. "Really? 'Dead Guy' is the best you can come up with?"

Wally pretended to be embarrassed, but inwardly he was cheering. Yes! He got Danny to laugh. This was going great! Time to kick it up a notch.

"Well, I didn't really think about it…" Wally mumbled, looking sheepish. He brightened quickly though, a list of possible names running through his head.

"Hey, what about 'King of the Dead'? Nice intimidation factor, and it implies you're royalty, which always freaks out the bad guys."

Danny snorted, shaking his head.

"Uh, no. I've met the actual King of the Dead, and I can't imagine he would be very happy with me if he found out I was going around calling myself that."

"Whoa, you've met the King of the Dead?" Wally asked excitedly. "That's so cool! What was he like."

"He was a tyrant." Danny said blandly. "So I fought him and locked him in the Sarcophagus of Everlasting Sleep."

Wally blinked. Well that was unexpected. Super cool, but unexpected. Still, it gave him an idea.

"So, you probably know a lot of ghosts, right?"

Danny looked at him suspiciously. "Yes…"

"So what do they call you?" Wally asked eagerly. "Maybe we can base your name off of that!"

Danny looked sceptical. "I don't know…"

"Come on, it will be great!" Wally said cheerfully, convinced that this was a good idea.

"You don't get it." Danny said, aggravated. "The ghosts don't exactly call me anything nice. It's all twerp and whelp and Dipstick and stuff like that. The nicest thing they call me is halfa, and that's basically a racial slur."

"Ah." Wally wilted. That… was a bit depressing. It seemed that neither of Danny's species really accepted him. And things had been going so well.

"Don't any of them call you something positive?" he asked plaintively, desperate to salvage the situation.

Danny got a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well…" he said slowly. "My friend Wulf calls me Amiko. It means friend in Esperanto."

Wally's face crinkled in confusion. "Esperanto?"

"It's some nerd language." Danny said dismissively. "Lot's of ghosts speak it for some reason. I don't really get it."

Robin, who had been mostly ignoring them up to this point, suddenly froze.

"Ghosts speak Esperanto?" he asked, looking up from his computer for the first time since he entered the room.

"Um, yes?" Danny answered, confused over why it mattered. "I mean, not all of them. But a significant portion do. And it is weirdly easy for ghosts to learn the language. I managed it in two weeks, and I'm not exactly a language prodigy."

Robin nodded quickly, looking back at his computer. He started typing again, faster than before if that was even possible.

If Wally strained his ears, he could just here what Robin was muttering.

"Of course! If the base were in Esperanto, which has a different alphabet, than that would mean… yes!"

Robin leapt to his feet, holding his computer aloft triumphantly. He started doing a little dance, so excited about his victory.

"I knew it! I knew that if I could find the language I could crack it. I was so close, I was just missing a few pieces! I have to go tell Batman!"

Robin ran from the room, cackling gleefully. Danny and Wally looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter.

"Is he always like that when he hacks into something?" Danny asked, wiping away tears of mirth.

"You know what?" Wally said cheerfully. "I think that is the most excited I have ever seen Rob about a successful hack. I really wish I knew who he was trying to infiltrate."

"It's probably for the best that we don't know." Danny said mock seriously, unable to keep a straight face.

"Point." Wally acknowledged, standing up. "Anyway, you said something about a movie? I've been dying to watch the newest Mission Impossible. Come on, let's go. I'll pop some more popcorn."

Danny stood up as well, following Wally to the T.V. Wally grinned to himself. He had successfully helped Danny and Robin get over whatever had been bothering them. Not too shabby.

Soon, both teens were seated cheerfully on the couch, and Wally started the movie. Danny's math book lay forgotten.

"Batman! Batman, I got it!"

Batman turned away from the monitor as Robin came running into the Batcave. He was waving his computer around so wildly that Batman was mildly concerned that he would drop it.

"You got what?"

"I broke through the GIW's security!" Robin was beaming as he presented his laptop to Batman. "We have access to everything!"

Batman raised an eyebrow, though it couldn't be seen through his cowl. He took the laptop, flicking through files.

"How did you manage it?" he asked, taking the time to copy over the more incriminating files. He felt slightly ill reading through some of their experiments. Unfortunately, all of these had been performed on ghosts. While the nature of the experiments would definitely anger some people, they wouldn't ensure the shut down of the agency. He kept looking as Robin launched into a complicated explanation of his process while hacking the database.

"But I kept running into walls." Robin finally said. "I was so close, but I was working on the assumption that this was some kind of ghost language. Once I realized it was Esperanto-"

"You know Esperanto?" Batman asked, pausing in his perusal of the files.

"Of course." Robin scoffed. "Except it wasn't really Esperanto, I would have noticed that right away. It was actually english written with a modified version of the Esperanto alphabet. Once I realized that, everything fell into place. It was easy to get in after that."

Batman nodded.

"Good job Robin." he said turning his attention more fully toward the files he had unlocked.

Robin fairly glowed at the praise. He hopped onto the back of Batman's chair, looking over his shoulder at the screen.

"Anything useful? I was too excited to actually look."

Batman continued flipping through files, skimming each one before moving on.

"Not yet. All of these were technically legal, though not morally sound. We need something done to humans."

"Like that?" Robin asked, pointing at a specific file. His voice was a little shaky, his excitement fading as he realized exactly what he had unlocked.

Batman frowned, opening the folder Robin had noticed. It was labeled Phantom, and Batman had a bad feeling about what it contained.

He read through the preliminary reports, which specified how Phantom was captured. Unfortunately, it did not mention the deaths of the Fentons. Moving on, he skipped past pages of various stats and measurements, looking for evidence of the human experimentation that Danny had alluded to.

He paused as he came to a video. He glanced at the title of the video and frowned.

"Robin, go upstairs."

"What? No!" Robin yelled. "I'm the one who got us access to these, I want to see them!"

"Robin, you don't want to see this." Batman said gently.

"I've seen plenty of bad things before." Robin muttered petulantly. "How is this different?"

"Do you really want to watch as a friend of yours is tortured?" Batman spat, spinning around to look at Robin. "Do you think you'll ever be able to look at Danny again without remembering what it looked like when he had a hole in his chest? Will you be able to talk to him without hearing his screams in your head? Is that what you want?"

Robin stared at Batman, shock and hurt written over his face. Batman sighed, running a hand over his face.

"I know that you could handle seeing this." he said softly. "I just don't think you should have to."

Robin was silent for a second before he slipped off of Batman's chair. He walked toward the stairs that lead to the manner. He paused at the top of the stairs.

"Take them down." He said. "Whatever it takes. The GIW cannot continue."

Batman nodded, and Robin left.

Batman turned back to the computer. He took a deep breath. He had no desire to watch this video, or any of the ones that followed, but it was necessary. Bracing himself, he pushed play.

The screen focussed on a lab, a man in a lab coat front and center. He was looking at a clipboard when he seemed to realize that the camera was on.

"Ah. Hello. This is the first of a series of videos that will be chronicling the experiments on our newest acquisition, Phantom. We've done all the basic testing, and today we are beginning some of the more invasive tests, starting with vivisection."

At that moment, the door to the lab opened, and two guards entered, dragging Danny between them. Danny didn't look good. His face was heavily bruised, and he wasn't supporting his own weight.

"Oh, here it is. Place the subject on the table gentlemen."

Danny seemed to come alive at that. He jerked in the men's grip, struggling to get away.

"No." he mumbled.

The men ignored him, strapping him onto the table. The man in the lab coat came over, picking up a scalpel from a tray next to the table.

"We will start with a y-cut." the scientist said to the camera, standing over Danny.

Danny was sobbing at this point, twisting violently on the table. All of the men ignored his begging as the scientist began to cut.

When Danny started screaming, Batman closed the video. He didn't need to see the rest. It was pretty clear what happened.

Batman skipped through the other videos, mostly just looking at the descriptions to see what they were about. Batman had thought that he had seen the worst that mankind had to offer, but watching these videos made him realize that there was no limit to the depravity that men would sink to.

A specific video caught his attention. Frowning, he opened it.

The same man as before stood in front of the camera. He seemed excited.

"Today is the day! We are finally prepared to recreate the accident that created subject Phantom!"

The man walked away. After a moment, the camera swung around, focussing on a strange contraption. It appeared to be two large tubes that were connected by a series of wires and pipes. Danny was strapped into the first tube. Batman winced as he looked closer. Strapped was the wrong word. It would be more appropriate to say that he was wired into the machine. Needles and wires were attached to various points of his body, trapping him in the device. Danny didn't seem truly aware of where he was. His eyes were blank and glazed over.

The scientist stepped up to the machine, smiling at it lovingly.

"All attempts to create a working ghost portal have failed." He told the camera, looking upset at the news. "So we have had to improvise. This device measures Phantom's energy signature and replicates it in the second tube. We are hopeful that if we combine Phantom's energy signature with enough raw ectoplasm and a high enough electrical charge, we will be able to create a creature similar to Phantom."

The man turned to the door to the lab. "Bring in the test subject!"

Batman watched in horror as a child was dragged into the room. He was gagged, but it was obvious that he was terrified. Tears were streaming down his face and he struggled to get away from the men holding him.

"We've chosen the test subject for the similarities to Phantom at the time of the accident. Same gender, blood type, and age. Hopefully this will make the procedure go smoother."

The man approached the terrified boy, cupping his face gently.

"You should be honored." he said softly. "Your sacrifice will greatly benefit the scientific community."

The scientist let go of the boy, who shook his head over and over. The guards strapped him into the other tube, before retreating a safe distance.

"Test one, about to commence!" And with that, the scientist pressed a button on the device.

Instantly, Danny's body seized. He began to scream as the tubes and wires attached to him lit up.

Soon the other tube lit up as well, the light getting brighter and brighter as the sequence progressed. Batman had to look away as the light became blinding.

Suddenly, it was over. Batman watched as the guards removed the boy from the tube. His too still form told Batman all he needed to know.

"No…" Danny finally seemed to realize what was going on. He stared at the dead body in disbelief. Tears started to run down his face as he sobbed, shaking in his restraints.

The scientist approached the boy, taking his pulse. He sighed, making a note on his clipboard.

"Test one failed." he said, sounding vaguely disappointed, and not as though a child had just died. "Ah well. The odds of it working on the first try were astronomical. We will adjust the settings and bring in the next test subject."

Batman stopped the video. He had what he needed. The GIW was going down.

"Guys!"

Robin ran into the Cave at full speed, interrupting the team's movie. Megan pushed pause as Robin launched himself onto the couch.

"Dude, where have you been?" Wally whined. "You've been MIA since you ran out of here a week ago. We thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

"I've been busy." Robin said cheerfully, grabbing the remote from Megan. "You guys have got to see this!"

He changed the channel, ignoring Wally's complaint. He stopped when he got to a channel playing the news.

"Yay, the news." Wally grumbled. "Just what a bunch of teenagers want to watch in their spare time."

"I hate to agree with Wally, but yeah, what gives?" Artemis asked. "We were finally watching a movie I actually wanted to see."

"Just wait." Robin said with a grin.

The team exchanged looks before shrugging. When Robin got like this, it was easier to just go with it rather than try and fight him.

The team watched the news for about five minutes, getting more and more restless. Wally was just about to complain again when it happened.

"Breaking News." the newscaster said. "Footage from a government lab run by the Ghostly Investigation Ward, or GIW, has been leaked."

Danny's mouth fell open. He stared at Robin with big eyes.

"Early this week, information concerning the GIW's experiments were leaked to several high government officials. The content of these files were highly upsetting. Even though ghosts are currently classified as non sentient by the US government, the experiments that were performed on them seem severe and extreme, and the reactions of the ghosts have led many to question whether or not the claim that they cannot feel pain is true."

The entire team was riveted as they watched the broadcast. Danny had tears welling in his eyes as he saw the first steps toward his freedom play out.

"If the horrific nature of the experiments were not enough, footage of GIW scientists experimenting on living people has also been found. Multiple officials have already begun to talk about shutting down the organization for good. Some prominent public figures have also made their thoughts on the subject known."

Here the screen cut away from the newsroom, showing a clip of Bruce Wayne standing in front of the mayor's office in Gotham.

"This is truly terrible." the White Knight of Gotham said. "To imagine that these people are being tortured by our own government. Seeing the abuses of the GIW, I for one think that the law designating ghosts' standing in the eyes of the law should be revoked and replaced with one granting them the protection they deserve as intelligent beings."

The T.V. switched back to the newsroom, where the anchor was looking off to the side.

"Amazing. In a new twist on this story, the Justice League has just taken an official stance on the issue. We take you live to the scene."

The screen cut to Superman standing in front of the Hall of Justice. He had just started his speech.

"When I first became of hero, people said a lot of the same things about aliens that they are now saying about ghosts. Just because we were different, they treated us like we couldn't hurt, or have feelings. I am so glad that the people of Earth decided to give us a chance. Now I ask you to give that chance to ghosts. I'm not saying that it will easy, or that no ghosts will ever attack or be violent. But isn't it worth it to spare the innocent, to develop a friendship with an entire new species? For that reason, the Justice League is officially recognizing all ghosts as sentient beings with all civil rights applied, and we will be treating them as such in our encounters with them. Thank you."

With his speech finished, Superman left the stand. The screen cut back to the newsroom.

"Well, there you have it." the anchor said. "With several powerful government officials calling for it's disbandment, and such powerful voices as Bruce Wayne and the Justice League speaking against it, it seems clear that the GIW's days are numbered."

Robin turned off the T.V. as the news moved on to other matters. Danny was full on crying at this point, staring at the blank T.V. in wonder.

"Is this real?" he asked in a shaky voice. "Did that actually just happen?"

"It did." Connor said with a grin. "Danny, you're going to be free!"

Danny laughed, tears of joy streaming down his face. He jumped off the couch, transforming as he went. He flipped into the air, still laughing. Megan flew up to join him hugging him in midair.

"I'm free!" Danny said it over and over, unable to really believe it. "I'm finally free!"

"This calls for a party!" Wally yelled. "I'll order pizza!"

Robin watched with satisfaction as each team member hugged Danny. He was slightly surprised as Danny ran up to him.

"This was you." Danny said. "This is what you've been doing this week."

Robin shrugged, trying to look casual.

"Well, I just broke through the GIW's firewall. Batman organized all the information and got it to the right people, it really wasn't-"

Robin stopped when Danny threw his arms around him.

"Thank you." Danny whispered.

Robin didn't hesitate in wrapping his arms around Danny.

"You're welcome."

AN: Aww, so much fluff. (middle section tries to drown you in angst) Just fluff, nothing else. (middle section screeches at being ignored) Fluffy fluff. So soft. (middle section hides in your shower to attack you when you're most vulnerable)

Seriously, I did not expect the middle bit to get so… terrible. I mean, I knew stuff like that happened, I just didn't think I would actually write it down. Ah well, hopefully the fluff makes up for it.

See ya when I see ya!