AN: You know, I almost ended the last chapter with this first scene, but I decided to end it on a happy note instead. You're welcome.
YAY! I have a computer again! I can write fanfiction at home! I'm so happy. I guess I can do homework and stuff too, but I'm mostly excited about the fanfiction. My priorities are def in the right place.
I don't own Danny Phantom or Young Justice. Yep. That's all you're getting. Nothing cute today, just business.
Luthor paused the video, freezing it on the news anchor's face. This was an unfortunate development. He would have liked to be able to hold the ghost boy legally, but it appeared that that was off the table now. Ah well, it's not like the legality of something had ever stopped him before. It would just be a bit harder now. Luckily, he was never one to back down from a challenge.
Well, one thing would be easier at least. Opening his email, he composed a message to the leader of the committee dedicated to investigating the GIW. The man in question owed Luthor a favor, and he was finally going to call it in.
Having sent the email, Luthor leaned back in his chair, a satisfied smile on his face. Soon LexCorp would have access to all of the GIW's technology. Of course, he played it off as just wanting to help. Afterall, the technology had to go somewhere, so why not into the hands of one of the public's most trusted corporations? Surely they wouldn't misuse it.
Luthor opened the file on the ghost boy, pulling up a picture of the boy. He grinned.
Soon, Phantom. Soon.
Danny fidgeted, fingering his shirt. It was not something that he would have chosen to wear, but Megan had been so excited when she gave it to him that he felt obligated to put it on. Now he wished he had just put on one of his normal t-shirts. He was nervous enough without adding unfamiliar clothing to the mix.
"Relax Danny!" Robin said with a grin. "This will be fun!"
Danny grimaced. "I'm not sure that this is a good idea guys."
"Come on." Wally said, throwing an arm around Danny, ignoring the usual flinch. "You haven't left the Cave once since you moved in. Except for missions, and those do not count. Now that the GIW is gone, we can finally have some fun!"
"The law hasn't changed." Danny muttered, looking at the ground.
"It will." Kaldur said firmly. "Have faith Danny. The people of this world will not let you down."
Danny gave Kaldur a faint smile. It faded as they approached the door that led out of the Cave.
"I feel sick." he mumbled.
Artemis rolled her eyes. "It's a carnival Danny. It's not like we're heading into battle."
"I would prefer a battle." Danny muttered. "I don't like crowds."
"There shouldn't be very many people." Robin reassured. "I picked the time of day where most people are at school or work. Besides it's not like it's the State Fair or something. It's just a tiny carnival in tiny town in Rhode Island, the tiniest state. It'll be fine."
Danny scowled, but he followed the team out of the Cave.
Danny stopped dead once he emerged out of the shadow cast by the mountain. His breath hitched as he stared up at the sky above. He closed his eyes, basking in the sunlight.
The rest of the team paused, looking back at the motionless halfa.
"Are you okay Danny?" Megan asked, walking back up to him.
"Yeah," Danny said breathlessly. "It's just, all of our missions have been at night and… this is the first time I've seen sunlight in almost a year."
Danny smiled, all of his nervousness from before gone. "I'd forgotten how warm light could be."
The rest of the team exchanged looks. It was easy to forget what Danny had been through, but then something like this would remind them. Connor approached Danny, smiling up at the sky.
"I remember the first time I saw a sunrise." Connor said wistfully. "It was beautiful."
Danny stretched out his arms to better feel the warmth of the sun.
"The sunrise is nice," Danny said, his eyes still closed. "But I always loved the stars. When I was in the lab, I would close my eyes and map out the constellations in my head. After a while, I started to forget what they looked like. I was so scared. They had taken everything from me, but at least I had the stars. When they started to fade, it was like the last thing that made me me was going with them. I am so happy that I can see the stars again."
Connor let Danny relish the sunlight for a moment longer before putting a hand on Danny's arm. Danny opened his eyes, looking at the clone. Connor gestured toward the rest of the team with his head.
"Come on. Rob spent a lot of money on those tickets. Would hate for them to go to waste."
"Money is no object." Robin said, waving a dismissive hand. "But time is. Let's move people! I want to go on every ride at least twice!"
Danny laughed with the rest of the team, his worries forgotten.
Unfortunately, Danny's worries would turn out to be well founded. The day started well, with the whole team enjoying the carnival food and rides. Danny was a little anxious at first, but soon he was laughing and yelling just as much as the others. For the first time ages, he felt like a normal teenager.
The team was taking a break to eat lunch when disaster struck. An explosion ripped through the fairgrounds, causing instant panic amongst the attendees. Danny reacted on instinct, ducking behind an abandoned food cart and transforming into Phantom. Turning invisible, he headed toward the source of the explosion.
Getting closer, he was relieved to see that it was just a malfunctioning ride. It had been shut down when they arrived, much to Robin's disappointment, but now it seemed that they were lucky that the carnival had been responsible enough to close the ride. No one had been hurt in the accident.
Danny was about to return to the team when someone screamed. He spun around to see that the decorative globe at the center of the ride had been destabilized by the explosion. It fell off the ride, scattering people in its wake. Danny tensed as he saw a teenage girl trip and fall directly into its path. He darted forward, grabbing the girl and turning her intangible just as the ball hit them.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked once the globe had passed. The girl opened her eyes, looking up at Danny. Her mouth fell open, and she stared at him, not responding to his question.
Danny frowned, worried that that she had hurt herself when she fell. "Are you hurt?"
The girl blinked before breaking into a beautiful smile.
"You saved me." she said breathlessly.
Danny blushed, helping the girl to her feet. "It was nothing."
"Yes it was! You saved my life!" A crowd was starting to form around the two, and Danny was getting more and more uncomfortable.
"Are you a new hero?" Someone from the crowd called.
Danny jerked in the direction of the voice. The girl whom he had saved grabbed his arm.
"Of course he is." she said, still smiling at Danny.
"What's your name?" Another voice called.
More and more people began to close in, asking for his name. Feeling overwhelmed, all Danny could think was thank goodness Wally had got him thinking about a superhero name a couple weeks ago, or he would be screwed right about now.
"Enough!" the original girl yelled. "If you want an answer, you need to quiet down."
Immediately the crowd went silent, all of them looking expectantly at Danny. Danny swallowed, but he took a deep breath and spoke.
"You can call me… Shade."
And with that, he vanished.
"In other news, a new superhero was spotted in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island, earlier this day."
"Spotted?" Danny said incredulously. "That makes me sound like some rare animal that someone was lucky enough to see in its natural territory."
"Shh." Wally smacked Danny's arm a few times, eyes glued to the television.
"This hero, calling himself Shade, saved a young girl from a rampaging globe at the town's local carnival."
"Rampaging?" Danny squeaked. "It was just rolling on the ground."
"SHH!" Wally said again, shoving more popcorn into his face.
"We managed to talk to the girl in question."
The T.V. cut to the teenage girl Danny had saved.
"It was incredible." She gushed. "I was so scared, then suddenly I hear this voice asking if I was okay, and I look up into the most gorgeous pair of green eyes I have ever seen. I swear, for a minute, I thought I'd died and that an angel had arrived to take me into heaven."
The girl stared off into space dreamily. She said more, but it was drowned out by Wally and Robin's hysterical laughter. Danny flushed bright red as they laughed.
"Aw, Danny. She likes you!" Megan squealed. Danny groaned.
"Megan, I don't even know her name." he moaned.
Wally fake swooned, collapsing onto Danny's lap. "Oh sweet angel. Save me from this cruel world. Carry me to heaven, where I can meet some super hot lady angels"
Danny buried his face in his hands, turning invisible out of sheer humiliation.
"This was the worst possible way to introduce myself to the public." His voice drifted from the general area he had last been seen.
"Well, that's not true." Robin said, calming down slightly. He opened his laptop, flicking through different sites, all discussing the appearance of a new hero. "Lots of people have speculated that you may be a ghost. The idea of a ghost hero has made public support for ghosts skyrocket. Really, your introduction into public life couldn't have come at a better time."
"Really?" Danny asked hopefully, fading back into view. Robin nodded.
"Yep. Looks like the world is ready for the newest hero in town: Shade!"
"Speaking of," Wally said, rolling off of Danny's lap. "How'd you pick your name? I like it."
"Ah." Danny suddenly looked uncomfortable, refusing to look anyone in the eye. The leviety in the room dropped as everyone picked up in Danny's mood.
"Danny?" Kaldur asked, concerned by Danny's sudden mood swing.
Danny smiled a sickly smile. "Th-there's no particular reason I picked that name. I just thought it, um, sounded cool."
"You are a terrible liar Danny." Robin said gently. "Come on. We won't judge."
Danny looked at each of them individually, before taking a deep breath.
"The thing is," he began hesitantly. "There are different kinds of ghosts. Shades are one type."
Danny's voice grew slightly more confident as he explained. "They are what people typically think of when they think of ghosts. They never fully formed. Either there wasn't enough ectoplasm to create a full ghost, or the emotions were distorted or muffled somehow. The result is something that isn't really alive. They are just echos, remnants of someone who has moved on."
Danny hesitated, becoming unsure again. "I guess I called myself Shade because, well, sometimes I feel like one. I feel like I'm not really a person anymore. I'm just the leftovers of who I used to be. They destroyed who I was before."
Danny refused to meet anyone's eyes, ashamed of his admission. Robin was the first to break the heavy silence.
"Why didn't you tell us you felt that way?"
"I didn't want to bother you." Danny mumbled. "You've all done so much for me, I don't want to impose more than I already have."
"Danny, your presence is not a burden." Kaldur said kindly. "In fact, I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we rather enjoy having you around."
Everyone on the team nodded earnestly. Danny looked at them, unsure that they really meant it. He had tried to accept their kindness and friendship, but there had always been a voice in the back of his head insisting that they only kept him around because he was useful, that no one would ever want something like him around.
Danny laughed, a slightly strangled sound, but genuine nonetheless.
"Sorry," he said, taking in the team's surprised expressions. "It's just, I thought that I was past the whole 'no one will ever love you because you're a freak' thing. I guess I'm not as okay as I thought."
Danny wiped at the tears on his face. He hadn't noticed he'd been crying. "I guess I'm so used to pretending that I'm fine that I forgot that it was alright to not be fine. If that makes any sense."
"You're talking to a group of teenage superheroes." Artemis said dryly. "Do you really think that any of us are 100 percent okay?"
Danny laughed again, more naturally this time. "You got me there."
Danny took in the team's worried faces. "I really am okay guys. I do know that you guys care about me, I swear. I just, need reminders sometimes. That's all."
"Would more team outings be good reminders?" Robin asked mischievously. "Because there's this petting zoo that I've had my eye on for a while."
Danny smiled as the team began to argue the pros and cons of a petting zoo. He felt something inside of him settle for the first time in nearly a year. For the first time, he felt at home.
Batman raised an eyebrow as a teenage girl described Danny as an angel. Robin would get a kick out of that. He glanced over at the many message boards he had open. The vast majority of the commentary around Danny's appearance was positive. Good. He'd have to have Danny officially announced as a hero working in tandem with the Justice League soon, but that could wait.
Minimizing the screens, he turned to a different news story, this one much more troubling.
Reading it over one more time, he closed the screen. It wouldn't do for Robin to see it. As unsettling as the news was, there was no need to panic just yet.
Batman frowned. There was only one reason that Lex Luthor would want all of the GIW's technology. The Light had a history of cloning people, and the GIW had been well on their way to creating a stable clone of Danny when he had escaped. If the Light could successfully create a clone of Danny, it could tip the balance of power between the two groups.
Even though Danny didn't seem to realize it, the halfa was incredibly powerful. Batman had no doubts that the boy could take down Superman if he wanted to. It was not surprising that the Light would want such a powerhouse under their control.
Batman considered his options. He didn't think Danny needed to know about the potential threat. The kid was paranoid enough as it was, telling him would only cause him undue stress. The team was already incredibly protective of Danny, so telling them wouldn't change much. His best bet would be to somehow get the technology away from Luthor. Of course, he would have to act fast. After a certain amount of time, Luthor's people would be able to recreate the technology. Once they hit that point, there wouldn't be much that anyone could do.
Decision made, Batman stood up. He needed to do some surveillance of Luthor's main headquarter if he was going to successfully infiltrate it. As he left the Batcave, he could only hope that he was doing the right thing in keeping the information from the team.
AN: A bit shorter than usual, but that's okay. Next time should be longer.
Anyway. What a chapter! Team bonding, Danny being introduced to the public, some h/c, and of course, foreboding signs of a darker future! Everything a good chapter should have.
Hope you guys enjoy! See ya soon!