AN: Jiffy185- Thank you so much for agreeing with me about Wally. I just found him whiny and immature and not cut out for the life. He didn't take it seriously enough. He was all heroic at the end there and he was a good friend to Dick but I just didn't like him. I'm not blind to the good parts of his character but I just cannot write him without making him an ass.

Chapter 14

Artemis zetaed into cave and found herself face to face with two new people. It had been a year since she had started dating Danny and for their anniversary he had taken her out of Gotham to a lake house owned by his adoptive father. It was beautiful and they spent the whole weekend together, going on hikes, swimming, picnics and she honestly believed that she could build a life with him.

Megan flew inside when she heard Artemis had entered the cave and she brought a plate of cookies with her. She smiled brightly at everyone in the room and greeted her friend joyfully. Artemis resisted an eye roll, she loved Megan but her bubbly attitude took some getting used too.

"Artemis, come meet Garth and Tula. They're joining the team, with Tula as Aquagirl and Garth as Tempest." Introduced Megan and Artemis hid a wince at seeing the beautiful atlantean girl.

She was had short red hair and creamy looking skin and pretty teal coloured eyes and it wasn't hard to see why Kaldur had loved her. She was beautiful and she was pretty sure that Megan hadn't realized that even though Kaldur was happy for his friends who had found love with each other, Tula had still broken his heart. Kaldur hadn't entered a relationship with anyone else, at least not anything that they knew off and it was going to be hard on their leader to see them together.

Garth stepped forward to shake her hand and Artemis immediately banished all thoughts from her mind, instead she put on a smile and welcomed them to the team. They were good people and just because Tula had broken Kaldur's heart it wasn't any reason for any tension especially since Kaldur himself had not been holding a grudge. He may have moved forward but Tula had been his first love and so far he had not been able to date anyone else. She reminded herself to be there for him in case he needed to talk. Kaldur was the responsible one but he would need a friend.

As she looked around the cave she realized that their team had grown quite a lot since she had joined them. Donna Troy, also known as Troia had recently joined as well. She also knew that back in Gotham there was a girl running around calling herself Batgirl that was giving B a headache because she refused to get off the streets. She had been training with B for about three months now and even though she doesn't know who was under the masks. Artemis knows that Babs is going to throttle Dick once she finds out because the girl is good, maybe in a couple months she'll join the team as well.

There were some others out there that Batman had his eye on but for now it was mission time. Kaldur was doing the debrief this time, since Batman and Robin were busy doing the dynamic duo thing and he already went over this plan with Batman before prepping the team.

Garth looked a little angry when he split up from Tula since they weren't in the same group. Tula was part of the distraction for the drug cartel they were hitting and Garth was on perimeter duty.

Connor put an arm on his and said, "Tula is faster than you are and able to create bigger distractions since these guys are based near the ocean where she can call upon more water. You are a better fighter so you are with the heavy hitters ensuring that no one gets inside out circle to hurt anyone and Artemis will collect samples and download any data she can find. Its strategic, mission time she's your team mate not your girlfriend, if you cannot separate the two then you'll get yourself killed. She doesn't need protection, she needs her team."

Kaldur nodded his head Conner knowing that he helped prevent a problem between the two friends because while their love triangle had more or less been sorted out, jealousy was a part of life and no one needed the teen romance drama right now.

Their missions had been going well lately however Artemis didn't think that this was what she wanted for the rest of her life. Danny made it clear to her that while he would help, if it was needed he wasn't going to join any teams long term. Gotham was his haunt now and ghosts couldn't leave their haunts for long periods of time and she could see herself leaving behind the extra work of the team to go to college while living with Danny and patrolling Gotham. It would be a good life just not yet, soon she decided as she settled onto the couch with Zatanna, Rocket and Megan to watch reality shows and gossip. They even invited Donna and Tula to join them and bond with them.

Dick zetaed over to the cave to check up on everyone after their mission yesterday and found Artemis and the rest of the girls deep in some discussion so he slowly backed away and went to find everyone else. Wally, Kaldur, Conner and Garth were in the grotto and he was introduced to their new team mates. The guys chatted for a while since Conner was messing with some bikes down there and they all got to know each other a little better. Garth was a newcomer and they all wanted him to feel welcome and help him figure out the surface life.

The boys wandered into the kitchen when they smelled food and it wasn't long before they could start eating that Danny zetaed into the cave with Damian in his arms. The kid was only a year old and he was in general a very happy baby and easy to take care off however Danny was supposed to be baby sitting and not in the cave, he avoided this place as much as he could.

Artemis walked up to him and gave him a quick kiss and raised a questioning eyebrow and Danny smiled at her sheepishly. Dick introduced Danny as his brother to those who didn't know him however it didn't take long for Wally to speak up, "What is he doing here?"

Danny rolled his eyes, the two boys just didn't get along and it sort of strained Wally's and Dick's friendship. Wally refused to believe that Danny was half-ghost and insisted that he was some sort of meta human which led to an argument and Danny stormed out after calling him close minded and prejudiced against things he didn't understand. Danny asked if Wally would 'be happy if they dissected him to figure out how he worked' and Dick had blown up at the thought of someone harming his family. They weren't as close as they had been once upon a time afterwards and they were only drifting further away from each other.

Looking back at the fight it was kind of blown out of proportion. Danny could admit that he had become a little bit sensitive when it came to how he was able to be half-dead because it was a well-known fact that he didn't fully understand it either. He only had theories but to completely disregard the evidence of magic and spirits was something just plain stupid considering everything that they came into contact with on a daily basis.

Danny didn't have the patience for Wally's closed mindedness and he didn't think that he would have to justify being alive especially not after all the shit he went through with his own parents and how ghosts were evil and emotionless beings. Wally was just jealous that Artemis was dating him and that Dick thought he was awesome. He felt kind of replaced even though Danny didn't join the team.

Danny handed Dick the baby bag, "You're on babysitting duty. No mission right now so take him and I'll be back in an hour or two maybe."

Dick took the bag and the toddler with a questioning look on his face, "A is gone to the dentist, B and D are on a date somewhere not in Gotham and I gotta go to a school meeting. You might have the afternoon off since you had tests in the morning but as soon as you left all hell broke loose apparently and I don't think taking the kid out of the house is a good idea at this point."

Dick winced, it was well known that even though Dinah had given birth to a baby, a biological son of Bruce Wayne, the kid had not left the house since his birth. They didn't want the attention from the press until the kid was a little older to handle and deal with all the drama.

"School meeting?" questioned Artemis.

"I blame you. He did that thing you taught him." Replied Danny as Artemis hid a laugh behind a cough and tried to look serious.

"We both know why he did it." She told him and Danny rolled his eyes.

"He shouldn't be fighting, he knows better." Whined Danny and he knew he was whining but dammit he was working on a new type of engine and he was really close to getting it perfect when he got the call and this was just not the time for Jason to be beating up bullies.

One would think that by now kids would stop pushing Tim around because Jason was like a bull dog who growled when the kid so much as had a bruise. Danny actually felt sorry for the thug that tried to hurt Robin because JayHawk would probably break bones. He should remember to ask Dinah to do another session with Jason. Danny didn't want to take the chances that Jason might dance in the lines of grey especially after living in Crime Alley, anger and pain were powerful emotions.

Dick coughed to interrupt the two of them, "While your conversation of an old married couple bickering over their child and where said child gets their behavior from isn't interesting and all, aren't you late for a meeting?"

Danny growled at him and zetaed away promising revenge while the rest of the team watched the trio in shock. Most of them knew of Danny, Conner still had lunch with him every now and then (Danny had been the first person who tried to help with control) but he hadn't been around in a long time and no one really knew much about him and seeing him with Artemis it was shocking to see their relationship, to actually witness their affection.

"Old married couple?" questioned Artemis and Dick shrugged, "You guys bicker worse than a sappy couple from a 70's tv show. Its kinda inspiring and at the same time nauseating."

Artemis glared at him, "We do not act like that."

Dick raised an eyebrow at her, "You're wearing his sweater."

Artemis crossed her arms, "Its cold."

Dick grinned, "And you just so happened to have his sweater in the cave and not one of your own."

Dick grinned in triumph when she had no response and instead he passed her the baby which snuggled into her chest. Artemis was around so often she kind of learned everything a newborn needed with the rest of the family since they were all pitching in to help out. Dick already took the kid to the trapeze, he could barely crawl and Dick was slowly teaching him to tumble. Dinah was gonna kill him and Jason was going to record it.

"I'm gonna warm up his bottle." Said Dick as he took the baby bag into the kitchen and left Damian with Artemis who had wandered back into the lounge.

The girls immediately turned to the kid in Artemis's arms while Conner and Kaldur watched Dick, "They're still together?" asked Wally and Dick just nodded his head.

"They're always together, I swear I see Artemis so much she basically lives in the manor. Last week at school some shumck tried to hit on her and I threw my apple at his head and I nearly called her my sister when I told him to back off."

Wally sighed and decided that him and Artemis was just not going to happen and he shouldn't have been such an ass when they met and just befriended her, maybe then they would be dating instead of being just teammates.

He had acted like a jerk mostly because Dick had really liked Danny and well he got a little jealous. Dick had been his first friend in the cape, he was actually the reason why he had the courage to go out there and be a hero. Dick had been the first protégée, paving the way for other teens to rise and become heroes as well and he had been introduced to him first. Then came Roy and eventually Kaldur however it didn't change the fact that they had been best friends and he acted like an ass when Danny showed up.

Mostly it was because of how much Batman seemed to respect the teen, one only a year older than his own son and he was the same age as Wally but Batman respected him and eventually adopted him. It was well-known that the reason why Batman and Black Canary ended up together was because Danny needed them both and they just kind of ended up together. Flash had told him that they expected her to end up with Green Arrow since they had been flirting before she got busy being in Gotham and ended up pregnant with Batman's baby.

All of that aside, he hadn't joined the team, something that they had created to gain independence from their mentors and prove that they were worthy of standing with the rest of the League but Danny refused to join the team and Batman even said that he was too experienced for the team. He heard rumors that there had been times when Batman called out to Danny for help but he wasn't sure how true that was, it was unlikely really.

And then there was Dick who was so excited to have Danny around as his brother, who bonded with him so closely who looked up to this guy so much and it kind of made him bitter. It had taken him a long time to gain the trust of the boy wonder and even longer for him to tell them his identity. Dick had connected with Danny in a way that he never connected with him and Wally had tried to so hard to be the big brother figure and it always ended up being the other way around even though he had been older, Dick had seen more. Behind his crackles, puns, smiles and jokes, Robin had seen and dealt with death in ways that he still couldn't understand Danny could.

He shook his head and decided to try and mend his bridges, Danny had claimed the big brother place so he was going to claim his best friend back.

Danny on the other hand was actually happy that the team was growing, it was proof that the League was taking the team seriously and agreed to allow on more heroes for the extra training. He winced when he remembered the time Batman actually called him in on a League mission. Well it was more of a 'you already know I'm in trouble so show up' signal.

Danny had scented Bruce and Dinah and while she was pregnant he knew she was safe however Batman often went on League missions and he always knew when he was in danger so after some time they came up with a signal for him so he would know if Batman actually needed help. The first time Batman used it was a couple months after Damian was born.

The League was facing off against an alien invasion, honestly you would be surprised how many times aliens tried to invade Earth in this dimension and all Leaguers had been dispatched to take care of the threat, meanwhile some had managed to sneak onto Earth and were investigating Superman's fortress.

Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow went after them while the rest of the League took care of the aliens outside the atmosphere when the aliens on the ground captured them. They were going to dissect them, they were apparently curious about their abilities and wanted to dissect them. Batman called in Danny since the League was in space.

Danny had recently learned teleportation and when he felt his eye twitching he knew it was because of Batman and when Batman signaled for help Danny went ghost and disappeared and appeared in front of his adoptive father. He phased them out of the dissection tables before grabbing them all, flying out and then using his ghostly wail on the building that they had been captured in. He hated dissection, then he went back home and left the League to figure out the rest. Apparently the League was curious about him, Danny refused to meet new people. He didn't like them and he was happy in his little bubble.

Which is yet another reason why when he parked the car in Gotham Academy's parking lot, he was pissed off. He didn't like dealing with the rest of the world, they asked too many questions but Jason had gotten into another fight and honestly he was just done with the day. He was having a good day until this nightmare that involved coming to this high school, the high school that had all the kids gawking at him.

He sighed as he got out of the expensive car he was driving. He honestly didn't know which car it was, he just got into the one closest to him and it was red so eye catching-great. He rolled his eyes and walked up to the office. He thanked whoever was listening to him that the upper grades had exams that morning and they all went home afterwards. The younger years started their exams next week.

He saw Jason sitting on the seat outside the principal's office with Tim next to him and he had a busted lip. Alfred was going to kill him, or maybe the man would just look at them until they melted in shame. He was sure that the old man could make anyone feel guilty for their actions. He was going to get into trouble for this as well. He just knew it and Jason would get cookies and Tim would get hot chocolate and he would have to take the fall for this.

"What happened?" asked Danny and Jason looked away from him.

Danny was shocked, well that was a first. Jason was always proud for beating up Tim's bullies so what was going on? Danny turned to Tim whose clothes were rumpled, knuckles were bruised and he looked angry and was glaring at Jason.

"Tim, what happened?" asked Danny and Tim growled at him.

Danny blinked, he didn't know if he should coo because Tim looks like an angry kitten or be afraid because there was a glint in the kids eye that spoke of suffering and pain and vengeance and did anyone let Batman know that Tim had a suppressed evil side that no one knew about- on the other hand his mom was Janet Drake and he wondered how worried he should be. Was Tim going to destroy Gotham?

Tim suddenly yanks him out of his thoughts by pointing at Jason, "He is a hypocrite."

Jason looks a little angry when he replies with a, "Ain't none of ya business. Shouldn't have gotten involved Tim."

They start to bicker and Danny still doesn't know whats happening so he whistles to gain their attention which he has for like five seconds before they ignore him and start bickering again. Danny sighs, he almost wishes that he left Jason in the dumpster and Tim on the roof-Almost.

He turns and finds a woman in a pants suite looking at him with a sneer and two other parents behind her with three kids around Jason's age all who either have a broken nose or black eyes and Danny resists the urge to cry, because seriously what the fuck happened and why did it happen?

The principal shows up and immediately the parents are blaming everything on Tim and Jason and no their children are innocent angels in this mess and they will be suing if they aren't expelled and Danny loses all kinds of patience with all of them and hits the table with his hand silencing the room.

"Madam I find your lack manners deplorable and if you insist on shouting like a fish wife I can have you escorted out of the building and to the market now I would like to know who I am speaking with before we discuss the situation at hand."

The lady turns an interesting shade of red and sits down quietly. The guy in the suit steps forward, all self- important and spoke, "I am Theo Elliot and this is my son Tommy."

Danny recognized the name, he was part of one of the founding families in Gotham, not very rich anymore but in the top 10 however the Wayne name still trumped them all. However Elliot ran in the same circles as the Crownes and Dumas families. He sighed, they tangled with the people oldest families in Gotham however the Drake name had earned respect. As powerful as they were with the Drake merger they just weren't powerful enough to win against a Wayne.

Danny nodded his head, "Daniel Wayne." Introducing himself and suddenly there was silence from the other families in the room because the principal knew him already.

"Timothy Jackson Drake, I will not ask again, what happened?" his voice was cold and Tim had to answer.

"They were making fun of Jason because you adopted him and then he tried walking away when Tommy hit him and bust his lip, they were gonna hit him again so I defended him."

Tommy shouted, "That gremlin launched himself at us from the top of the staircase."

Danny resisted the urge to laugh or cry, he wasn't sure which it was at that point.

Danny turned to the principal, "They were bullying my boy."

The man stuttered out that it hadn't been reported and Danny sighed, "I'm taking my boys and leaving. You can figure out a punishment for them but if they attack my boy again Mr. Elliot, I'll tear you to pieces and burn the remains. Do you understand?"

The three parents nodded quietly before turning on their own children probably to remind them that the family was currently way to powerful for them to be attacking and grounding them for life or something he didn't really care. He was taking the boys home and they could talk about this later.