Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Teen Titans. Ask their real owners, thank you.
The whistle of a kettle showed the tea was ready. Jazz grabbed the kettle and poured herself a cup. She only started appreciating this beverage after she had it several times when visiting her younger brother.
Taking her cup, she went back to the couch in her apartment. It was a nice and simple apartment not too far from her college. She sat down and took the book she had been reading from college and flipped the page, continuing where she had left off.
The door into the living/kitchen/dining room opened, and Dani walked inside, carrying a pile of clean clothes. She placed them in a basket in the hall before heading back and into the kitchen, opening the fridge. She grabbed a small snack for herself to eat. It was Sunday, and right now going at a very slow pace. Ever since she's been living with her aunt, Dani helps wherever she can, even if it are the smallest of things like doing the laundry.
It has been four weeks now since Dani has moved in with her aunt. Things have been very quiet, college going easy for the ginger head. The black-haired teen had taken a small part-time job in the same place where her aunt works during the weekend, if it wasn't for the fact that the place had been wrecked by a terrible car-driver and now was in repairs.
Good thing the owner was kind enough to pay them their normal loan for the rest of the time the repairs would last.
As they enjoyed the peaceful silence of a calm Sunday, it was abruptly ended when a commotion started outside. Dani stood up from her seat at the dining table, groaning for the ruined peace, and looked outside of the window. She took a surprised breath in as the halfa spots people looking curiously at a large, white armored truck.
'The GIW?! What are they doing here?'
A few operatives were standing outside, keeping an eye on the perimeter they have set up..
Jazz had left her book and also spotted the GIW down in the street. She looked at Dani with worry, but both were shocked from their thoughts when a harsh knock sounded on the door.
"GIW! Open up!"
Jazz looked at Dani, who shrugged. It was either opening the door or risking the operatives knocking it out of its hinges and arrest both of them.
"Coming!" Jazz called, trying to stay calm. She opened to the door to find two much taller operatives, a stern and collected look on their faces. She tried to appear calm under the invisible pressure she's feeling right now. 'One bad move and Dani's secret is a goner.'
"Jazz Fenton?" Jazz nodded her head, a sweat rolling down her neck. Why do they suddenly appear so intimidating to her? "We received an anonymous tip that a ghost is hiding somewhere in this apartment-complex. Have you seen any ectoplasmic or paranormal activity in the past few weeks?"
"No, sir. Haven't seen anything strange lately." Jazz answered, trying hard to stop her voice from cracking. Lying about Danny's secret was easy, the people from Amity Park were easily fooled, despite her bad acting. Lying to government-trained operatives? Much harder.
"Operative K. Our scanners detect a small amount of ectoplasm in our vicinity." Operative O stated as he received an update through his earpiece. Operative K nodded and looked back at Jazz.
"May we come inside, civilian?"
Oh no, this isn't good. She can't refuse them, even if she starts ranting about the need for privacy, they'll obviously have a warrant for searching the whole building! Jazz could only nod and let them through.
The two operatives pulled out a series of devices, going through the apartment with pinpointed accuracy. Jazz looked around herself, not sure where Dani might be hiding herself, if she hasn't left the building yet.
Both operatives stopped in the kitchen, looking at a knife that was lying around on the counter. Jazz mentally cursed herself. Dani had cut herself with that knife this morning when making breakfast! Of course, there are small particles of ectoplasm on it!
"Miss, I'll ask again. Have you seen anything of ectoplasmic and/or paranormal activity as of late?"
She gulped. Great, now they're surely suspecting her.
To all three their surprise, a spoon was suddenly flung to one of the operatives, hitting the dark-skinned man straight in the face. They searched for the source, and Jazz blanched when she noticed the slight misshape in the air where Dani was standing, invisible.
"Hey, knuckleheads! You looking for a ghost?" Dani called as she returned to the visible spectrum, donned in her suit and with white hair and green eyes. She had transformed to her ghost-form, and was surely a blinking green dot on their scanners now. A playful smirk was on her face, but that helped nothing with easing the dire situation.
"You're under arrest in law of the American Government, ghost! Hands in the air and stay put!" Operative K declared, pulling a gun seemingly out of nowhere. Operative O followed with a similar weapon.
"And prepare yourself for a series of painful experiments before being destroyed." The second operative added with a devilish smirk. Dani shuddered a little at that, but kept her cool. She looked at Jazz and tried to show how sorry she is. Jazz realized what Dani was doing, and wanted to plead with her niece not to do it, but she knew Dani, and the black-head has as much of a hero-complex as Danny.
"Try to catch me, you white-dressed idiots!" The halfa taunted before phasing through the ceiling. Both operatives scowled before leaving the apartment, completely forgetting about Jazz. The truck outside drove off as the chase had been started.
Jazz walked to the window and looked at the sky, doing a silent prayer. 'Please, stay safe Danielle.'
Four weeks.
Danny could still hardly believe it. He's been a part of the titans for four weeks now! And those four weeks have been amazing!
Sure, when they had to deal with Scarface, things became a little hectic, but they won in the end, even if that undead freak escaped.
The halfa was right now relaxing in the sofa after they had beaten Cinderblock, and send him to jail too. That guy has brick for brains, literally!
"Hey Danny! You up for a game?" Beast Boy asked as the changeling came to sit next to the ghost-boy. He shrugged, why not? Ever since the fight with Scarface Danny and Beast Boy have been getting along much better, to Raven's annoyance.
The green titan put the game in and the two started playing. By the time Robin came out of his room and back to their living area, the duo had been joined by Cyborg, and both were being crushed by Danny, the halfa holding a large grin on his face.
As if by irony, the screen changed and showed that they were receiving a transmission. The three groaned, and Cyborg reluctantly got up to join their leader at the computer.
The screen changed to show, of all people, the face of Operative O! Danny gulped and quickly became invisible, hiding himself. 'Fuck, what does a guy of the GIW want with the titans?! Do they even know I'm here?'
"Operative O." Robin greeted, not having seen the sudden disappearance of their ghostly team-member. He knew of the GIW that officially busies itself with dealing with ghosts across America. Operative O gave a short salute before going down to business.
"I hate to admit this, but we need the help of the Teen Titans. A ghost that we've been chasing has made its way to Jump City, and we are unable to locate it. Can we count on your support during this mission?"
"We'll do the necessary." Robin answered, already starting to form plans in his head. The government operative nodded before signing off, the screen going dark.
"A ghost, here in Jump? You think it's Scarface?" Cyborg asked as he started the scanners up, already going through possible places for a ghost to hide.
"No, most likely an innocent ghost that wasn't doing anything wrong!" Danny declared as he became visible again. All the titans in the room looked at him confused. He sighed, this is going to need some backstory.
"Before I became Amity Park's local hero, I was marked as 'public ghost enemy #1'. I was hunted by every ghost-hunter imaginable, including those white-dressed dimwits. And the GIW is still after me, even after I became known as a hero!"
The titans cringed. Maybe they should have asked Danny what to look out for, first.
"So, you will not join us in the search?" Starfire asked as she flew up to be eye-to-eye with their ghostly friend. Danny sighed. Why can she seem to get in his head like that sometimes?
"I'll be around, keeping an eye out on things. Don't worry, I know a way to stay hidden from the GIW. They haven't found me here yet, right?"
Starfire smiled and grabbed her friend in a hug. In the corner of the room, Raven shook her head in exaspiration. She'll have to keep an eye out on him. 'Can't let my boyfriend die out there, right? Wait, since when did he become my boyfriend?' She looked back at the half-ghost, and a smile was pulling at her lips, her heart filling up a bit more.
'Right, that's why.'
The T-Car was driving through the streets of Jump City, a scanner on the roof, searching for the ghost. The GIW had a helicopter looking from the sky.
Unknown to both, Danny was also in the streets, as his human self. He had his Titan-communicator in the hand, the screen showing the location of the others. He was doing his own search using his ghost-sense, hoping to find the ghost before the GIW does. 'At least I can trust the Titans won't start shooting as soon as they find him/her/it.'
He looked up, spotting the helicopter of the GIW flying overhead. If they aren't here to get him, than he's right. His human form hides his ectoplasmic signature from their scanners. Not even Cyborg will be able to find him! 'Now that's an accomplishment.'
The search continued for at least two more hours, until suddenly a transmission came in to the titans communicators. It was Operatvie K.
"Titans, we need your help! We're under *explosion close-by* -ttack! Quickly-" And the screen turned to snow, leaving whatever might be added unknown. Danny spotted the T-Car heading to somewhere in the Commercial District downtown. He closed his communicator and walked into a dark alleyway, phasing into the ground and using his own method of getting there.
Meanwhile, the T-Car stopped in front of a battlefield. The helicopter that had been flying around was burning, turned into a heap of scrap. Two armored white trucks were blasting away at something that was behind a large and dense smoke-cloud, a third truck lying on its side, thrown to pieces. A group of Operatives was gathered behind one of the armored trucks, some firing a few shots, while other ones were huddled together with a man on the ground.
Operative K was down, and he wasn't in a good state either. His white suit was stained with blood in the side, the man trying to keep the deep gash in his side from bleeding, helplessly. The men gathered around him were trying what they could, but it seemed dark for the man.
Robin hurried to the group, a very worried look aimed at the dark-skinned man.
"How's he doing?"
"I'm afraid that we can't stop the bleeding. That ghost threw one of the trucks to us, and one of the metal shards that went flying around hit him in the side and cut into his lung." One of the operatives explained, a grim look on his face. They were trying to use a piece of cloth to stop the bleeding, but the gash was too deep.
Robin scowled, and just when he was going to leave, his wrist was grabbed by the weak grip of Operative K. The man strained to look up a little, blood oozing from his mouth.
"D-d-destroy that g-ghost. F-for me…" The man asked, his voice trailing off at the end as his eyes rolled up a little. Before anyone could answer, Operative K breathed his last breath.
Robin did a silent prayer for the poor guy's soul before joining the rest of his team behind the second truck.
Just in that time, the smoke cleared and the ghost became visible for all to see. From the dark smoke walked a girl, roughly 13 years old in appearance. She had a two-piece suit similar to Danny's on, white hair and green eyes. The resemblance to their ghostly friend was uncanny.
"Woah, is it me or she like a younger female copy of Danny?" Beast Boy asked as he spotted the ghost. Cyborg nodded, agreeing with that.
"My scanners are showing that she has an almost identical signature to Danny, too."
"Whatever she is, she has to be stopped. One man lost his life in this fight, we can't let her take anymore." Robin stated as he took his bo-staff out. Starfire charged her starbolts, Cyborg armed his sonic blaster, Raven her hands glowed with a black aura and Beast Boy turned into a tiger, growling at their enemy.
The young ghost-girl fired a blast from her hand at the truck where the operatives were hiding. The truck retaliated with lasers, but the girl jumped in the air and twirled around, launching an energy strike from her feet. It lashed into the armor, breaking a part off and making it fly away, embedding itself into the ground only a few meters way from the titans.
"We have to stop her!"
The titans jumped out from their cover, and Raven, Cyborg and Starfire fired a barrage of blasts at her. She noticed, but was too late to react. Right before the blasts hit, a shield suddenly appeared. The blasts collided into it, the green ecto-shield straining under the strength of the attack.
From his invisibility appeared Danny, hands out as he maintained the shield.
"Danny?!" The titans cried in alarm. They stopped their attack, not wanting to hurt their friend.
"Danny Phantom! You are under arrest in the name of the law!" Operative O declared as they came out from their cover, weapons aimed at the ghost. Danny smirked, and turned to look at the girl behind him.
"You okay, Dani?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." The girl, Dani, answered as she was able to take a breather, the attacks halted.
"Danny, what's going on? You know her?" Robin demanded as he walked forwards. Before either could answer, the operatives and trucks started firing again, the power too much for Danny to hold back. The shield was blasted away, and the force was so strong that Danny flew back, past Dani, before landing into the ground, digging a hole for himself. The titans staggered back, not wanting to end up in the firing range.
Two operatives took advantage of the confusion and placed a pair of ecto-cuffs on Dani her wrists, creating an electric current in her body. She cringed as the electricity going through her body became unbearable. She dropped to her knees, straining under the power.
"We have you now, ghost. Any last words?" The operative left to her said, his voice suddenly becoming almost sadistic-like. The titans their eyes widened as they heard this, and scowled. Sure, they had been hunting this ghost for a while now, but even a ghost deserved at least a humane treatment!
"Only… Ugh, one…"
"And that is?" The man right to her demanded. She was able to manage a small, strained smile before taking in a deep breath.
"DADDY!"
The force that she unleashed with her scream was almost similar to a Ghostly Wail, but wasn't close enough to be one. The two operatives were kicked back on their feet, but they smirked as they spot that the ghost-girl had spent her energy with that last move.
To everyone's surprise though, the spot where Danny had crashed exploded. From the smoke, the halfa floated up, hands glowing with blue energy. His eyes opened, a cold blue staring into the eyes of the operatives.
He fired blast after blast, freezing some of the operatives or the road. They started firing back, and one man grabbed Dani by the arm and pulled her with him, wanting to have the ghost with them as they prepared to escape. She screamed in pain as the grip on her arm became harder, almost breaking the bone inside.
Danny growled, his body becoming enveloped in a blue aura.
"Leave. My. Daughter. ALONE!" He yelled, unleashing a blue blast from himself. Raven put a shield around herself and the other titans, protecting them. Everyone else was frozen solid, but Dani managed to get free from the operative's hold before the blast hit. She was frozen along with everyone else, but Danny flew down and blasted the ice around her to pieces.
The fight was won, but there was going to be some things to be explained. Danny watched as Raven her shield expanded and destroyed the ghostly ice. The titans all had glares on their faces, and he could only chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of his head. He blasted the cuffs around Dani's wrists, freeing the ghost-girl. He knew one thing.
This is going to take a while to explain.
Both Phantoms were sitting in the sofa. The titans were taking this great revelation in their own way. Things have just been revealed that no one could have thought possible.
"Vlad Masters is actually a half-ghost called Vlad Plasmius?" Robin asked himself more than anyone else. He had known the billionaire very well back in Gotham City. A great financiel supporter.
"He tried to clone you?" Cyborg asked to the halfa, partially impressed and disgusted with the concept. To think that Dani was made with the intention of being used and then left to melt away, literally.
"Dani is your kid?" Beast Boy asked in shock, sitting in the other end of the sofa. He had only been able to understand maybe half of it, but even he knew that someone with your DNA can be considered family.
"To all three, yes." Danny answered as he sighed, slumping further into the sofa. Dani had a sheepish smile on her face. She was feeling giddy inside, being with THE Teen Titan in their home, Titans Tower.
"Why were they after you?" Starfire asked as she floated down to hover in front of the two. Dani sighed, putting her head in her hands.
"Those Guys In White hunt every ghost they find. I only want to help people wherever I can, like Danny. I tried to escape, but they somehow found me, so I tried to get to Danny for help. I'm sorry for the mess I made."
"Mess? You killed an innocent man!" Robin exclaimed as he came to stand in front of the ghost-girl. Starfire floated back, not used to this anger-outburst from her boyfriend. Dani scowled and stood up, not liking the tone Robin was using towards her.
"It was an accident! I-I didn't mean too! You don't know what they have done, how many innocent ghosts they've destroyed!"
"That doesn't give you the right to kill him!"
"I said it was an accident! How could I know that piece of metal would hit him?!" She defended, pushing the boy wonder by the shoulder, a few tears in her eyes. Robin was about to give a punch as payback, but his fist was stopped by a black aura. Raven walked to stand behind the sofa and the two ghosts. Danny gave her a small smile, but she didn't return it, not yet. First she has to deal with their team-leader.
"She's right, Robin. You can't say she was in the fault."
The masked boy sighed as the aura around his hand faded away, realizing that their teammate was right. He couldn't give Dani the fault for something she couldn't control. She was only trying to defend herself. And she probably feels guilty for it, too.
"So, what now? The GIW will know we're keeping two ghosts protective here." Cyborg said as he went to work at the computer. The others looked at each other worriedly. What would they do?
"Well, they can't do anything to Danny. He's a part of the team, and under the protection of the Declaration of Metahumans by that." Robin explained, gesturing to the ghost-boy. He looked at Dani, trying to come up with a plan. How could they protect her? Danny pondered over the question, and his first thoughts were Jazz. He turned to Dani, who was standing a bit awkwardly, not sure what to do.
"Can't you go to you-know-who?"
"No, they'll just find me and I'll bring even more people in danger.." Dani argued with her dad, slumping into the sofa. She sighed, putting her head in her hands in defeat. "Maybe I should just surrender?"
"NO!" Everyone shouted, surprising her.
"We won't let them destroy you!" Cyborg declared from his spot at the computer.
"Your Danny's kid. We won't let them have you, dude!" Beast Boy stated with determination. He punched his fist into his palm, showing what he was willing to do.
"There has to be a way." Raven said, thinking. What if? "Maybe if she becomes a part of the team?" Raven looked at Robin with an expecting look. He thought about it for a little, taking in details and everything, and shrugged before nodding, showing he doesn't argue with that idea.
The others looked at each other, a silent debate, and then back to Dani, nodding with smiles on their faces, minus Raven of course. The young halfa looked back at everyone, a bit taken aback by that.
"Y-You want me? To join the Teen Titans?"
"If you want to." Robin added, still a little skeptical, but seeing reason in it. Besides, the more the merrier, right? Dani jumped from her seat and grabbed the boy wonder in a hug, smiling.
"Yes, yes, yes! A thousand times yes!"
"Well, she sure has the attitude of a titan." Cyborg stated with a smile as the ghost-girl embraced the others. When she was going to hug Raven, the cloaked girl held a hand out and offered for a handshake. Dani smiled sheepishly, and simply shook the girl's hand.
"At least she's a lot nicer than Beast Boy." Raven added when Danny floated next to her. He smiled as he watched his little girl already making friends with the titans.
'At least she's saver here, with me and the titans.'
"WHAT?!"
The yell of the head of the GIW sounded through the entire tower.
"Both Phantoms are a part of the Teen Titans now, and by that automatically under the protection of the Declaration of Metahumans. You have no right to arrest them!" Robin explained himself, again. He didn't know the head in command personally, but for a first impression the man really was doing poorly.
"And why are you even considering that?!"
"Because, you had no right hunting them! Danny Phantom is declared as a hero, he protected countless lived! And Dani Phantom didn't have any ill intension, she was trying to defend herself from your men , who hunted her for no reason! We think these two can make for a great addition to our team, and offered them a place here. They agreed, and everything else official has been taken care off." Robin explained, a smug look on his face. It always felt good, giving those government men a run for their money.
"They're ghosts! That's reason enough for us to hunt them! All ghosts are evil, and must be eradicated! You should be delivering them to my men right now, not giving them a place in your team!"
"Then we're done talking, because I'm not going to kick them out!" Robin shouted, shutting the computer off and the connection with the GIW headquarters. He grumbled a few curse-words under his breath before heading back to his room, tired of the hour-long talk with the man.
As he walked through the halls, he almost bumped into Starfire, the girl holding a cup of coffee in her hand.
"Sorry Star, didn't see you there."
"Oh, Robin! I was about to bring you a cup of the coffee. You have been talking for over an hour with the man of the head of the GIW." She explained, showing the cup. He smiled, and took it gratefully. He sipped the dark beverage, the energy returning to him. He smiled gratefully at her, placing a kiss on the redhead's lips.
"Thanks Star."
"R-Robin." She blushed a little, playing with her fingers behind her back. She smiled at him before heading back to her room.
Robin leaned against the wall, smiling as he drunk his coffee. Suddenly, a hand appeared on his shoulder, coming from through the wall. He rolled his eyes, knowing who that hand belongs to.
"Spying on your teammates, Danny?"
The ghost-boy phased through the wall, an innocent smile on his face.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I was just heading over to check on Dani."
"Yeah, right. Not a word to the others, I have enough with Cyborg and Beast Boy teasing us whenever they have the chance." Robin said, remembering the many teases those two always use. Danny chuckled, and shook his head.
"Keeping secrets is my specialty."
"About that…" Robin started before Danny was able to get away. He sighed, knowing what the boy wonder is talking about.
"I'm really sorry for that, but I don't trust someone that easily. I'll tell you more when I know I can trust you, but right now I'm not that sure. I know we're friends, but I'm not sure if you can keep it." Danny explained, his voice showing how bad he feels about it. He really wants to tell the others everything, but he isn't sure. He knows how easily someone like Vlad can deceive people into trusting him.
"I understand. You can tell us when you feel you're ready." Robin said, knowing the meaning behind keeping secrets. He has his own secrets he doesn't want the team knowing.
Danny nodded, and he phased through the wall, leaving the masked teen alone. Robin sighed as he took a sip of his coffee.
Secrets, they're never easy.
Dani was walking through the halls the next day, whistling a happy tune along the way. As she walked, she nearly bumped into Beast Boy, the changeling staring absently at a door. She stopped, shaking her a head a little. She followed his gaze, confused as to what he was staring at. It's only a door.
"What are you looking at?"
"Oh, nothing. Just, remembering." Beast Boy waved it off as he started walking away. She frowned, and looked back at the door. The nameplate was gone, and it had a special lock on the keypad, preventing her from getting in. At least the normal way. She phased through the door and walked inside the room.
It was an old room, the walls were colored yellow and the furniture was covered in dust. She looked at the things left inside, random items and such, but when she looked at the dresser she found a picture, lying face down.
She grabbed it, and gasped when she saw who was on the picture.
'No, it can't be…'
She held the picture tight and phased through the walls, not caring for anything on her way, like startling Starfire. Finally she entered the living area, and walked up to Robin, the one she knows will have the answers.
The boy wonder turned around from the kitchen counter, and almost stumbled back from how close Dani her face was to his. The glare in her eyes was almost scary.
"D-Dani! What's the matter?"
"This," she held the picture in front of Robin. His eyes widened, and he looked between Dani and Beast Boy, not sure what to say. "Why didn't you tell me? Where is she?"
"Where is who?" Cyborg asked, confused. Everyone was feeling a bit confused and startled with the sudden change in the ghost-girl.
"Terra! Where is she?"
Beast Boy gasped, and realized what that picture was. The changeling turned into a squirrel and ran to the duo, jumping from the ground and grabbing the picture from Dani's hands. It showed Terra, along with Beast Boy at her side, when they were hanging out with the rest of the titans at their favorite pizza-corner. He turned back and looked at Dani, both angry, sad and confused.
"How do you know her?" Robin asked as he glared back at Dani. She made some space between herself and the boy wonder, her glare turning into a sad frown.
"We met, back when I was wandering around the world. I got to know her, but when we parted ways, I never saw her again. She's a good friend. How do you know her?"
Danny entered through the wall, walking casually to stand a little bit away from his daughter. He had heard the commotion, and decided to intervene. All the titans looked at him, and he turned to face his daughter.
"She was a part of the team." Her dad answered, his voice almost like the monotone one like Raven's. Dani looked around, and noticed what was wrong in that picture.
"Where is she now?"
All the other titans could do was look away sadly.
"I didn't even know you had a volcano here."
Danny looked at the massive chasm they were in. They were headed to… Well, somewhere. The titans wouldn't tell where. All they know is the story that they had told about their meeting with Terra, and the events with Slade. 'That guy sounds a lot like Vlad.'
"I don't get it. What happened to Terra? Did she stop the volcano? And Slade, did he die?" Dani asked as she followed Robin and Beast Boy, the two at the head of the group. Robin sighed, and Beast Boy was doing everything to keep any tears from forming. He has to be strong right now.
"Slade is still alive, and out there, somewhere." Robin explained, his fury to that man showing clear. His voice did nothing to hide the anger. Dani frowned at that, and she already could see herself giving that psycho a kick to his butt.
"That fucking bastard should pay for what he did." Dani growled, but received a tick against the back of her head. She scowled at her dad, who had a disapproving look on his face.
"And where did you learn those words, young lady?" He asked, a frown on his face. Dani chuckled a little, and was about to retort, but was interrupted.
"We're here."
Beast Boy his words rang to everyone as they entered into the heart of the slumbering volcano. The group stopped at one point, but Beast Boy kept on walking a bit more, stopping at a pedestal, where to the two halfa's their shock was a statue showing Terra, in all her glory.
"Friend Terra, she is the one who stopped the volcano from eruption. She saved our lives." Starfire said in a melancholic voice as she came to stand on the ground, hugging to Robin's side. He held his girlfriend close, for both hers and his own support.
"She sacrificed herself, for us." Raven said in her monotone voice, an underline of regret.
"She turned to stone. And nothing we tried has worked on bringing her back." Cyborg added as he bowed his head in respect. Danny walked forwards, reading the words written on the plate in the stone.
"Terra. A Teen Titan. A true friend." Danny read as he touched the plate. Beast Boy placed a bouquet of flowers at the base of the pedestal that holds his best friend. And maybe, if things had gone differently, more than 'just a friend'.
"No, she can't be gone. It can't be!" Dani said, shaking her head. She held her arms tight and tears fell down from her eyes. She can't believe it. Terra, one of the few friends she had, gone…
"It's the hard truth."
Dani fell to her knees, crying. Cyborg kneeled down next to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Danny let a single tear fall as he stood back up. He gazed at -not a statue, but the real Terra- standing on the stone pedestal. He places a hand on the stone form of the girl, closing his eyes.
How? How can life be so unfair for those who try to do good? Terra only wanted to control her powers, but instead she was tempted by a psycho and was forced to betray her only friends. And when she tried to finally do good, it costed the blonde girl her life.
"It isn't fair!" Dani cried as she punched the ground, tears forming a small puddle. The other titans held their heads low, showing their respect for their friend. In the past years, they realized their mistake, and how wrong they had been. How they should have given Terra a second chance. Maybe then she would still be here, with them.
Raven placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, giving him support. He looked back, tears in his eyes. His eyes widened a little as he saw a shimmer, a small glint in the corner of Raven her violet eyes. Even the usually emotionless girl was feeling for this. She couldn't give him a smile, she didn't feel the happiness needed. He looked back, eyes locking with those petrified orbs.
Danny breathed in, and closed his eyes, his mind wandering around. A faint glow appeared around his hand, and in his mind flashes appeared of events. He saw, from Terra's eyes, the girl's life. Her meeting with the titans, the first betrayal. The use by Slade, her return to the titans. The time she left to that amusement park with Beast Boy, her betrayal of their friendship. Her time as Slade's apprentice, and finally her final deed, saving the city and her friends, sacrificing her life for theirs. He saw it all, flashing in front of him. He frowned, feeling something he didn't feel there before.
A spark. A small light in the dark.
He felt it, something alive. A glimmer of hope, shining in the cold blackness of stone. He opened his eyes, and a shine passed over his green eyes, for a moment something in his mind clicking together. Raven her eyes shot open as she felt her energy being drawn somewhere else. She gazed in amazement as a black aura appeared around her and was drawn to the halfa.
Danny his eyes started glowing white, a newfound power emerging within him. His hand left the stone, only for him to push it into the stone form. He grabbed around, until he finally had a hold of that spark. He frowned and strained as he pulled back, slowly taking whatever was hidden inside, out.
He kept on pulling, feeling something trying to keep a hold on that glimmer of light. He tried to step back, his feet sliding over the stone. Raven put her other hand on his shoulder, grabbing a tight hold of the halfa before helping pull. Whatever he was doing, he needed help!
The others had seen what was going on, and at first were confused. One by one, they realized that whatever their friend was doing, he needed their help to succeed. Robin was the first, taking a hold of Raven's arms. Starfire grabbed Robin by the waist, Cyborg took Starfire's shoulders and Dani took Cyborg by the shoulders, hovering in the air and trying her best to put her strength into it. Beast Boy was last, taking Cyborg by the sides and turning into a gorilla.
All of them, they pulled and pulled. Danny put his other hand into the stone, taking a tighter hold of the light, that shimmer of life. Whatever will happen, whatever this will change, he won't let go. He'll never let go, not as long as that shine of hope remained!
"Come on!" Robin shouted, trying his hardest. He felt the muscles in his arms straining.
"A bit more!" Cyborg urged as he put all his power into his arms and legs. They have to do this!
"Almost, there!" Starfire added, putting all her emotions into this.
"Pull!" Dani shouted over the rest, gritting her teeth. They have to succeed! They must!
"Three…!"
"Two…!"
"ONE...!"
"PULL!" They all shouted, putting everything, truly everything into this. Something seemed to snap, and Danny felt the grip the darkness had on this light of hope failing. They flew back, and Danny his hands shot out of the stone, holding onto someone.
The titans fell back, landing on the ground or on each other. Danny dropped to the ground, something landing on his chest.
As they recovered from the sudden fall, their eyes locked on the figure lying on top of the ghost-boy.
Danny opened his eyes, and noticed how he was looking at something blonde. He tried to get up, and managed to get more upright, finally seeing what -no, who- was lying on top of him.
A girl with blonde hair. She had the same outfit as Terra, the same hair, perhaps even the same eyes if they weren't closed right now, but appearing a few years older. The girl was breathing, unconscious. Danny shook his head, realizing something.
It wasn't a girl that looked like Terra.
It is Terra.
She's alive.
She's here!
"Terra!"
Author's note: I never liked the ending of Aftershock, how Terra's fate turned to be. I don't ship Raven and Beast Boy, that just doesn't seem to work in my head. Instead, I always shipped Beast Boy with Terra. The reason I don't have Things Change in this universe is for this very moment in my story: Terra's return into the world of the living. Because, only a half-ghost could break the rules and (help) cheat dead, right?
That's all for now, remember to review, fav and follow! Until next chapter!