"It seems like there's more to this," M'gann argues weakly, gesturing to us. Dani's chatting, and I'm listening, eating ice cream and agreeing with nods and bright smiles. I'm following her dramatic telling of the time she went to ghost-Egypt (almost married to King Tut, yikes), but make sure to keep listening to the team's discussion on the other side of the room.

"It's like he totally remembers her," Wally comments. "I thought the whole thing with Danny was the not remembering."

"That didn't make sense," Artemis returns.

"It made enough," he shoots back, and their defenses immediately come up, preparing for a fight.

"Sorry to interrupt your latest romantic moment, but shouldn't we…" The words die on Robin's tongue and he falls quiet. Speechless. Huh. All I needed was an opposite gender clone… Who knew, right?

"And that was when Rome entered the fight."

"Where did Rome come from?" I ask.

"Well apparently they wanted me too. But because they hated me. I might have done something to their temple but I swear it was an accident…"

"I just can't believe you didn't tell us," Zatanna grumbles.

"It wasn't important!" Jazz defends.

"Your stories aren't matching up!"

Silence from the team. I can practically hear the realization from Zatanna's heated comment.

Dani continues chatting, but I can tell she's waiting for the next comment. "And then I used a reverse Trojan horse- you know, when they steal something and you hide inside it… Because they totally fell for that… They thought it was an Egyptian rip off of their Artemis goddess, what was her name…"

"Minerva," I reply, tense at the obvious building of a war on the other side of the room.

"You said you were close, but not romantically. Like family. But not?" M'gann starts.

"You don't know who he was before he died, but were there when it happened?" Artemis continues.

"And most of your stories happen at the school, but he's dead." Conner folds his arms. "So how does he go to school? Does he just follow invisibly? Does he actually attend in disguise?"

"You said you weren't in the fight for a while, but if that's true, how did he get Fenton technology?" Wally directs at Jazz, who looks panicked at the demand.

Kaldur looks on at all this with a frown. "And you continue to evade questioning on any details of Danny himself. Who he was, who he is. You seem to be keeping memories from everyone, even him."

Robin looks on desperately. Everytime he attempts to say something, somebody else starts talking. The questions and distrust are too thick for him to quickly fix.

"And then there's the whole cloning thing-" Wally starts.

"Shut up!"

The team silences. Robin might not be able to fix this, but Dani...

"All of ya!" She glares at them, her eyes dangerous. I wonder if that's what I look like angry. "Jazz and Tuck have serious trust issues, and can ya blame them? They've kept secrets for Danny since he died. You guys are heroes. You are amazing and good and kittens getting along with puppies but you judge. You're judgey. If they thought you wouldn't accept a part of their lives, because you are judgemental and small minded, which you're probably not but everyone in Amity is so can you blame them for thinking that? They wouldn't tell you crap to both protect Danny and themselves because I can see it in your eyes that you're still freaked out about ghosts."

"..."

"..."

Silence all around as Dani glares furiously and pants slightly from her rant.

I break it. "What even. Was that."

She turns to me, but I'm not prepared to take her wrath so I quickly stick her spoon of melty ice cream in her mouth when she opens it to yell. Instinctively, she holds it there. The picture is hilarious; her whole body tensed, her face the picture of anger and a spoon in her mouth.

"We're not freaked out about-"

"Oh you so are!"

Artemis and Jazz turn to each other and look ready to fight.

Robin moves to get between them, arms up to physically keep them apart if necessary. Wally looks uncomfortable, not wanting to take either side, which I'm confused about until I remember…

Wally never really came near me, and I asked Robin about it once, and he only mentioned that he's a scientist and he's still grappling with the whole "after life" thing. He did that with magic, too. He's not taking a side because while Artemis is his girlfriend, he doesn't agree with what she's saying!

Which causes her to yell at him, he defends, Jazz takes his side and Robin starts trying to placate them. Megan then attempts to rationalize Wally's disbelief, and apparently her's too, but Tucker retorts, leading to Conner yelling a defense…

Soon it's just everyone yelling, everyone trying to talk whether to defend themselves, defend someone else, or deescalate the situation. Then, impulsively, Zatanna makes a cheap shot at their lack of concern about Sam's well-being in favor of mine.

Dani yells "That's it!" and joins the fight, yelling at Zatanna who yells back. I can't even make out words anymore. Just noise.

I kind of wish it would trigger a panic attack so they'd have something else to worry about. As far as I can tell, no one has any blame pinned on me. Kinda wish they did. Then I could defend.

This is what my secret is causing. Robin is keeping his word about not telling anyone of my probable half-n-half status, but maybe he should break it. Would that stop the fighting? It certainly explains a lot. But they're mad about the lies, not the secrets.

I'm not that desperate to keep this secret, am I? Before, I mean. So desperate to keep my human self hidden that I'll force my friend and sister to lie to their own friends for me? That's so selfish…

I need to fix this.

"Hey guys," I broach, but no one even glances in my direction.

Luckily, I don't need to do anything else, because the Zeta Beam powers up and announces Batman's arrival.

Nobody on the team acknowledge. I think that's the scariest they've been so far. I mean, we're in the living rooms, but still...

A minute later, Batman appears from the hallway. He must have heard the noise. He surveys and then looks at me.

I give a helpless gesture, earning me a bat-glare.

"Enough," Batman commands in that all-powerful voice of his. To my utter surprise, no one hears him. I mean, I know it's loud, and they're super angry at each other, but it's Batman. The Batman. No one ignores him.

"Team!" While his voice is louder, there is no strain for attention there. It's loud and harsh enough to stop everyone in their tracks.

They realize who it is before backing away from each other, straightening into a line instead of a lump. Even Dani follows the pattern, floating between Conner and Kaldur with her hands behind her back. Batman pauses for only a second on her before glaring at the entire team.

I feel really awkward sitting on the counter. Like I tattled or something.

"Robin." He sounds almost accusing.

Robin is quick to defend, "I was trying to calm every-"

A simple narrowing of Batman's eyes is enough to silence Robin. He huffs, briefly pausing before explaining, "That there-" he points to Dani "-is Danny's clone. Also named Dani, so that's confusing. The team got mad when they learned Jazz and Tucker didn't tell us about her and it just escalated from there."

"There's a mission. Do any of you need to sit out?"

Everyone shakes their heads, looking like scolded children. Except Superboy and Dani. They look annoyed. Still, they shake their heads.

Even Dani.

"Not you, Dani," I chide, and she glares at me. "I think you should go home for a little bit."

Instead of another diatribe, she just nods. "Yeah, probably. Call me, cuz."

She gives me a wave and vanishes. Alarm shoots up my spine as I realize she's gone, not invisible, but… gone. Where-

Whatever. It's not important. I mean, it is, but I can call her about it later, because apparently she's confident that I can do that. Sparing a couple moments, I let the swirling in my head go down, before placing the bowls Dani and I used in the sink and joining the team, which is filing down to the mission room.

Batman briefs like everything's normal, and to the team's effort, they try to act the same. Still, a deep line of resentment splits between Jazz and Tucker and everybody else. Robin and I don't know where to stand, and we share a look saying that.

Almost awkwardly, we hang at the edges, him on one side, me on the other, as Batman summarizes the mission we're about to go on.

It's not too different from most of our other one's: a GIW facility with connections to the light. This one has a public front, however. It's a research lab for Axion Labs, and it may have legitimate workers there.

Tucker looks surprised. "Aren't they setting up a contract with like four other companies right now?"

"Yes. Their background checks come up clean, however. The companies involved, excluding LexCorp, are likely to have had no knowledge of their connection to both the GIW and the light. Investigating through the GIW networks is the only way to find a connection."

For some reason, all I can think about is cereal. Batman starts fine-tuning the details, but my head can only think about cereal.

It's driving me nuts.

It's like the cereal is important. But it's not! Who cares about fruit loops, seriously!

"Don't worry, Batman, it's just like all the others. Get in, get the info, get out." Robin looks confident and gives everyone a smile.

Batman narrows his eyes, but I don't see malice there. "You've tripped the alarms at almost every one without fail."

"Yeah, I don't know what's up with that," he replies, shrugging his shoulders. "We shut down all the stuff and still manage to get caught. Anyhoo, we should be on our way."

He starts walking towards the bio-ship. The team starts trudging after his peppy step, looking disgruntled.

I go to Robin, flying beside his head. "He's right, though. I mean, you apparently started a fire and almost killed-slash-freed my apparent clone, got multiple concussions, and somehow managed to send an army after you every time."

"Must be a ghost thing," he answers, sounding more serious this time. "Even with Jazz and Tucker's experience, their technology is unfamiliar to us. And the whole unfamiliar ghost thing, too."

"What about it?"

"Every ghost has a seperate power and motive. It's like a whole dimension of enemies we don't understand. Don't worry, we can figure this out."

I have a feeling he's talking about everything, not just the mission-wise stuff.

"Hey, this is going to sound crazy, but is there any way fruitloops could have significance in this mission?" I ask, more hushed.

"Like the cereal?" I nod. "No, but I'll let you know if it comes up."

I love how he doesn't even bat an eye at my crazy request. But a quick glance backward informs me that Superboy thinks I'm plenty crazy. I whisper to Robin about it, and he just cackles.

We settle into the bioship, and M'gann takes off.

After a loaded silence, Superboy blurts, "You don't still see Sam, do you?"

Robin glares at him.

I'm not offended. I shrug. "Not really. At least, not right now."

He nods. "Okay."

"I can't believe them!" Wally snaps suddenly.

I hear another argument pending and close my eyes.

"Oh, shut up," Robin growls. "So what. So what?! Just leave them alone and let's do the mission."

"Aren't you mad?" he accuses.

"Nope. It's not as if I don't keep secrets from them. And secrets from you, to be honest. And then there's Kaldur with the mole problem, Artemis with her family, Conner with the patches, M'gann with her color, Wally with his disbelief and-" His voice steadily rises in volume and sternness before abruptly dropping out. "And Zatanna, I think you're clean."

I open my eyes to see her smile and eye-roll. The team looks heavy, and none of them say anything else, except for M'gann, briefly announcing arrival to the Zeta Beam that'll transport our ship to lower Illinois.

"We've all kept something that's compromised the team," Robin adds as an afterthought as we burst through the Zeta.

He's quiet after that.

"Sooo, we talking eye patches here?" I ask after the silence gets too heavy for me.

Superboy grunts. "They bridged my human DNA and gave me full kryptonian powers. They didn't come from the best place."

"I did that once," I muse.

My thoughts skid to a halt. "Wait, what?" Wally asks.

I shake my head, trying to dislodge the rest of that story. "I have... absolutely no idea." The team looks at each other, and then to me, then let it drop. I must look as bewildered as I feel.

"I can't wait for your memories to come back," M'gann sighs.

Robin chuckles. "You bridged your DNA?" I know he's laughing because he knows I'm half-human and no one else does. I just don't know why it's funny. "Maybe it's cuz your obsession."

"It would be a post-humanoid affect," Wally grumbles. I'm shocked at Robin's audacity. He's intentionally misleading the team… for me?

I marvel at his loyalty. We're good friends. But his team is… They're his family.

"Approaching our destination," M'gann announces.

"Robin, Phantom, deploy," Aqualad orders, all leader now.

"Not me?" Zatanna wonders. She'd been assigned to us earlier, as per usual.

"Perhaps a smaller scouting team is in place," he explains. "We still don't know what sets them off."

"Maybe it's me," I suggest.

"We did recon without you and got caught," Robin explains. "Now take us down."

I roll my eyes.

Mind link up, M'gann announces.

The team chimes almost in unison their separate sign-on phrases, including a gruff Aparato and Vision, and Robin and I drop from the bioship onto the roof of Axion Labs. He positioned it perfectly; camera blindspot.

Robin hands me a remote transmitter and I invisibly place it on the nearest camera. While Tucker and Robin work together to perform their hacking magic, I fly the area of the roof looking for anything we missed.

I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

HE'S JUST A POOR BOY WITH A POOR FAM-IL-EEE

Guys, seriously…

Sorry, KF, it helps Robin and I focus.

Uh-huh.

Yep! Speaking of which, EASY COME

EASY GO

Aaaand we're done!

You both suck.

I snort at Artemis's comment and sweep Robin into my arms bridal-style, and he protests loudly in our heads.

DANNY PUT ME DOWN I SWEAR I'M GOING TO-

What's going on? Kaldur demands, probably worried I went rogue or something.

I send a mental image.

The team tries (and fails) to hold back snickers as I phase down into another facility.

It's a lot different than all the others we've been to. There is brown carpet and tan walls, with mirrors or pictures lining the hallways. As Robin and I do a quick sweep, we note the measures taken in the waiting areas and cubicles to look normal.

There are family pictures and half-done reports, disorder and scrawled notes.

It's probably a real office area, Robin muses, browsing a random area. He peeks inside the trash. Hmm… Looks like this guy had a cold.

Gross. Stop messing with his trash. It's in there for a reason.

Yeah, well, it's also a great way to tell if this is all just a great setup or real.

I relent, but still urge him forward.

We don't find anything other than a couple night guards. I'm starting to think of this place as a normal office area.

Until I try to phase through the basement and am violently repelled by an unseen force. I barely hold intangibility, thankfully sparing Robin and I until we get out into open air. We're locked out, I inform the rest of the team. Might need a little assistance.

Understood. Team two, Zatanna, Miss Martian and Artemis go ahead.

As we wait, Robin tries hacking into a random computer, and I poke around. We stopped in an executive office. It has a private (locked) elevator, which I assume Aparato is already trying to hack.

I float around, noticing the extensive bookshelf that doesn't seem to be used at all. The books are all brand new. There's a weird green and gold scheme happening that doesn't seem to be working. There's chairs, desks, a couple potted plants with colorful flowers. Opposite to the main desk, there's a football on a pedestal in a glass case.

I read the several signatures. "Packers," I mutter.

Robin glances up from the computer, hands slowing but not stopping. "What?"

I murmur a "nothing" and continue poking around, but find nothing more than the disuse of the office. The only thing that seems to be extensively used is the phone and the desk chair, where Robin is perched on.

I go back to looking at the bookcases. The anticipation of a looming action scene causes time to move far slower, which is why Miss Martian and Zatanna seem to be taking so long. It's probably only been a couple minutes.

There are a lot of football books. What does one write for 400 pages about football, one wonders? I notice several finance books, and to my surprise, paranormal as well. A couple rows, too. A specific one seems to jump out at me. Not by title or significance or anything, but for some reason I know this book about ghosts is a pop-up.

With two fingers, I start to pull it back.

STOP HACKING! I shout over the mind link.

Why?! Both Aparato and Robin reply in an instant. The clacking of keys in the background ceases with the exclamation.

I think that's a false elevator- I wiggle my fingers, testing the weight of the lever and listening to the creak of the metal. Because this is a secret passage.

How'd you find it?

Zatanna's question follows with the girls coming in through the closed door. They shut it silently behind them, and Artemis comes up to me to inspect the book. Zatanna and M'gann stay by the door.

It… Popped out at me. I resist the urge to smirk. It's really hard.

Artemis gives me an odd look. "Well…" She reaches forward and pulls back on my hand, fully pulling back the book. The bookcase retracts back into the wall before sliding right, revealing another elevator.

Robin gets out from behind the desk and inspects it, then the other elevator. So… That one's a trap?

Maybe. I shrug. Who knows.

You? Zatanna teases with a raise of her eyebrow. I give her a small smile and fly closer to the elevator.

It's closed, and Robin plugs in his cord to the keypad beside it. Handprint lock. Dang, this thing is sophisticated. A brunt force program would take four hours to bust through this code.

Shoot, no kiddin. I can start, but I'd try to find another way in.

Robin's frown deepens at Aparato's assessment, leaning back to look around. There's no other elevator that we can tell, given the other is probably a fake and/or a trap, and no people to interrogate/possess, so we're at a loss.

Any ideas? Artemis asks.

Um. Air ducts? Robin suggests.

Artemis looks up at the vent blowing in air. No, too small.

Maybe Danny or Megan could shift smaller, though.

Miss M and I share a look, both urging the other to try.

Wait… I doubt there would be air duct running all the way underneath, given their caution with everything else, Robin rationalizes.

They have to get air-

"What are you children doing in here?" demands a voice from behind us. We all whirl to the guard that had walked in. He looks at us with a look of stern authority, before taking a step back. "Wait… You're heros! You aren't children…" He reaches for something in his belt and everyone jumps into action.

Zatanna lets out a spell to freeze his tongue, as the object he withdrew was a radio. Robin flips onto the guy's back, sending him to the ground. His breath comes out of him in one gasp as he hits the ground.

Artemis picks up the fallen radio, then sends a look to Robin. This thing has a panic button, and it's flashing. Backup's on its way.

Robin's frown deepens. Aqualad?

Perhaps a tactical retreat is-

Robin's momentary distraction allows the guard, who was more trained than originally thought. He gets out from underneath Robin with a violent movement that throws him off awkwardly enough that he can't switch momentum into any type of acrobatic move. He hits his shoulder rather hard on the edge of the doorframe.

The guard withdraws a gun and fires five shots in rapid succession at the four of us. They aren't bullets but flashes of light. Immediately after the first shot is fired at Zatanna, I grab M'gann, who is closest to me, and turn intangible. Artemis and Zatanna, who were closest to the guard and his first two targets, fall limply with the blows to their chests, but Robin manages to get a minimal hit on only his left arm, while Miss M and I are unharmed completely.

M'gann rips out his weapon with her telekinesis while Robin stands and delivers a kick to his stomach. He's wearing a vest, but is still shoved back. He panics and pulls out something entirely random: a prod like weapon that crackles with electricity.

It's not a taser; that's on the other side of his belt. But it still looks painful, and he sends it towards Robin's stomach.

Robin told me once that his suit can withstand several electric shocks without much harm to himself, so he allows the prong to come closer so he can get in another hit.

But in an instant, my vision tunnels and the world slows to syrup. All I see is the weapon, and without knowing what it does, without knowing quite sure why it's familiar, the recent save of M'gann gives me the deepest impression that I need it.

I feel like I'm dissolving, and suddenly I'm directly in front of Robin, looking into the terrified but determined night guard, the weapon delving into the suit I wear. One instant of shock on the guard's face, of the feeling of the tip on my stomach, before the electricity shoots into me, breaking the slowed time spell.

The pain shutters through me, targeting the center of my chest… My core.

It convulses in my chest, throwing out a ring of light that surrounds me. There's protest against the electricity and my core, both seeming to fight against each other, as my world tilts. I fall to the side, but the world seems to tilt down instead of up. I faintly feel the carpet.

My core fails and the ring splits, traveling both up and down. Light and color flood me in an instant, too bright and loud to decipher, a flash. My vision comes back for a split second, and I turn my head, trying to spot something familiar. It's all blurry.

A shape. Robin? Black hair, black mask, limp arm, uncertain face. A pressure at my neck.

My vision blacks out, but I feel what the pressure feels…

A heartbeat.

I know I took forever. So long chapter, and finally a human Danny. An eye for an eye... wink wink

Oh my gosh I'm so funny I can't even