This chapter was hard to write. I had a bad case of writer's block and I was really busy this week, so I apologize if this chapter isn't as great as the others. I also ask that you keep the people of Paris in your thoghts and prayers after what happened on Friday.
Today was finally the day. The day I go back to work after a month of unemployment. The reconstruction of the Coffee Bean took less time than originally thought. Outside of a small explosion at Wayne enterprises there hadn't been any destructive fights recently so more time could be spent repairing the Coffee Bean. I'm not complaining, the quicker my main source of income returns the better it will be for me.
Money had been tight for a while. I think I'm down to 20 dollars from the half pay check Joel gave me. Slide and Kelsey really helped me in the food department. I'd received lunches from Slide every school day and I'd join Kelsey for dinner every night. It was nice to get to know her family better and after a month of eating with them I almost felt like I have a second family. And they seemed to like me, or at least tolerate me enough to still let me eat with them. I'm going to miss them, the dinners, and the games we'd play after we finished eating now that I don't need their help.
Without my work things got pretty boring. I was able to get all my homework done quickly which left me with a lot of free time. I spent most of my free time at the prison with the H.I.V.E. trio. A lot of things I wanted to do were restricted so we mainly stuck to games, cartoons, and a few times I managed to convince the warden to let us out to the courtyard to play tag and other childish games. A word of advice, never let the teen with super strength be it for tag. When Mammoth tagged me I was thrown into a wall concrete hard enough to crack it. I was fine thanks to my ghostly durability, but the experience did let me see that I am helping the trio. The moment it happened they were by my side trying to see if I was alright. It seems like they actually care about me, or they were just worried that their best way to relieve boredom might be broken. I chose to think it's the former.
I stood behind the new counter as Joel opened up the café for the first time in a month. I looked around as I admired the work the handymen did. You would never have known a destructive fight occurred inside recently. Joel changed the sign from closed to open. We were officially ready for business.
My first hour back was pretty uneventful, for the first day back we were surprisingly busy. It's nothing I couldn't handle though. It was after the first hour that things livened up and it was thanks to, you guessed it, the Teen Titans.
I'd actually been avoiding them. It wasn't that hard, I use to spend most of my time with them at the Coffee Bean and when ever I saw them from a distance, hanging out and on patrol I'd leave quickly before they saw me. I didn't want to avoid them but it's safer that way. Robin knows part of my secret but I don't want to give him a reason to find out the rest of it.
The Titans sat down at their usual table and Cyborg motioned me over with his hand. Reluctantly I left the counter and sat down at their table. I'm not looking foreword to this.
"Hey dude, how've you been? We haven't seen you in forever" said Beastboy after I sat down.
"It hasn't been that long. How have you guys been?" I ask.
"Danny, we have done much without you." said an eager Starfire. With that she launched into several stories about the Titans adventures in the last month, with one of the Titans cutting in every so often to add extra details. I heard about how they were caught by a crazy British villain and about the car Cyborg created and eventually destroyed. They told me that Robin was forced to become a villain and that Starfire travelled to the future where the Titans had split apart. "And then we celebrated Blorthog." finished Starfire. "That reminds me, it is late but happy Blorthog." Starfire handed me what looked like a necklace with metal balls on it. I'm not sure where she kept it due to the fact that her costume doesn't really have pockets but with superpowered teens surrounding me I'm not going to question it.
Say a quick "thanks", I reluctantly took the necklace and put it on. I don't feel like I deserve it after I learned what Blorthog is about. I could have been there for the Titans and prevented a lot of the bad things from happening to them if I'd been there. But instead I decided to hide out in fear that I might be exposed.
"So Danny what have you been up to?" asked a curious Cyborg.
"Well with this place being destroyed and me basically being out of a job, I've had a lot of free time. I spent most of it doing homework or hanging out with my friends." I answered.
"You didn't hang out with us. And we're your friends, aren't we?" asked a slightly hurt Beastboy. Great, now I feel even worse for distancing myself from them.
"That's only because we usually hang out here and you guys live on an island. Its not like I can just swim over." I said.
"I guess we'll let you off the hook for now." joked Cyborg.
With that we started talking just like we used to. I realized how much I missed them. I'm not going to push them away again even if they find out my secret.
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The Next Day
People can be pretty stupid sometimes. I'm saying that because I just spent the last five minutes trying placate a guy that was ready to sue the Coffee Bean because he burnt his tongue while drinking his coffee. It's called a hot drink for a reason. Thankfully I managed to stop him from pursuing legal action by reimbursing him for his drink and offering him a formal apology. People like him really annoy me. He doesn't know how good he has things but instead complains over little things. That guy wouldn't have lasted the last month if he was in my shoes.
Needless to say I wasn't having a very good day. At least the Titans are coming today. They might be able to raise my mood. As I think that, guess who walks through the door into the café. You guessed it the Teen Titans. Speak of the devil and he shall appear, or in my case think of the Titans.
They walked over to their table. I left the register and I was going to sit down but my usual seat was taken by a girl I'd never seen before. She had blonde hair and large eyes. She looked extremely skinny and her clothes were worn and repaired in a few spots. She definitely was a street kid but not one of the ones I saw during my stint of homelessness.
Grabbing a nearby chair I brought it over and sat down. "Hey guys. Did you drag another person into your hangout time?" I joked as I made myself comfortable.
"Danny meet Terra, she's going to be a Titan." said Beastboy in an almost sickly sweet voice. I could practically see the hearts in his eyes. I glanced over at the now named Terra. She was smiling at Beastboy's comment but something seemed off. The smile didn't reach her eyes. It was as if she didn't believe him. But now's not the time to think about this.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Danny. So how'd you meet the Titans?" I asked. I was curious, the Titans didn't mention her yesterday.
"We met in the dessert and she fought this giant scorpion. It was so cool" gushed Beastboy. So she was living in the dessert not on the streets. That explains why I've never seen her.
"That's cool. Not to be nosy but what's your superpower?" I ask.
"I can manipulate earth. Pretty cool right." said Terra.
"That must be a gneiss power to have" I joked. I know that was a bad joke but I could resist.
I got groans from Raven, Robin, and Terra, while the rest of the Titans gave me blank stares. "And I thought Beastboy's jokes were bad, but I think that was worse." commented Raven.
A still confused Beastboy said "I don't get it" before he realized what Raven actually said. "Hey, my jokes are funny" cried an indignant Beastboy.
"No they're not." said Raven before she launched into an explanation. "Gneiss is a type of rock, but it sounds like the word nice."
"Now that I've got my lame joke out of they way, can I get you anything?" I offered.
She thought for a second before she replied. "Can I have a coffee, the largest size you have please?"
"Sure" I said as I got up and walked to the counter. I poured her coffee before I walked back to the table. During the entire process Terra's eyes were glued to me and her body was tensed. I looked like she was ready to pounce on the coffee the moment I was within striking distance of her. Thankfully that didn't happen, but when I set the coffee on the table Terra snatched the cup and started chugging it.
I'll have to admit I've never seen someone finish a hot drink that quickly. She must have drank the entire thing in under 20 seconds. Terra put the cup down and let out a content sigh. "I've missed coffee so much." said Terra. Coming out of her euphoria, she noticed everyone, including me staring at her. Terra immediately blushed and tried to turn our attention to something else. "So how much do I owe you?" she asked.
Waving a hand dismissively I said "It's alright, I'll cover it. Think of it as my welcome to the Titans gift."
"Thank you so much" exclaimed Terra as she flashed a brilliant smile towards me. Out of the corner corner of my eye I saw Beastboy giving me a jealous look. He must have it really bad for Terra.
We hung out an hour or so before they left. I got a kick out of watching Beastboy try, and fail, to impress Terra. He'd usually try and tell Terra about the Titans adventures, with him as the main hero, and end up stumbling over his words. It was hilarious. The Titan's visit was exactly what I needs to feel better. The only thing that bothered me was Terra. Not her exactly, but the look she gave when Beastboy said that she will be a Titan. I wonder what she's hiding.
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The Next Day
Today was the perfect day for a walk. I had to buy groceries today so I decided to walk to the supermarket. I know I could just fly, but it was a really nice day. The sky was a bright, clear blue and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature was perfect, warm but not hot, and a breeze blew gently on my skin.
I was two blocks from the supermarket. I had just reached the corner of an intersection when something hit me, hard. I fell to the ground face up and something large and relatively heavy landed on top of me. Opening my eyes, I saw a face I knew. Terra stared back at me with a look of shock on her face.
"As much as I enjoy laying on concrete, could you please get off of me." I asked. Realizing where she was, Terra hastily stood up as her face flushed red with embarrassment. "So are the Titans on patrol?" I asked. I'm curious as to why she's alone in the city.
Terra looked down sadly "I don't know I'm not a Titan" she said. That's a surprise, just yesterday the Titans were going on and on about how she'd be perfect for the team. I guess things can change quickly.
"What happened?" I asked, concern evident in my voice.
"I'd rather not talk about it?" Terra said surprisingly forcefully. Whatever happened must be a sore spot for her.
"Well the Titans would kick you out for no reason, and you don't seem like a villain. You were too sad when you said when you weren't on the team to be one. If they didn't kick you out than you chose to leave even though you didn't want to. That must mean you have dangerous enemies and you don't want the Titans getting hurt" I pondered aloud.
"It doesn't concern you. Leave me alone." replied Terra fiercely. With that she started walking down the street, away from me. I'm guessing I was wrong.
As she walked away a thought occurred to me. And it was all because I remembered my first month of being Danny Phantom. "Wait" I called out. Terra stopped and turned to face me. "It's your powers isn't it. You don't have control of them and your afraid someone might get hurt, right." I hypothesized.
Her face went as white as a sheet, but she quickly became angry. "Beastboy told you too. He promised he wouldn't tell." Terra practically shouted before she turned to start running away.
I had to stop her before she did something she might regret. I lunged forward and managed to catch her arm, which caused her to freeze. "Terra stop, Beastboy didn't tell me anything. I was just guessing based on the facts." I explained as I let go of her arm.
"He didn't tell you?" asked Terra, hope evident in her voice.
"He didn't" I conferred. "Now could we take this somewhere a little more private?" By now we were getting curious glances from the people around us.
"Sure"
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10 minutes later we were sitting in a booth at a small café. It's not the Coffee Bean, I do go to other restaurants sometime. Terra has been drinking a coffee in silence for the last 5 minutes. I guess she's waiting for me to start.
"Soooo, um" I fumble around trying to figure out what to say. "I know we only met yesterday but can I tell you what I think." I got a small nod from Terra. "I don't think you should leave." Terra opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off. "Just listen to me please. I think that the Titans are exactly what you need. They are superheroes that have learned to master their powers. If anyone can help you they can."
Terra didn't look convinced with my explanation. I really didn't want to do this but she reminds me of myself right after the accident. Unable to control my powers. Living in fear, not because of the same thing but still being scared because of our powers. "Do you want to know why I think that? It's because I wish I had people like them. I'm about to show you something. You have to promise me you won't tell anyone. Ok" I said seriously.
"Alright." she said obviously curious.
I might regret this later but I have too show her. If I can help her and the Titans than I have too. Look at what happened when I wasn't there for the month. They almost lost their team bond and Robin became a villain.
"I have the ability to create and manipulate ice" I said as I cupped my hands together. Inside I create a small diamond of ice. Opening my hands I showed it to her. Terra gasped I surprise and grabbed it out of my hands. She brought it to her face and started examining it. "When I first got my power I was like you, I couldn't control it. I nearly froze my self solid, but thankfully I found someone to teach me how to control me power before that happened. And because of that I'm no longer a danger to myself or others. Your afraid you might hurt people and that may happen, but you will always be a danger to people unless you learn control. And the Titans are best equipped the to teach you and remain safe while doing so. Plus Raven has Telekinesis, which should be similar to your power, right? She could easily train you." I said.
Terra pondered what I said while she unconsciously played with the ice diamond. "I guess your right." Terra said reluctantly. "But still Beastboy betrayed me."
"What happened?" I asked. Beastboy was head over heels for Terra, it doesn't make sense that he would betray her.
"I told him about my problem and he said he wouldn't tell anyone but he told Robin. Why would he do that." she said. It makes sense now.
"I pretty sure Beastboy didn't tell Robin. I managed to figure out about your powers by guessing, and I'm not the smartest person around. Robin was train by Batman, you know the world's greatest detective. He probably figured it out and didn't realize you had already told Beastboy about it." I explained.
"That makes sense I guess." Terra said.
"So will you go back?" I asked hopefully.
"I will" she said. "I just have one question. If you have powers why aren't you a hero? Or a Titan?"
"I tried once. It didn't work out" I said. I hope I didn't give too much away, maybe it's time for a little damage control. "Could you not tell the Titans about my power. I don't want to relive what happened and I really don't want the Titans pestering me about joining them. I like my life the way it is."
"I won't. Don't worry I won't tell them." said Terra. She stood up and got out of the booth. "Hey Danny can I keep this?" Terra held up my diamond.
"Sure, it won't melt so you don't have to worry about it melting in you pocket." I replied.
"Thanks … for everything" said Terra. And with that she left. I'm glad I could help Terra. I hope she can get the help she needs. Now it's time to get my groceries.