Author's Notes: Hello, my fans and faithful. There are a lot of reasons why this chapter took so long to get to you: Finals, the holiday rush (work at retail) and lack of sleep were some contributing factors; that and I wrote the chapter three times. There was one part that I just kept getting stuck on. Luckily, I had the aid of my trusty beta, Cordria (yay Cori) to help me out of my creative blockade.

One thing to note: I've added a new character that is inspired from one of my buddy fanfic authors out there: Michael JJ of "Adjustments" fame. He not only graciously donated his first name, but he also made up a last name for the character as well. He plays a bit role now but I'm hoping to give him a bigger role later on in the story.

And now, without further adieu, the first chapter of the New Year!!!


Lost and Found Chapter 14: Unstoppable Force…

The flight to Axion was an uncomfortably quiet one for the two heroes as an awkward silence hung between the two. Danny led the way to their destination since he'd been there on more than one occasion and stole a number of glances over his shoulder at Raven. As when she arrived at his room earlier, the sorceress had a dispassionate expression that conveyed nothing of her current emotional state and Danny wasn't quite sure what to make of the whole situation. They continued this for a while before Danny couldn't take the silence anymore and stopped midflight, landing on a nearby building and turning to her abruptly.

"Are you still mad at me?" Danny asked after deciding to go with a direct approach.

Raven looked surprised by his straightforwardness, though her face only showed it for a few seconds before her expressionless mask returned. "Danny, we don't have time for this. In case you haven't notice, we sort of have a mission to complete."

"Well, it's going to have to wait," the halfa replied with a tone that said he wasn't backing down from this confrontation. "Before we go into anything, I want to know what's going on between us… if there is still an 'us'."

Raven could see the raw determination in his neon green eyes as they shone brightly in the darkness of the night and she couldn't help but get sucked in. She finally let out a large sigh and shook her head in defeat. "I'm not mad. I'm just… frustrated." She turned away to hide the troubled look in her eyes. "Danny, I know that you care and that you want to protect your family and friends. But sometimes I wish that you'd take better care of yourself. I don't know… I don't know what I'd do if we lost you…"

"Rae, I…" Danny stuttered into silence, unable to find the right words to say to her when he suddenly recalled something that he had said to her weeks ago. "Rae, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't keep that promise to you… that I wouldn't cause you to cry. It's just that sometimes… I want to protect everyone so badly that I don't think; I can't think."

"You can't always rush into everything, Danny. There are consequences to everything you do, especially to those who care about you. You can't protect anyone if you get yourself killed."

The truth of Raven's words struck home as he solemnly looked down. "You're right. I promise that I'll be more careful." He hesitated before he continued. "I don't want to make you worry about me."

"I wouldn't have to worry about you if you didn't always get yourself into trouble," she replied in a more lighthearted tone. "I may be able to fix you up, but I can only do so much."

Danny smiled at her teasing and was glad that the tense moment between them had passed. "Just to make sure we're on the same page… we're still together… aren't we?"

Her response was a kiss on the cheek. "Just as long as you don't try and get yourself killed. The next time you do anything crazy like that again, if it doesn't kill you, I will."

"I'll try to remember that," he replied with a nervous laugh. Though he was pretty sure she was just joking, something in her eyes told him otherwise and he had already learned from experience that it wasn't a good idea to get a girl with magical powers angry.

"Now that we have that out of the way, which one of your usual bad guys do you think is causing trouble?"

Danny took a moment to think of a response. "A couple of them come to mind. It might be Cujo."

Recognition flashed on Raven's face. "Cujo?"

"Ghost of one of the dogs who used to guard the place. Cute little guy half the time, but caused a lot of damage the last time he showed up. He's sort of the reason Valerie hates me…. hates Phantom so much." Danny looked down guiltily, gaining a sympathetic glance from Raven. "Other than him, most likely suspect is Technus. He's you typical longwinded bad guy, always talking about taking over the world's technology. He might have found something in there he wants to use for a new battle suit."

"I sense a pattern with the ghosts you fight. Skulker is obsessed with hunting, Box Ghost with… boxes. Technus with electronics."

"Vlad with my mom. Typical ghost behavior. They all have something they obsess over. Haven't really found a ghost that didn't have one."

"Present company included, I'm sure," Raven commented with a grin.

Danny gave her a sour look. "Haha. Anyway, the only other option I could think of is that it's a trap."

"A trap?"

"Yeah. Axion got bought out by Vlad over a year ago," the halfa explained. "Could be that Vlad is just drawing me out so that he can get to Danielle while I'm busy dealing with whatever he has cooked up for me. Not that I'm worried about that. I activated the ghost shield on the house right when we left, so he shouldn't get to her there."

Nodding her head, Raven went through the options in her head. "If that's the case, Vlad or otherwise, they'll be expecting you. And if we're lucky, they won't know about me."

"We can catch them by surprise," Danny said with a smile, catching on to her train of thought.

"Exactly. You go in alone while I surprise them from behind. "

"Smart and beautiful," he complimented. "I am so lucky to have a girlfriend like you."

"You won't be so lucky if you happen to die out there." Raven began her ascent. "Now let's get going before they get away."

VGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVG

Damon Gray, with firearm in hand, made his way through the dimly lit hallways of his workplace carefully and kept his eyes and ears open for any sort of trouble. The technician had tried numerous times to get a hold of the various members of his security team, but had little success in communicating with them. The two-way radios should have worked regardless of the main power so there were only two explanations: either something was causing interference or there was no one to contact.

His mind would periodically wander to the safety and wellbeing of his daughter back at his office though he tried to shake off any doubt. He knew that other than the vault, his office was probably the safest place to be, just as long as she listened and stayed put. She would listen to him, wouldn't she? He had noticed that despite the doubt over Phantom, ever since she was saved from those ghosts a few weeks ago, a little bit of that stubborn fire had returned; the one that had shone brightly in her eyes whenever someone had mentioned ghosts and more specifically the white haired boy known as Phantom. It was an aspect of his daughter he actually kind of missed, but he knew it was also a part of her that got her into a lot of trouble.

After a few moments of contemplating, Damon had almost talked himself into turning around to make sure that Valerie was indeed safe and not in trouble, whether that of her own making or otherwise, when a set of heavy footsteps broke his train of thought and tensed every muscle in his body. He cocked the weapon at the sound and slowly made his way down to the next corner, readying himself for anything as he carefully peered around it. Relaxing his grip, he felt some anxiety leak out of his body as he made out a few familiar figures.

"Mr. Gray?" the guard designated as Delta One asked as he too lowered his weapon. He removed the standard issued helmet he and the others wore, revealing the short brown hair and relatively youthful looking face of Michael Sinclair, one of Damon's top men. Behind him were a number of others, who looked equally relieved at seeing Mr. Gray. "Are we glad to see you. We were hoping you had any idea at what was going on."

"Actually, I was hoping you had any intel," Damon admitted. "I've been in the dark, literally, about the status of the facility. After the power went out and the backup kicked in, I haven't been able to contact anyone over the radios."

Michael looked concerned at his superior's news or lack thereof and turned as he motioned him to follow. "That isn't good. We haven't had much luck getting in touch with any of the other teams as well. Whoever is attacking is sure doing a good job at hitting us where it hurts." He pointed further down the hall to a large set of metallic doors and in front of it the green glow of an anti-ghost shield. "The backup power is protecting the critical areas facility, including the mystery package. My squad has set up a perimeter around the entrance to the main storage locker. If they want what I think they want, they'll have to come here to get it."

"Good assessment. How many men do you have?"

"The seven of us, not counting you, sir. I sent two on recon to see if they could get some reinforcements from the other parts of building, but I haven't heard from them since." A look of concern crossed the squad leader's face as he thought of the condition of his men.

Damon gave him a sympathetic smile at his younger colleague, fully understanding how he felt about the situation. He turned to the door, resolve playing on his face. "Right now, our top priority is this door. We have to guard the contents of the next room as best as we possibly can. However, if worse comes to worse, your lives are more important than anything that could possibly be on the other side of this door. They aren't paying any of us enough to die here, so I better not see any of you kick the bucket, or I'll fire you all myself."

The sound of chuckling was their reply to his speech as the collective tension that seemed to have a hold on them melted away. They all trusted and respected him and had faith in the fact that he valued their lives more than the technology they were hired to protect. The men made their way to their posts, alert and ever vigilante of their surrounding s as they awaited whoever or whatever was so eager to break in. Michael chose to stay next to Mr. Gray and turned to speak to him, "So, is Valerie okay?"

The worried father couldn't help but grin. "You were the one who let her in, weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged. She was pretty adamant about coming to see you and, well, can't really say no to her when she is that persistent. Of course, if I knew all of this was going to happen, I would have sent her the way she came."

"Wasn't your fault, though next time I would like a little warning." He gave the guard a good-natured look. "She's in my office, the safest place to be right now, ironically enough. With the main power and security system down, they won't have any need to go there. The problem is her staying there…"

"Do you want me to send a man over there to keep an eye on her?"

Before Damon could respond, a peculiar sound grasped both their attention; a very high pitched whining sound mixed with the crackling of electrical energy. Every firearm pointed in the direction of the sound, which grew louder as its source came closer to them until it finally came within sight and rendered most of them speechless. The men all starred in confusion as a teenage girl skated into view, skidding to a stop a few feet from them before giving them all a cheery smile and a wave.

"Hi!"

DPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDPDP

The empty courtyard in front of the Axion Labs building was quiet when Danny arrived there, a fact that somewhat unnerved him as he began his search for any sort of trouble or danger. The halfa couldn't sense any ectoplasmic activity in the area and he wasn't sure if that was entirely good news. After doing a once over of the grounds, his eyes made their way to the front entrance and he did a double take of the scene before him: the front sliding doors that were the entrance to the facility were ripped clear of their railings. He gave a low whistle showing he was somewhat impressed by the level of damage, though the sight launched his senses to an even more heightened state of alert.

"Probably not a ghost," he spoke aloud, making an evaluation of the scene. "A ghost would have just phased through the door to get in." His gloved hand touched one of the partially warped door and then took a peek through the partially lit hallway that lay beyond the entrance's threshold. "The big question is are we too late?"

"I think there's someone inside," a familiar voice resounded inside the walls of his mind, answering his query. The voice belonged to Raven who via mental link kept in contact with Danny as she hid in the shadows outside Axion as part of the plan the two had devised. "I'm getting a reading from someone moving pretty quickly through the halls."

"Think you can get me their position?" he asked her mentally. It felt weird to him to communicate like this, but they both agreed it would probably be more secure than using the Titan Comms or the Fenton Phones. Danny did admit that hearing her voice and knowing that she could be there at a moment's notice to back him up took the edge off the uncertainty of what they were about to face.

"Right now they're… look out!"

He reacted to her warning without hesitation and jumped out of the way just as something massive slammed into the ground where he had just been standing, sending debris and dust everywhere. Putting a safe amount of distance between him and the impact, Danny waited for the dust to clear to see who or what had been aiming for him. The halfa didn't have to wait long as a rather tall and built figure emerged from the crater: a teenager that seemed a few years older than Danny but with a height that easily towered over most adults, wearing some sort of black and orange jumpsuit and sporting a military-style crew cut. "Where the heck did he come from," Danny commented internally. "I thought you said they were inside?"

"The first one still is. Looks like they were expecting you after all."

Danny looked over his massive adversary, who hadn't moved since making his entrance at the scene. The older teen simply stared at him as if he were waiting for Danny to make the first move, which unnerved the ghost boy somewhat. "Well, it probably isn't Vlad's doing, since he prefers to work with ghosts and this guy definitely didn't set off my ghost sense." He gave the situation some thought before continuing. "New plan. You head inside and handle this guy's partner while I stay out here."

"Danny…" she replied in reproving tone.

"If we split up, we cover more ground. Besides, I can take this guy with my ghost powers."

"That remains to be seen," Raven retorted. A moment's pause followed before she resumed. "Remember your promise. If you get yourself killed, you'll have me to deal with."

Danny smiled inwardly, and then focused his attention on the awaiting giant whose arms were crossed and whose face stayed neutral, though there was a hint of boredom in his features. The ghost teen weighed his options, though only one course of action seemed like the most effective one and the one he'd used many times before: a full frontal assault. If he were able to hit his opponent hard enough, he could take him out or at least make him think twice. If push came to shove, he had his invisibility and intangibility to fall back on to evade.

Phantom began to float a few inches from the ground before he shot off like a rocket with his sights set straight ahead and both fists stretched out in front of him. He chose not to ignite his hands in ectoplasm like he would for a ghostly adversary and he held back on his speed, hoping it was fast enough to knock the larger teen down without seriously hurting him. Seconds felt like minutes as he quickly closed the gap between them in a flash when Danny felt a felt something strange a few yards away from his target and he then began to notice that he was losing speed at a rapid pace.

"What the…" the halfa stated in disbelief as he tried push himself to increase his velocity, though his efforts seemed to be in vain as he continued to decelerate until he stopped a mere few inches from the awaiting and smiling Vector. "How did you…"

"You first mistake was to charge in without knowing your opponent's combat ability," Phantom's antagonist spoke for the first time since he arrived, disregarding the ghost boy's unanswered question. The villain, who had his palm facing the hero, then proceeded to point towards the ground and watched the white haired ghost fall to the ground with a thump. "Your second was to hold back in attacking me. You were holding back, weren't you? Considering your reputation, I would have hoped you were more powerful than that."

Breathing heavily, Danny found it a burden to move or even breathe as an invisible force kept him pinned down to the ground, a feeling he wasn't too fond of. He had grown quite fond of the weightlessness associated with his ghost powers which was the opposite of the pressure that weighed down on his body at the moment, which took all his strength to not succumb to. He growled under his breath as he used his arms to try and push himself upright, only to collapse in defeat every time he tried to do so. "Great, now he talks," he muttered in between grunts."

"There isn't a point in struggling, you know," he continued smugly. "Right now, you are feeling fifty times Earth's normal gravity, far past the limit a normal human can take, but since ghosts have a tendency to defy gravity, I took the liberty of giving you a little bit extra. I'm surprised you can even move, to tell you the truth. At least you are a bit durable, though not too bright; a pity, really. I wanted more of a challenge, but I guess I was expecting a bit too much out of you."

Danny gritted his teeth. "Sorry to disappoint," he managed to utter. "Maybe she'll fair better than I did…"

"Now what are you yammering …" Vector stopped midsentence and looked up, just in time to see a large metallic door he had mangled earlier that night flying at his head, encased in a black aura. He raised his hand to catch the large projectile, grunting as he was actually pushed back by the force of the attack. For a few moments he and the power that animated the door fought for superiority and neither side seemed to gain an upper hand. With a final bit of effort, however, Vector dug his fingers deep into the metal and swung around, heaving it to the side and sending the slab into a nearby fence.

"I hope you don't mind if I cut in," Raven stated as she appeared a number of feet in front of him, her eyes and hands crackling with power. Raising her hand, she willed the second door into the air and sent it on its way as if it were a giant Frisbee.

He wavered only for a moment, then gave a confident smirk as he readied a defense for her attack. He placed his palms together, as if he were meditating, then rotated one hand till the tips of its fingers pointed down. He then lessened the bend of both his wrists until his hands were at non perpendicular angles, though his palms were still parallel. "Vector technique," he began to say as he began to focus. "Refraction!"

Raven watched as her projectile moved straight for its target when suddenly it veered to the right, missing him entirely. She focused on the object again and exerted herself until it doubled back, in hopes of hitting him from behind. Unfortunately, like before, the door seemed to swerve the moment it reached his vicinity until it once again neglected to hit him. She let go of her hold and let it fall to the ground, narrowing her eyes as he simply smiled in reply.

"I suggest you try something else."

A response to his advice came, though not from Raven; a blast of emerald energy erupted from the ground a few feet away and headed straight for Vector's face. Raven's attack served its purpose of keeping their adversary's attention elsewhere, allowing Danny to find a way to escape. Although he had still been under the influence of the enemy's strange ability, he had turned himself intangible and phased though the ground, allowing him to be no longer sandwiched between that invisible force and the earth underneath him, though he still was pushed downward. Instead of focusing on counteracting the effect, Danny used his powers to propel himself forward as he moved downwards, moving diagonally underground till he reached a point where it didn't seem to affect him anymore. Danny then mimicked Raven's tactics and decided to launch a sneak attack of his own.

Unfortunately, his strategy proved ineffective against his foe who quickly raised his hand and blocked the blast with eh gauntlet on his arm. A number of other ectoblasts followed, though this time Vector was prepared and somehow managed to nimbly jump over the blasts, something that would normally seem quite difficult for a person of his build. He landed on the ground as if he had only jumped six inches instead of the six feet he had ascended to, smirking at Raven's surprised stare.

Danny emerged from the ground to survey his successful attack only to find that his target remained relatively unscathed. "What is up with this guy?" he asked in amazement. He then took a glance at Raven. "I thought you were headed inside?"

"I thought you said you could handle him," she countered back in her signature monotone. "What did I say about being careful and not getting yourself killed?"

Danny gave her a mischievous smile. "Not my fault the big guy is tougher than he looks."

"Looks like we have an unforeseen factor entering in the equation," their enemy commented, interrupting their interaction. "Raven of the Teen Titans, is it not? I was not expecting you to be here, but it is of little consequence." The large teen cracked his knuckles and took a crouched pose similar to that of a linebacker ready to tackle a member of the opposing team. "You're entrance into the scenario will actually make things a bit interesting. So, shall we continue?"

VGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVGVG

The state of shock that resulted from the arrival of the enigmatic girl known as Sparx only lasted a few moments, after which the security detail went on alert and aimed their firearms at her. "Stay where you are and put your hand s on your head!" Sinclair ordered.

"Is that the vault?" she asked, seemingly oblivious to their weapons or demands. She whistled admiringly as she studied the door that separated her from her goal. "Wow, that's a big door. Must be what, six to eight inches thick? Electronic panel with retinal and palm reader and probably a voice print matching system, too. Too easy."

"I said put your hands on your head, now!" He raised his voice to gain her attention, quite irked by her ignorance. "Surrender yourself now and you won't get hurt."

His words seemed to finally break through her reverie as she finally noticed again that she wasn't alone. Taking in all the guns pointed at her direction, she let out a frustrated sigh. "Not this again," she whined. "You guys keep pointing guns at me. I've been through this like what, four times already?" She began to count her fingers. "Or was it five times? Anyway, it's getting real old."

Though they weren't sure if they were to take the girl's claim at face value, they kept their aim on her steady. "I'm not going to say this again: lie down on the ground and surrender now."

Sparx simply smiled defiantly, pulling down the bottom eyelid of her right out and stuck out her tongue. "Make me."

Before they could move their trigger fingers she was already in motion, closing in on the first guard close to her and sending electrical sparks from the soles of her feet. She zigzagged, avoiding his first shots and then began to spin rapidly with the grace of a figure skater. Her leg lifted and connected into him with a devastating kick, knocking the guard back into the nearby wall. Not losing a beat, she spun once more before moving in closer, dodging shots being fired at her from the remaining sentries. She clothes-lined the next one and then continuing her momentum, used him as leverage as she swung around him and hit his partner with the electrically charged soles of her feet.

Before their unconscious bodies hit the ground she continued moving, heading to the closest wall and not slowing down for even a second. She then jumped before slamming into the wall and instead her feet made contact with it and she continued to skate as if she were still on the ground, all the while continuing to evade the hail of gunfire. After a few moments of this, she launched from the wall and her legs scissored around the helmeted head of one the guards. She landed on her hands while he was still in her grip and then effortlessly flipped him onto the ground, rending him unconscious.

She flipped away and landed in a crouch as her boots sparked to life once again and propelled her closer, sending the remaining in a panic as they continued to try and hit their highly agile target. The moment she came within range, her foot sought out the legs of another victim as she executed a sweeping kick the knocked him off his feet. She became upright again, all while continuing to twirl and the leg struck him again as he was toppling over, knocking him into one of his colleagues and sending both in a tangled heap.

All this took a matter of seconds and in that time the squad of eight was hacked down to just two, leaving only Michael and Damon, though it looked like that wasn't going to last long, as the electric blonde began closing in on them. Sinclair took a stand in front of Mr. Gray, ready to defend his supervisor from their unlikely foe, knowing full well that he probably wasn't a match for her. He felt a pang of guilt over how easily his squad mates had been taken down and by a young girl no less and he grimly stood his ground as he watched her race to greet them with a fist crackling with electrical energy.

"Stop!"

The voice took both Sparx and Sinclair by surprise and caused the girl to skid to a stop, her charged hand halting mere inches from Sinclair's nose. He stepped back from her sudden proximity and then turned to where the girl was blankly staring at to find the bleak face of Mr. Gray.

"We… we surrender. Mike, lower your weapon."

Sinclair's face contorted into confusion. "But Mr. Gray…"

"Remember what I told you before: I'll put your safety over what's in that vault any day." Damon turned to the girl. 'We won't cause you any trouble. You can have whatever you want."

"Really?" A smile bloomed on her face as she lowered her arm. "Alright!" the other two watched in amazement as her fist shot up in the air and she began to dance in response to her success. "Way to go Sparx! Vec is going to be so happy when he hears this!"

"We aren't however, going to help you get in there, however," Mr. Gray clarified.

She stopped her victory dance and turned to him, her grin never leaving her face. "Oh, I won't need your help anyway. Hacking into the security system is way too easy, anyway." Sparx practically skipped over to the panel embedded in the wall beside the vault door, eying it carefully before her fingers began to dance across the keyboard. Damon and Michael watched as her typing speed gradually increased until her hands were nothing but twin blurs. After a few minutes of this, she abruptly came to a halt. "And for the icing on the cake…" She placed a hand that was now charged with electrical energy, onto the palm scanner and sent a jolt into the panel, causing it to spark and the emergency lights in the hall to flicker for a moment.

A green light appeared onscreen and following that, the vault doors slowly whirred open, revealing the pedestal on which her prize awaited. The force field which had been protecting it had been disabled once she had hacked into the system, leaving the object unprotected and up for grabs.

"How… how did she…" Michael asked in awe as he turned to Mr. Gray. "I thought you said that nobody could hack into the system?"

"No security system is hacker-proof," the elder employee stated, also quite surprised with how easily she had blown through their defenses. "It's just a matter of how hard it is to hack. It shouldn't have been that easy…"

Sparx stepped out of the vault moments later, a shoulder bag hanging at her side now containing the contraption Axion Labs was so set on protecting. "Thanks a lot, guys! And don't worry: you and the others will wake up in a few hours, tops."

"What are you…" A jolt rant through both of their bodies, causing the two men to spasm before unconsciousness took over.

"Dad?"

The platinum blonde girl turned in the direction of the call, to find a dark skin girl close to her age staring wide-eyed at the scene before her. The expression of the newcomers face changed as her surprised look turned to that of anger and in an instant a high tech suit covered her body.

"Keep away from him!"

AN: A cookie to those who know where the title of this chapter comes from.