DISCLAIMER: I own neither Danny Phantom nor Teen Titans.

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Chapter 6: A New World

"Sixteen. I'm sixteen." Danny held up six fingers.

"Eh? Six, you say?" A grumpy old man behind the counter squinted at him. "You don't look six."

Danny rolled his eyes. "SIXTEEN!" he shouted.

The old man cringed, rubbing his ears. "All right, all right. No need to shout…" He kept grumbling.

Danny sighed tiredly and repressed a groan. This was getting old. He had spent the last half hour trying to get the man to give him a job in the antique store he was in: ROBINSON'S FINE ANTIQUES. He was guessing that the old man was Mr. Robinson but it was hard to know seeing as how the man was almost stone deaf and kept misinterpreting everything he said.

"Come again as to why you're here?" the old man asked, finally getting to business again.

After briefly considering writing it down before realizing that the old man would probably be insulted, Danny sounded it out clearly. "I'd like a job."

"You'd like a bob?" The old man furrowed his brow in confusion. "I don't cut hair, kid."

"A job," Danny said loudly. "There's a sign outside saying you need help." He jabbed a finger to the window to emphasize his point.

"And I don't sell corn here either," the old man said. "The supermarket's a while away."

Danny sighed, resisting the urge to shake his head in frustration. He caught sight of a writing pad and reached for it, taking a pen, too.

He studiously wrote, I'm looking for a job. I saw the sign outside. Hopefully the old man wasn't blind, too.

The old man read the pad and looked up at Danny. "What's your name, kid? And why couldn't you tell me this like a normal person?"

My name's Danny. I tried to but I think your hearing aid's missing. Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously as the man read what he wrote. He hoped he hadn't crossed any lines. You never knew with these people.

The man's face screwed up in thought for a moment before he seemingly had a momentous revelation. "Ah-ha! Hold on a moment…"

Danny watched, confused, as the old man went through a door in the back wall. He heard some rustling before the old man came out again, smiling smugly.

"Ha! Well, now that I've found my sneaky aid I'll return to business. Now, what can I do for you?" He beamed at Danny. "Before I forget, I am Mr. Robinson, the owner of this fine store."

The ghost teen blinked in bemusement for a moment at the sudden turnaround of the man's personality. 'Whoa. Did the hearing aid possess him?' He smiled inwardly at the thought and said aloud, "My name's Danny. I saw the sign outside that said you were looking for help."

Mr. Robinson leaned against the counter, studying Danny through his blue eyes. "Do you have any experience?"

"No. Do I need some?" he asked nervously, really hoping that he wouldn't be turned away. Another disappointment would be too much for him to handle. On top of that, he still hadn't eaten breakfast. Or rather brunch. It was getting rather late.

The store owner again stared at him; this time Danny felt distinctly uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze. His eyes shifted to the countertop before meeting Mr. Robinson's again. He resisted the urge to do something stupid such as doodle on the writing pad that was still laid out between them.

Finally, Mr. Robinson spoke, turning his back to Danny. "I think you'll do fine here…Danny, you say?"

Danny let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding. "Yes." Then his brain registered what Mr. Robinson had said. "Er, are you serious?"

Mr. Robinson gave a chortle. "Of course. I may be hard of hearing but I'm certainly not blind. I can see that you look like a trustworthy young lad."

"Don't you want to know how old I am?" Danny asked, secretly hoping that he didn't. The last so many jobs he'd asked for had turned him away because of his age.

"You did say you were six, didn't you?"

Danny gaped at him, his mouth working frantically as he tried to find his voice. Mr. Robinson chuckled at his bafflement. "Relax. I know you're old enough for the job. It doesn't require much besides helping customers out and handling antiques." Then it seemed as if a thought struck him; he eyed Danny speculatively. "You can handle antiques, right?"

The question made Danny laugh. Of course he could handle antiques! He hadn't lost control of his powers since he'd first gotten them. But then the recent incident with his new ecto-electricity powers snuck into his mind. The tingling that he could still feel beneath his skin made him suppress a shudder and he shoved the issue out of his mind, trying to focus on something more lighthearted. Such as the fact that he still couldn't handle beakers.

"Do you see where they jump right here?" Raven murmured, pointing to the screen before the team. "I think that's right before we left to confront Technus."

Robin checked something and nodded. "You're right. But what do they mean? I correlated this to pick up energy signals but what kind of energy is this?"

"Judging from the ghosts we've been fighting I'd say the readings pick up the energy the ghosts give off."

"Which would be ectoplasm?" Robin asked.

"That's right." Raven looked at Robin, surprised. "How much do you know about ghosts?"

Robin shrugged. "Only the basics: they fly, they float through walls, they moan—although that might not be accurate—and that they're made of ectoplasm."

"You've got the gist of it. In fact, that's about as far as I can get in my books."

Beast Boy's ears perked up. "Whoa! You can't find anything in your books?"

Raven looked like she didn't want to know where this was going. "No."

"Someone call the police!" Beast Boy jumped all over the place. "Raven's books have failed us!" He fainted dramatically on the spot, swooning over the coach.

Cyborg shared a look with Robin while Starfire just looked mildly bemused; Raven was ignoring the green changeling and was instead devoting her time to studying the readings. She flicked through them, the date on the upper right corner of the screen turning back through time.

"What are you looking for, Raven?" Robin looked at the time. It read: 1:54 A.M. "Isn't that when we went to fight the Cake Ghost?"

"It is," Raven answered. "Look at how the readings are abnormally high around the time we fight him. And"—she went back several minutes—"how they're low here. It matches up with the bakery robberies of the last few nights."

"How do you know this? I didn't have the scanner up then," Robin said.

"I was meditating around that time," she explained.

"Is there a time you aren't meditating?" Beast Boy asked.

"When you're annoying me," Raven shot back while still managing to sound completely dry at the same time.

"I think she got you, BB," Cyborg remarked, folding his arms and grinning at Beast Boy.

The changeling shot him a glare, steam coming out of his ears.

"What exactly did you find, friend Raven, while meditating?" Starfire inquired, looking curiously at Cyborg, who had Beast Boy under his arm and was rubbing his knuckles into Beast Boy's hair.

"Random bursts of spiritual energy," Raven replied, turning to face her friends. Cyborg and Beast Boy had stopped their bickering to listen. "They were sporadic and didn't occur often. They were more centered in the nighttime, around when the bakeries were broken into. I didn't think anything of it until we met the Cake Ghost a few hours ago. After studying these readings my suspicions were confirmed: I've been sensing ghosts around here."

"What about Danny? Did you sense him?" Cyborg asked.

"He's new," Raven admitted. "I haven't sensed or seen someone like him before."

"He's dangerous," Robin stated. "We can't trust him."

"But, Robin—" Starfire started.

She was cut off by Raven. "I don't think that's true, Robin. Yes, he electrocuted Starfire but I think that was an accident."

"You think?"

"Yes, I think," she said firmly. "Did you see his face? He was appalled. I think what we have is a case similar to Terra."

Beast Boy was silent at this, remembering his crush. "I miss her," he said quietly, his ears drooping.

The other Titans studied the ground in silence for a moment out of respect for their friend.

Robin finally spoke. "We do, too, Beast Boy. But we can't afford to make the same mistake we made with Terra."

"While the saying goes 'those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it' I don't think you should follow it too stringently," Raven said. "Give Danny a chance. He—"

"I feel that he is nice!" Starfire interrupted. She placed both hands over her heart. "I can feel it in my heart. He did not mean to hurt me. He tried to warn me but I did not listen."

Robin was still stubborn. "But—"

"He was shocked, horrified." Raven picked it up from Starfire. "Did you see how out of it he was before you managed to grab his attention? He hadn't expected that attack on Technus at all."

"Besides, I don't think villains answer questions the way he did," Cyborg added.

"I still don't think that we should trust him," Robin insisted, his arms folded across his chest.

"We trusted Terra," Beast Boy spoke up. "Just because we made a mistake when it came to her doesn't mean we have to turn away every person who has a mishap with their powers!"

"But he's also a ghost," Robin pointed out. "So far, all the ghosts we've met are evil."

"There's an exception to every rule," Raven pointed out. "Would you call every hunk of rock out there in outer space a planet?"

"No, but they're objects," Robin objected. "I'm talking about ghosts; they're alive…or as alive as they can be."

"But just like not every rock in outer space isn't a planet, not all ghosts are evil," Raven argued. "The same applies to humans. We have so many villains; do we call all humans evil?"

"Raven is right," Starfire proclaimed. "Robin, please give Danny a chance. He is good."

After a heavy silence, Robin sighed, defeated. "Fine," he said. "We'll give him a chance. But one wrong move, one, and we take care of him, all right?"

"Thank you, Robin!" Starfire gave her boyfriend a great big hug.

"But we still don't know where he lives," Robin managed to get out through his girlfriend's death grip.

Starfire realized she was squeezing off his air supply and let go, smiling apologetically but still beaming. "I apologize, Robin!"

"It's fine." Robin stretched his muscles out, trying not to grimace.

Beast Boy looked out the window and then started jumping up and down. "Dudes! Do you know what time it is?"

"Eleven in the morning?" Cyborg said, confused.

"Time to go out and do something!"

"We're all exhausted, Beast Boy," Cyborg complained. "Go out and do something yourself if you have to. We stayed out the entire night fighting that stupid cake and that insane egomaniacal green ghost with the horrible hair."

"And I still haven't finished taking apart that weapon the gh—Danny dropped," Robin said.

"Relax for a bit, Rob," Beast Boy said. "You have time to take apart that fried stick later."

"Is going out at this time in the morning considered 'chilling'?" Starfire inquired.

"Eating a meat-free lunch is considered chilling!" Beast Boy grinned broadly. "Come on!" He grabbed his teammates by their arms and dragged them out of the room singlehandedly.

Raven was out of his grasp, following behind the group absentmindedly. Her mind was still on Danny. 'How can he not have heard of the Teen Titans? And why did he act like we should know where Amity Park is?'

Scrape! A box was pushed to the back of a shelf as Danny made room for another one. He was already working at "Robinson's Fine Antiques" because, as he said, "I don't have any place to be since my parents are out of town." The old man had given him a strange look but gave him a white apron to wear to guard against the dust that was in the back of the store with all the antiques that weren't displayed.

'It's a good thing I managed to find this job,' Danny mused, opening another box. He winced when he cut himself on the knife his employer had given him. Sucking on his finger as he waited for it to heal, he continued thinking. 'I hope to find out more about where I am. Maybe Mr. Robinson can help me some.'

He couldn't help but remember his last few failed attempts to find a job as he waited for his cut to heal.

Flashback:

"The sign says you're looking for help," Danny said to the man behind the counter. It was a restaurant that sold pizza for food. It was eerily similar to Pizza Hut or Dominoes except for the fact that it had a balcony.

"That I am," the dark-haired man said. He studied Danny. "Do you have any experience with working with people?"

'Do major political people count?' Danny briefly smiled at the thought before he answered. "I do."

The man looked slightly interested. "How old are you, kid?"

"I'm sixteen," Danny replied.

He got a sinking feeling in his stomach when the man leaned back, sighing heavily. "You have to be eighteen to be able to work here."

"Why? It's not like it's some fancy Italian diner!" Danny protested.

The man raised an eyebrow and pointed to the sign. "Joe's Pizza: The Best Italian Pizza You'll Find Anywhere!" it read.

Danny repressed a groan and ran a hand through his hair, the smell of the food getting to him. Maybe it was a good thing he was too young. "I understand," he muttered, walking off and pushing the door open, disappointed.

Next probable job:

"I like reading. A lot," Danny added as an afterthought, feebly grinning. He hated reading. Jazz was constantly trying to get him to read something or another but he'd much rather stick to Cliff Notes; of course, lately he had had too much time on his hands.

"Do you really?" The old lady scrutinized him carefully, her beady eyes narrowing. "Boys never read. Why are you any different?"

"My sister got me into it," Danny half-lied.

He smiled innocently as the old lady inspected him even more closely. His hands were close to a computer. The next thing he knew was that sudden jolt ran through him, setting his hair on edge. Blinking frantically, he tried to clear his system of the charge that had surged through him; the lady was still staring at him suspiciously.

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, the computer buzzed loudly and said in an obnoxious voice. "The order for Gone With The Wind has arrived."

The lady snapped her gaze from Danny to the computer, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"The delivery will arrive in five seconds," the computer added.

Five seconds later a delivery man came in with a clipboard in his hands. The lady gave Danny a strange look and screamed, running into the back room. The ghost teen was left behind with an alive computer, a confused delivery man, and with no job.

'Darn my ecto-electricity powers. Who knew they could bring technology to life? Thank goodness Tucker isn't here.'

"I was just going to tell her that her order has arrived," the delivery man said, staring at Danny bemusedly. "Do I look scary?"

Danny stared at the huge bulky man. "Um…"

Next probable job:

"You don't look sixteen," the girl with the blonde pig-tails said, looking at Danny with her head to one side. "You're too…prepubescent."

Danny flushed angrily. "Am not! I am so totally sixteen!"

"If you're sixteen you'd have a driver's license," the girl said, leaning back against the countertop that was adorned with fruits, vegetables, and cereal boxes. "Do you?"

"I didn't take the test." Who needed driving if he could fly?

The girl smirked. "Right. Everyone knows that driving is the epitome of teenage life. Who doesn't take the driving test the moment they turn sixteen?"

"Fifteen," Danny said.

"Huh?" The girl gave him a blank look.

"Fifteen," Danny deadpanned. "You get the driver's permit when you're fifteen. And for your information, the epitome of teenage life is when one's finally old enough to vote. So I guess you don't know everyone."

The girl gaped at him for a moment before her jaw snapped shut and she was in full-on glaring mode. "Do you know who I am?" she asked in a menacing voice.

"The owner's daughter?" Danny guessed. He had several other, not-so-nice comments on the tip of his tongue. But he really needed this job so he kept his mouth shut.

"I am the owner!" the girl hissed. "My parents gave me this store when I turned eighteen!"

Danny stared at her blankly. "You sure you're eighteen? You look too…prepubescent."

Now it was the girl's turn to flush angrily. She opened her mouth, about to shoot off a heated reply, when another voice interrupted them. "Mary! What on earth are you doing?"

'Mary? Why's a girl like her called MARY?' Danny tried not to look too confused as an equally blonde-haired mother pranced into view. 'And…what's up with the prancing?'

Mary's mother shot him a look. "Who is this, Mary? A boyfriend?"

Danny didn't say anything; he was too shocked. Mary gagged in reply. "Yeah, right! He came in looking for a job."

The mother looked him up. "He's too young."

"That's what I said!"

"You don't sell alcohol here, do you?" Danny asked, sure that he'd only be too young if they sold alcohol.

"You're underage, kid," the mother said. "Of course we sell alcohol here! What kind of supermarket would it be if we didn't sell alcohol?"

'These two could rival Paulina and her cronies any day,' Danny decided, staring at the two in disbelief. "So…I don't have the job?" He already knew he didn't, he just thought he'd make sure.

Mary glared at him. "Do I look like I'd hire an idiot like you?"

"I'd rather not answer that…"

Next and final job:

"ROBINSON'S FINE ANTIQUES"

Danny looked up at the sign, at the small store under it, and back up at the sign before sighing. Who knew that he'd go in an "old people's" store? He really hoped that this would be the last stop. He was getting really hungry and it was only eleven. But then, he had missed dinner last night.

'Why are all those stores open so early in the morning?' Danny shook his head at the thought and walked inside, studying the old desks, pictures, lamps, vases, and chairs lying around the store. One side of the store even had a couple of bookshelves with huge books. He looked for the counter and found it behind a gigantic suit of armor.

Danny spent the next five minutes looking for the owner until he saw an old man snoring in a chair behind the counter. He rang the bell that was provided but the man didn't even move.

"Excuse me?" Danny tried talking. "Excuse me, sir?"

There was still no movement from the old man other than a loud snore. Danny pondered for a few moments before he leaned over the counter and yelled, "EXCUSE ME!" If he had to be rude he could at least be polite.

This time it worked. The old man jumped awake and blinked blearily. "Huh?" He caught sight of Danny, who was standing behind the counter innocently. "Who're you?"

"Danny," Danny said. "I'm looking for a job."

"A gob?"

'Oh, Lord, no…'

End Flashback.

Danny came out of his reverie and smiled, looking at his now healed finger before opening up the box he had abandoned earlier. Who knew that the almost stone deaf man he had woken up so roughly would hire him? It actually seemed like fun, too. Of course, he still hadn't eaten so that didn't help matters.

He picked the box up and walked out to clear up the antique dolls that were inside. Danny raised an eyebrow at Mr. Robinson, silently asking where the dolls went. The owner nodded to the window, where Danny saw stands for the dolls to be put on.

"Put those on display," Mr. Robinson said. "The ones that are there can be put on different shelves for now."

"Yes, sir."

Danny looked at the dolls that were on display. They were all gorgeous with the huge frilly dresses one would expect to find in the Victorian era. Their eyes were fringed with huge lashes and they had plump lips that were a rosy red. Danny raised an eyebrow at the various colors they wore: black, red, blue, and even green. The red and blue dresses looked really nice but the black and green were a tad out of place.

He took them out of the display and put on the ones that were in the box. These had masks on and there seemed to be a change of dresses in the box as well.

Danny was almost finished cleaning out the box when he stopped short at seeing something in the box that shocked him. His hands trembling, Danny reached in and lifted a doll as if it were made of glass. It was an ordinary doll—but then it wasn't. It was the same doll the mysterious ghost girl had held. Nervously, Danny looked at the doll's eyes; they were a shocking green. Its dress was a faded blue and its hair was black, curled into huge ringlets.

'Why is this doll here? Why does it look exactly like the one the girl held?' Danny shot a look at Mr. Robinson, who was scanning through a magazine on the counter. 'I've got a weird feeling about this.'

Danny was still holding the doll ten seconds later, internally debating on what he should do with it. Mr. Robinson noticed the silence and looked up to see what was the matter.

"Something wrong, Danny?" Mr. Robinson asked, coming out from behind the counter and approaching the silent teen. He noticed the doll Danny was holding. "Ah. I see you've found little Alice there."

"Alice?" Danny wondered if that was the girl's name.

"That's right." Mr. Robinson nodded, appearing lost in his memories. "It's had a long and fruitful history, that doll. I've held it for a long while; I thought I'd lost it with the last move." He took it from Danny's grasp, studying the doll's strange features.

"Do you know who it belonged to?" Danny inquired, trying to be inconspicuous.

Mr. Robinson shot Danny a strange look. "Why do you ask?"

'Yipe!' "N-no reason," Danny stammered. "I thought it seemed familiar."

Mr. Robinson scrutinized Danny for another long moment before nodding with finality. "I see. To answer your question, the doll's owner was a small girl. I don't know her name; this doll is quite old."

"It's lasted for all that time?" Danny stared in amazement at the antique.

Mr. Robinson smiled mysteriously. "It's special."

Before Danny could ask what he meant by that, Mr. Robinson patted his shoulder and beamed. "Well," he said jovially, "let's keep working, shall we?" He looked at Alice for a few more moments before saying, "I don't think I'm quite ready to part with Alice here. I'll be taking her, all right?"

Danny was confused but he agreed. "All right."

Mr. Robinson walked away, humming quietly under his breath. Danny mused for a couple more seconds over the strange doll before shaking himself out of it and rummaging through the box. There was one last doll in it. Danny picked it out and then nearly dropped it in shock.

'No. Freakin'. Way.' Danny stared at the exact imitation of the ghost girl he was holding in his hands. There was one big difference though: her eyes were blue, not green. 'How can that be? How can this be? I met her in the Ghost Zone!'

He shot a look at Mr. Robinson, who was again scanning the magazine. Alice lay next to him. After another second's contemplation, he put the doll back in the box and closed it. He wasn't going to do anything about it. Not yet anyway.

"Finished with the box, son?" Mr. Robinson called, seeing Danny stand up with the almost empty box.

"Yes," Danny lied. "Anything else?"

"You can go ahead and dust those jewelry boxes," Mr. Robinson said, nodding towards the bookshelves in one corner of the shop.

Danny shoved the box in the back room and looked at it. He was going to devote some time to finding out who that ghost girl was. Just not now. On his way out, he grabbed a cloth and started wiping off the extremely dusty boxes.

Ten minutes later, he was almost finished with cleaning the jewelry boxes when he came across an unusual one. It was unusual in the fact that it was blood red in color but still appeared to be made of wood. Curious, Danny opened it carefully and stared at its contents. There was nothing in there other than the compartments to store jewelry in. The inside was made out of red velvet.

Disappointed, Danny made to close it until he caught sight of a small lever right under the lid. He pulled it to find that the wood popped off, revealing a faded black and white photograph. His breath caught in his throat when he saw who was in it. The mysterious ghost girl was in it with a couple that he could only assume were her parents. Right in her arms was the doll Mr. Robinson had called Alice.

'Is Mr. Robinson connected with this girl?' Danny snuck a glance at the store owner, who was currently stretching his old muscles. He flinched when a particularly loud crack issued from Mr. Robinson's back and turned back to the jewelry box. 'Should I take the photo?' Internally, he debated the pros and cons of taking the photo. If only he could somehow make a duplicate of it!

Danny sighed, folded the photo carefully, and tucked it into his pant pocket. He could almost hear Sam or Jazz scolding him for stealing something from the store. But, if you wanted to get technical, it wasn't necessarily stealing because he doubted Mr. Robinson knew it was in the jewelry box.

"You hung up on that red jewelry box?" Mr. Robinson asked, making Danny jump about a foot in the air.

"U-uh, y-yeah," Danny stammered, trying not to look guilty. He wasn't sure if he was succeeding. But judging from Mr. Robinson's face, it didn't look like the man suspected anything. "It's a real…unusual color."

"A sad color," Mr. Robinson murmured, looking at the box, "fitting for a sad family."

"Excuse me?"

Mr. Robinson sighed and took the jewelry box out of Danny's hands. "Why don't you go into the back and organize it a bit, hmm?" he suggested, avoiding Danny's question. "I haven't been able to keep as tidy as I'd like. Let me know if you need help."

"Okay…" Danny dropped the dirty rag in a laundry basket—don't ask why there was a laundry basket—and flicked the light on in the back room. 'Weird. What's he hiding? But then…I'm hiding something, too. Two something's,' he thought guiltily, flashing back to the picture that was hidden in his pant pocket.

He had just gotten started on the left side of the room when he heard the bell ring, signaling that someone was entering the shop.

'Mr. Robinson will deal with it.'

He heard muted chattering outside as he shifted through a couple of smaller boxes. He didn't think anything of it until a familiar name caught his attention.

"Looking for books again, Raven?"

'Raven?' The cloaked figure from the previous night popped into his head. 'Can it really be her? But shouldn't she have a secret identity or something?'

"Danny, will you come out here for a moment?"

When Danny saw who Mr. Robinson was talking to, he really knew that fate hated him.

"Danny, this is Raven; Raven, this is Danny, my new helper," Mr. Robinson introduced the two.

Standing in front of the counter was the Teen Titan Danny had met while fighting Technus.

"Aw, come on, people! We haven't even eaten lunch yet!" Beast Boy pleaded, putting on huge puppy-dog eyes. "Can't we go to this really great place that's just opened up?"

"I'm not eating tofu," Cyborg stated, folding his arms adamantly.

"Who says the place serves tofu?"

"Knowing you it does."

"I haven't even looked at the menu! The place is called The Number One Vegan Friendly Place!"

The Titans stared at Beast Boy. The changeling looked sort of nervous under the penetrating stares of all his friends. Most of their expressions were incredulous; Cyborg's was merely exasperated.

"What's it called, Beast Boy?" Cyborg asked very slowly, as if he was speaking to a mentally disabled child (although he could've been for how Beast Boy normally acted).

"The Number One Vegan Friendly Place?"

"What word is in it?"

"Vegan?" Beast Boy knew where this was going.

"And what does that mean?" The rest of the Titans waited expectantly for Beast Boy's reply.

Beast Boy tried again. "That it serves vegan food?"

"That it's vegan friendly," Cyborg explained slowly. "I don't eat tofu; Robin doesn't eat tofu; Starfire doesn't eat tofu; and Raven doesn't eat tofu. You're the only one. You can either go by yourself or not at all. I'm not in the mood to discuss any further."

"I could have made the lunch for us at the tower," Starfire said, covering a yawn.

Robin and Raven, who were right next to the Tamaranean, automatically took two steps to the side away from the alien. They were all aware of how…exotic Starfire's cooking was. They had experienced lunch and dinner and did not want to go through another Tamaranean lunch.

"Actually, I don't think I'm up for lunch at this time," Raven said.

"It's 11:37! How can you not be up for lunch at this time?" Beast Boy asked indignantly.

"Two reasons. Number one: I slept for three hours; two: I had a cake bath last night. I lost my appetite after that."

"How can you lose your appetite after a cake bath?" Cyborg looked at Raven disbelievingly. "I actually felt ravenous after it."

"I just did," Raven said dryly. "It's not particularly appetizing to be caked in head to foot in cake that was splattered against a wall in a robe that hadn't seen a wash in a couple of days."

"If Raven's out, who else wants to come?" Beast Boy asked hopefully. "Some of you guys have to be hungry!"

Robin shrugged; Cyborg folded his arms sternly; and Starfire looked between her two friends before shrugging as well.

"Oh come on!" Beast Boy waved his arms frantically. "If you guys don't want lunch then what do you want to do? We're in the city!"

"You dragged us here," Robin said.

"But we're still here!"

Robin let out a gusty breath and shared a glance with Starfire. The alien just gave a shrug to show she was neutral. The boy wonder didn't even have to look at Cyborg to know the half-robot was against the plan. All he did was finally shrug (again) and say, "It's fine with me. Don't expect us to eat with you."

Cyborg's jaw hit the floor. "What?"

While the others were arguing over breakfast, Raven was studying the antique store they were standing outside. It was one that she regularly visited for new—or old—books. The furniture they had there also wasn't bad. But most particularly, the books old Mr. Robinson had in there always caught her eye. They weren't exactly reliable material but they were…queer with how they approached their subjects. Perhaps queer was what she needed with the new ghosts in town.

So with the others still fighting over where to eat breakfast—Cyborg and Beast Boy making up most of the commentary—Raven slipped away and opened the door into the shop. She took a glance at the window and noted that the ever present "HELP NEEDED" sign had vanished. Mr. Robinson was rather…eccentric, and that coupled with his horrible hearing had made it difficult to find help. Was it possible that he'd found someone?

She found the old store owner at the counter in the back and walked up to him, her robe swishing around her ankles. "Good morning."

Surprisingly, Mr. Robinson looked up and beamed at her. "Why good morning! Busy night?"

"Very. We had some newcomers." Raven turned her head to the window. "Did you finally manage to get help?"

"Ah yes." Mr. Robinson nodded. "A very nice young lad, too. Didn't run out the first time I misinterpreted his age."

Raven smiled. Mr. Robinson was almost stone deaf without his hearing aid, causing him to constantly mix up your words with something that wasn't even related to what you wanted. This was probably a main reason that he had so much trouble finding help. A second reason would most likely be that most teenagers or adults didn't want to work in an old antique store that hardly saw any business alongside an old man that could sometimes be very cryptic.

"How old did you think he was this time?"

"Six," Mr. Robinson admitted, grinning craftily. "He finally gave up and wrote on paper to tell me what he wanted. Made me realize I'd forgotten my hearing aid, too."

"Where is he?" Raven asked.

Mr. Robinson pointed over his shoulder. "He's in the back helping me organize it a bit."

" 'Helping'?"

"He's doing the work. It's what I pay him for," he said shamelessly. "So…what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for something," she said, throwing a glance at the books in the corner.

Mr. Robinson chuckled, having caught her eyes in the act. "Looking for books again, Raven?"

"It's what I always do, isn't it?"

"Of course. I'll have Danny help you out." Before Raven could say that it really wasn't necessary, Mr. Robinson had turned and called, "Danny, will you come out here for a moment?"

There was no reply but two minutes later a black-haired teenager of average build came out of the back room, brushing his hands off. His blue eyes widened upon seeing Raven but he didn't say anything.

"Did you get any progress done in the back, Danny?" Mr. Robinson asked pleasantly.

"A little, sir," Danny said, his eyes still on Raven.

'Hasn't he ever seen me before?'

"Ah, yes. Danny, Raven; Raven, Danny." Mr. Robinson made the necessary introductions. "Danny, Raven here is looking for some books. Help her out, will you?"

Danny gave a small start when he heard that he'd be helping the Titan. "S-sure."

Raven watched as Danny ran his fingers through his messy hair, leading her to the books. She could have insisted that she didn't need help but she was curious about the teen that Mr. Robinson had finally managed to hire. Anyone who didn't run at Mr. Robinson's eccentric behavior and horrible hearing earned points in her book.

Raven tried to open a conversation. "Danny, is it?"

Danny looked at her out of the corner of his eye and nodded. "Yeah. …Raven, right?"

"So are you new to Jump City?"

"I am." Danny gave a small smile that to Raven seemed really nervous. "So, uh…what can I do for you? Mr. Robinson said you were looking for books?"

"Yes. I don't really need help, though. I've done this myself."

"Let me help." Danny shot a glance at Mr. Robinson from behind the bookshelf. "It's part of my job." He added something under his breath that Raven almost didn't catch, "I wish it wasn't when it comes to superheroes that don't even have to hide their identities."

Raven raised an eyebrow but didn't ask him to clarify. It was obvious that Danny didn't want her to hear it. But if that was the case, why didn't he just keep it in his head? Mumbling stuff was going to get you into trouble, especially if other people managed to catch whatever it was you said.

"What kind of books are you looking for?" Danny asked, skimming through the dusty collection on the shelf at his level. He sneezed once as he raised a small cloud. "Darn. Haven't dusted this yet."

"Anything to do with the supernatural," Raven responded.

How he responded shocked Raven. He jumped several inches into the air and nearly dropped a book that was still shelved. The commotion raised more dust, causing him to sneeze again.

"I never knew I was allergic to dust," he muttered shortly. He then turned to Raven, plastering a smile on his face. "What category of the supernatural? There are a few here to pick from."

"You seem nervous," Raven commented, inspecting him closely.

Danny squirmed under her gaze. "Sorry. It's just nerves. This is my first job and my parents are out of town."

Raven thought his explanation seemed a bit too convenient. "How long have you been here?"

Danny shifted, scratching his neck. "We just moved." Gesturing to the books behind him he persisted, "Which kind?"

"The spirits," Raven answered, deciding to give him a break. He didn't seem to be harmful.

As Danny perused the shelves, looking for books on Raven's topic, the Titan scrutinized him closely. His clothes seemed rather shabby and his hair appeared like it could use a cut. There were small bags under his eyes and his hands were callused. He also kept jumping at every sound or even when there was complete silence, as if he was expecting something any moment.

'Is Danny just a teenager?' Then the name struck her. 'Danny?' Struck by the similarities between the two names, she took an even closer look at Danny, taking in every detail on the young teen's face and body.

'The body structure is the same. The eyes are different but then so is the hair. I can't imagine anyone walking around with that hair color anyway.' Beast Boy flashed across her mind. 'But then again, I guess someone would.' She returned to her inspection. 'I can't be sure but I think he's lighter. Is the facial structure similar?' After another half minute of trying to compare the two faces in her head, she gave up. 'I need a photo to compare.'

"OK." Danny's, voice brought her out of her reverie. "I think I found some books that have to do with what you're looking for. Keep in mind that I'm not sure how accurate these are," he stressed.

Raven took the books from Danny and looked at the titles. Otherworldly Spirits, Spirits of Every Kind, Guide to Ghost Hunting, Encyclopedia of Spirits, Tales of The Other Side, and Do Spirits Exist? The Evidence were what Danny had picked out from the shelves.

"Not these," Raven said immediately, taking Do Spirits Exist? The Evidence, Tales of The Other Side, and Guide to Ghost Hunting out of the pile.

"What about these?" Danny waved the remaining stack of books in his arms.

"Let me take a look through these two." Raven flipped through the pages of Encyclopedia of Spirits before shelving it and picking up Spirits of Every Kind. She put that one under her arm. "I'll take this one and Otherworldly Spirits."

Danny shelved the remaining books and rang up her purchases while Mr. Robinson watched and directed his actions.

Raven wished her friend a good day before stepping out into the late morning air.

'Danny's a strange one. I should keep an eye on him.'

'Just because the books she bought were about the supernatural doesn't mean it's about ghosts. Just because the books she bought were about—gah! Who am I kidding? She's so totally researching ghosts!' Danny was hyperventilating while trying to hide it from Mr. Robinson. 'OK. Calm down. What are the chances that the books she got have information on my kind of ghosts? Think logically.'

"You okay, Danny?" Mr. Robinson asked, concerned. He had noticed Danny's breathing; the boy was breathing in and out deeply in an effort to calm himself down.

"Mm-hmm." Danny was still thinking. 'Think this through carefully. She didn't know who you were, that's obvious. Besides, the world knows your secret now and nothing's happened…yet. Oh crud.' He started to think about the worst possibilities again. 'What if these heroes are anti-ghost? They obviously don't know a thing about me.'

"You sure?" Mr. Robinson prodded. Danny was becoming too pale for his liking.

Danny jerked out of his thoughts and worked on making a convincing attempt on lying to his employer. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He scrambled for a logical excuse. "I can't believe that a"—'What did they call themselves again?'—"Titan came in here! Is she a regular customer or something? You seemed to know her pretty well."

Mr. Robinson seemed satisfied with Danny's excuse. "Raven comes here frequently to see what antiques I get in here. She buys books more frequently here than anything else."

"I heard that there are four more with her. Can you tell me more about them?" Danny asked. "Since I live here now I'd like to know everything I can about them."

"The other four are Robin—he's the leader—Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy," Mr. Robinson explained. "I would call Starfire Robin's girlfriend; Cyborg is more of second-in-command and I'd call Raven a close third. I'm not too sure about the green changeling, though. He's more of a joker than anything else although he's a tough fighter."

"What are their specialties?" Although Danny knew that he was taking a round trip to find out his possible-enemies' powers and weaknesses, he didn't want to go through a painful fight to figure it out.

"Robin doesn't have any special abilities but he's a master at hand combat. His belt has dozens of gadgets on it to help him through any hard spots." Mr. Robinson stroked his chin, which had stubble on it. "From what I've gathered, Starfire is an alien not from this world. Raven is more of a sorceress; her magic deals with the darker side of nature. She's quiet and doesn't smile very often but her serious nature makes for a good head in the team besides Cyborg and Robin. Cyborg is another level head in the Titans; he does fight often with Beast Boy, though." He smiled, obviously remembering some event. "He's half-robot from what I've seen and incredibly good with technology."

'Just like Tucker,' Danny couldn't help think.

"And as I've said before, Beast Boy is more of a trickster. You have to watch your feet around that one. He can be serious when he wants to be, though. I suppose his power—the ability to shift into different animals—fits with his personality. That's it I suppose."

"I noticed that Raven purchased books about the supernatural," Danny said, trying to be nonchalant. "Is she really interested in that stuff?" 'Maybe he's heard of ghosts?'

"Her powers deal with spirits," Mr. Robinson said. "She's an avid reader and doesn't just teal with topics about the supernatural. Next time you see her you should ask how many languages she knows. There are a lot."

"Wow. I only know one." Danny grinned. "English, of course."

"Most of us do." Mr. Robinson winked, making Danny laugh.

"So are they seen really often around here?" Danny brought the subject back to the Titans.

Mr. Robinson nodded. "Oh, yes. They don't just deal with the common burglars around here—that's more a job for the police, of course—but a super-villain comes along every few weeks or days to wreck havoc. That's when they really come in handy."

"What about other cities?"

Mr. Robinson sat back in his chair, thinking. "I've heard of another branch of the Titans calling themselves the Titans East but I'm not too sure where they are. There are other random superheroes scattered throughout America and the rest of the world and the Titans know almost every one. Of course, for every superhero there is there are also the villains. I don't know where those live but they're always attracted to the cities where heroes live."

'I've noticed that,' Danny thought disgustedly. 'You'd think that they'd just go bother a different city but no, they have to challenge the big hero and prove their worth. But I guess it makes it easier for the hero to keep track of them.'

"Anything else you want to know?" Mr. Robinson asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're a curious one."

"I can stop asking questions if it bothers you," Danny said quickly.

"Oh keep going." Mr. Robinson waved him on. "A curious mind is always better than one restrained, I say."

'Here goes…' Danny took a breath before diving in a topic that might dig him into a hole he couldn't get out of. "Do you believe in ghosts?"

Mr. Robinson seemed taken aback at the change in topic but accepted it. "Ghosts? Do you mean ghosts or spirits? There's a difference between the two."

"Ghosts, I suppose," Danny said, resisting the urge to say "guess".

"I'd have to say that I'm not too sure about ghosts. Spirits I would say yes."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "There are superheroes walking among us every day and you say that you don't believe in ghosts?"

"There might be ghosts around," Mr. Robinson said, "but all the evidence is either fake or so weak that one can't really believe it without taking a leap off the cliff."

"What about spirits?" Personally, Danny didn't see the difference.

"We have spirits inside of ourselves." Mr. Robinson touched his chest. "This spirit leaves the body when we die."

'Huh. Well, I guess I can see the difference.' "What's your definition of ghosts?"

"People that haven't moved on. Ectoplasmic beings that are still roaming the world. In my opinion, they're close relatives to poltergeists," Mr. Robinson replied.

'OK. I think I can name quite a few ghosts that would be insulted to be related to a poltergeist. Me included.' Danny noticed that Mr. Robinson seemed to be hesitating. "There's more, isn't there?"

"Good eye," Mr. Robinson complimented. "Yes, there is more. Unlike spirits, ghosts can actually be seen on some level. They have so much energy from emotions that their molecules manage to form on the level of the human plane. For those with exceptionally high spiritual energy—your sixth sense, you could say—they can see spirits. Raven would be one of these people."

Danny knew he was pushing it but he still had to ask one more question. "Are there are any cities in the United States claiming to be crowded with ghosts?" 'Please say Amity Park, please say Amity Park.'

"From the top of my head I'd have to say no," Mr. Robinson said, looking at Danny curiously. "The Internet might tell you more, though," he added charitably.

"Thanks," Danny said, rather depressed. 'How can it be that no one has heard of Amity Park? Pariah Dark's rampage was broadcast nationally and everyone saw the Disasteroid! Unless…' He flashed back to what had happened to him before he woke up in Jump City in horror. 'What if I'm not in my world at all?'

Just as he reached his horrifying revelation, his ghost sense went off. He snapped his mouth shut, hoping Mr. Robinson hadn't noticed the blue whiff of air. The old man was really observant.

'Crud. Now I'll have to formulate some excuse.'

Raven found herself at the restaurant Beast Boy had adamantly insisted they go to. Cyborg, from what she heard, had put up a valiant fight until suddenly giving up on convincing Beast Boy otherwise. He said he was tired of arguing; Raven suspected he was simply too tired to come up with any witty retorts other than, "I don't eat tofu! Neither do the rest of us!"

"Don't you guys think this food simply awesome?" Beast Boy asked, shoveling food down his throat like there was no tomorrow. His lunch consisted of water, veggie pizza, veggie chili, and a whole plate full of odd vegetables. The others had nothing before them. Robin was looking heavily disgruntled and appeared to be wishing that he was back in the tower; Starfire was sleeping upright in her chair, a bottle of mustard before her; and Cyborg was glaring at Beast Boy.

"It looks wonderful," Raven said, stressing "looks" to bring to Beast Boy's attention that he was the only one eating. It didn't work. She rolled her eyes and returned to skimming through the books she had gotten from Mr. Robinson's store.

Cyborg sighed exasperatedly and slumped down further in his seat. Starfire awoke and rubbed her eyes tiredly, staring at the bottle of mustard before as if wondering what it was. Robin was still scowling. Beast Boy continued to shovel food down his throat.

"Mustard, Starfire?" Beast Boy offered, pointing to the yellow bottle on the table.

Starfire shook her head, still rubbing her eyes. She was too tired to care about the entire bottle standing before her.

"You finished, Beast Boy?" Cyborg asked impatiently. "We're all tired and would like to get some sleep."

Beast Boy swallowed a large mouthful and opened his mouth to say something. What he was about to retort with was never heard as a loud blast of noise and screams distracted them.

"It might be a rock concert," Beast Boy said uncertainly.

Another blast of noise was heard along with more screams.

"Or maybe not," Robin said, leaping to his feet. "We should go."

"Blast," Beast Boy groaned, wistfully looking at the remnants of his lunch.

"Come on." Raven put her books somewhere where only she could get them and grabbed Beast Boy before taking off. The changeling transformed into a raven in a second, leaving Raven free to fly off after Robin and Starfire.

Cyborg threw the money on the table, hoping that it'd be enough. He ran off then, following the other Titans.

So much for a peaceful morning…

Mr. Robinson is not just another random OC. He will be playing a bigger role in later chapters.

Thanks to Copa-Phantom, starr1095, stick fight3, musiclover9419, FlameToungue, Piece of Toast, BluFox15, Shiva the Sarcastic, x-whitemagic58-X, SpartanCommander, Waterdog, Kai Hiwatari Seigaku's Phoenix, love-toushi, iamnuff, and Ndasuunye for reviewing the last chapter!

stick fight3: The "her" I am talking about is a ghost Danny meets in the prequel to this story. It's not Dark Danny, although it refers to it. To understand more fully, you'll have to read it.

love-toushi: Thank you! :)

iamnuff: I had no idea. I'll bring that up at some point...