Author Note: Thanks for the (slightly early) birthday wishes! I enjoy reading your review, so please leave a review!
~CWA

Chapter 16:

Third Person:

That Monday, at least Danny felt refreshed. He was well-rested despite the various exercises and training- most by Canary and some he did by himself in free time. Either way, he was renewed and ready for another day at school. Thankfully, Bats said that he could go to his actual house after school to keep up the appearance of a normal student, but to be at the mountain by a certain time and that he still had to sleep there (Batman still wanted to keep an eye on him- though Danny had a small suspicion that he wanted to make sure that he wasn't getting many nightmares).

"Hey guys," Danny said as he walked up to Megan and Conner after school, "Geometry was rough, huh?"

"Not that bad," Megan answered honestly, "I found it rather easy."

"Yeah," Conner nodded in agreement.

Danny threw my head back,

"Ah man, wanna help a friend out? Study session at my place after school?"

Megan and Conner shared a brief look before nodding.

"Sure," Megan smiled.

Danny laughed as he waved goodbye to Megan and Conner to head back to his house- which he missed because of the lab and his own bed. Plus he did have to clean. He entered the house and took a step back in surprise as the first he saw wasn't someone he knew. It was a girl- well, more of a woman- looked between eighteen and twenty-two if he had to guess. She had long black hair that was curled slightly. She wore a short black skirt, a long-sleeved red shirt and a black scarf. Her black heels only added to her height. As soon as he saw her eyes, however, he furrowed his brows.

"Gear," he asked cautiously, "Is that you…?"

"Yep," she popped the 'p', "I am under my alias as your sister- might as well look the part. Just don't get used to me wearing a skirt."

She continued eating the bag of chips in her hand. Yep, Danny thought, that's Gear… As soon as it settled in that it was Gear, panic set in.

"You can't be here!"

"Dude," Gear narrowed her eyes, "I went through a long-ass flight with a kid that kept kicking my chair, I only have had maybe four hours of sleep the past week- waiting for you to get here, and I have not had a single decent cup of coffee because I am too tired to figure out the fancy as shit coffee maker in the kitchen. Do not tell me I can't be here."

Danny gulped nervously and backed away slowly at her death glare. To be honest, after everything he had seen and faced, an angry Gear was the most terrifying thing he ever knew. Gear continued to glare before Danny raised his hands in defense,

"I- uhhh- didn't mean it that way… I just have some friends coming over and-"

"-You have friends," Gear asked shocked, "I almost thought that was a joke."

"Hey," Danny said, defensively and insulted.

"Chill your balls, dude," Gear waved it off, "I am going to bed anyway. Wake me up and I will kick your balls so hard, you'll be able to taste them. See ya. Or as Vivian would say, Bonsoirmon petitimbécile."

Goodnight my little dumbass, Danny mentally translated. Before he could say anything else, Gear walked out, looking disgruntled and mumbling curses under her breath. She was deifnalty not in the best mood. He let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that he didn't want his friends to meet Gear it was just that… Well he didn't want his friends to meet Gear. There was no telling what she would do or say to embrass him. Though if she stuck to the alias of Vivian Jefferson- then she would be a different person, at least a little bit. She sure did look different enough.

Shaking his head, he hurried to get the house clean- realizing just how much of a mess Gear could be if she was left unsuprivised. He wasn't even sure how her underwear ended up on the ceiling fan or why there were two pairs of underwear (one being a pair of vivid pink ones and the other being a pink thong) that defiantly didn't belong to him or Gear on the kitchen floor. He hurried to toss both Gear's underwear (which was shredded by the fan) and the mysterious underwear in the trash, take the trush out once it was filled to the brim with trash, and he somehow managed to get done just as the doorbell rang.

He opened it with a smile, seeing Conner and Megan there. He eagerly ushered them in,

"Hey guys! Thanks for coming over!"

"You seem eager," Conner commented, raising an eyebrow.

Danny gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his neck nervously,

"I don't really have any friends- I mean, I do, but- crap… You're the first ones to come to my house since I moved here so yeah, I'm excited- just a bit though."

"Is it just me," Megan said over the mental link, "But does he remind you of the Poltergeist? He scratches at the back of his neck when he is nervous too."

"Now that you mention it, they do look a bit alike," Connor answered, "But it's kind of impossible for it to be the same guy."

"You're right… Hello Meagan! Maybe they were related to each other when Poltergeist was alive!"

"Maybe."

Danny titled his head curiously since no one was saying anything. Finally, Conner and Meagan looked back at him and then looked around the room. Everything was spotless, which was a bit different since the mountain was usually a bit messy. It was the first time either of them had been in a real Earth home- at least, one that was for leasiure and not for a missoin. They haven't even been to any of their teammates' real houses yet. They were a bit at a loss of what to do before Danny ushered them to the couch, where textbooks and notebooks were spread across the coffee table.

"So, studying," Danny offered.

Ten minutes later, they were very engrossed into the study. Well, Megan was. She was trying to get Danny to pay attention while Conner was wondering about the room on his way to the kitchen to get drinks. He stopped to look at a statue- it looks…familar. He picked up the statue and turned it over in his hands. Danny jumped up,

"Please don't touch that!"

Conner turned away from the statue to look at Danny, not noticing that his grip on the statue was faltering- causing it to land to the ground with a loud SMASH. Danny's eyes widened.

"Uhhh sorry," Conner said awkwardly.

Megan sighed deeply, but Danny was just looking around nervously.

"Danny," Conner said cautiously.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's fine about the statue. I just- oh no."

A figure entered the room- the figure that would be the end of Danny- an angry Gear. She still wore the black wig- though it was a bit messier. The little amount of makeup she wore as Vivian was removed so he could see the bags under her eyes- her eyes were glaring. If looks could kill, Danny would be so dead. She wore only a pair of purple men's boxer shorts and a loose black tank top. Where she got the boxers, Danny wasn't sure and he wasn't concerned about that.

"Who's she," Megan asked curiously, "She looks a bit sleepy."

"Sleepy," Danny argued, "No- Sleepy is cute and dozing off, but tired is 10 cups of coffee and murder. Trust me, she's not sleepy. She's tired and that is what makes her scary…"

"You are dead meat," Gear growled.

Conner tensed slightly, ready for a fight. Megan stood up off the cough,

"Sorry- we didn't mean to wake you up."

Gear turned to the guests and Danny took that as an oppurtinity to run to the kitchen to get her coffee ready. Coffee was the only way to tame the wild beast. Gear's bad attitude almost disappeared completely.

"I'm Vivian," Gear said, slipping into the part, her voice changing slightly, "Please call me Viv. It's so nice to see he has some friends."

"I'm Megan," Megan smiled, "and this is Conner!"

Danny ran back into the room, careful of the hot beverage he held in his hands.

"I got you some coffee," Danny offered.

"Thanks, crétin," Gear said with a small smile as she took the coffee.

She took a sip and calmed down as she started to head back to her bedroom.

"Huh, I thought coffee wasn't good for you," Megan mused to herself, "Maybe she could try decaf."

"Oh no," Gear called out, "There's a time and place for decaf, chéri, that's never and in the trash."

Danny facepalmed. After that whole incident, he could only hope that Conner and Megan would come back again.

As soon as Megan and Conner left, after promising to be back over again some time, Danny was relived until Gear poked her head into the living room.

"They gone," she asked.

"Yes and it's a miracle that they want to be back."

"I don't think I could have scared them off," Gear said, nonchalantly, "Anyway, I do have some news."

She walked into the living room fully, taking off the black wig to let her hair 'breathe.' She tossed the wig onto the coffee table and plopped down on the couch.

"I thought you were going to bed," Danny raised his eyebrow.

"Ah, but then you gave me coffee. I'm good as new. Better even. Now, I do have news so sit."

Danny was hesitant, knowing that news from Gear could range anything from 'they canceled my favorite show' to 'world is ending.' Gear took a deep breath,

"I'm pretty sure Vlad is coming here. Well he is, for some type of meeting with Bruce Wayne- heh- but I am sure he knows you're here."

Panic rose in his chest as his eyes widened,

"How?"

"Don't know and it doesn't matter. What matters is that he does know and that you need to tell the League or the team about it."

"What!? Why," Danny asked hotly, "If I tell them they could get hurt!"

"If you don't tell them they'll get even more hurt," Gear argued, "I'm not arguing with you, dude. I'm just explaining why I'm right! Now you will tell them about Vlad and you will get their help or so help me I will tell them myself."

"Why," Danny repeated firmly.

"Because you can't face Vlad alone, even if ya got me, I'm more of a behind the scenes worker than a soldier. Plus, I already gave Bats the blueprints for anti-ghost stuff and they should be finished by now… So…"

Danny mused for a moment. He hated to admit that she was right. He had to warn them that Vlad Plasmius AKA Vlad Masters was dangerous and after him. That didn't mean he'd tell his secret though- at least not yet.

"Fine…"