Intermission 6 : Decking the Halls, But In A Roundabout Kinda Way
Dedicated to kimcat for the idea.
"He exists!"
"No he doesn't!"
Danny flips from laying on his back to his stomach, grabbing his pillow and pulling it over his head. Just like everything else he'd tried in the last hour, it does nothing to block out his parents annual Christmas fight downstairs. To his surprise, both adult Fentons had held off starting this argument, but it had blown up over dinner when his dad had mentioned Santa, which had of course set his mom off, and suddenly both had forgotten their promise to not fight this year. He had made himself scarce as soon as he had realized what was happening, but that didn't mean he couldn't still hearwhat is going down there (curse his super-hearing) and feel the incredulous-determination-exasperation from his mom and the faith-determination-righteous-anger that exuded from his dad.
Honestly, he's also glad they hadn't started this sooner. Its the sixteenth of December, six days until he is set to take The Third Right, and he's been internally freaking out about it. Not that his parents knew that, but...
Anyways, he is a bit relieved he got a small reprieve thisyear, even if it wasn't as much as he'd like.
Downstairs, something shatters, and Danny clenches his fists in his pillowcase, then relaxes as he takes a deep breath. He can't stay here anymore, Danny decides. To do so would be putting everyone in danger, especially with the way this new power was developing.
(He wasn't as in control as he would like, and he had been warned, by Clockwork , that he would need to keep his emotions from getting to him, until the end of The Third Right, or else.)
Danny roles out of bed and pulls at the energy of his Core, bringing it out and allowing the cool white rings to cross over his body.
He phases through his bedroom wall and starts a quick pace to the nearby Zeta-tube. He's relieved he doesn't have to worry about keeping his identity from the Team anymore, even if he didn't want them to find out the way they had. They truly accept him as one of their own, and that is all that matters to Danny.
He could, of course, visit Sam and Tucker, except he can't. Sam is out of town with her family, and Tucker had his own grandparents visiting. So, hanging out with the Team it is.
Not that it's a bad thing. He could use some time away from Amity, anyway.
Danny lands in the alley the Zeta-tube was placed and steps in, activating it.
"Recognized : Phantom B10."
Danny floats out and stops dead in his tracks, dropping to the ground in surprise and staring at the spectacle before him.
The rest of the Team is present, in costume, except for the horribly clashing ugly Christmas sweaters and Santa/Elf/Reindeer hats their all wearing.
"Phantom!" Robin chirps, smiling and pouncing over, causing the green and red Elf hat to jingle and bob, his blue knitted sweater with shining lights on a tree twinkling merrily. "We were starting to think you wouldn't show." He plops a red Reindeer antler hat on Danny's head. The Ghost Boy, still in shock, can only stare at him.
"Uh, what?" Danny finally manages.
"You didn't know?" The other teen asks, then whirls around to the rest of the Team. "M'gann, you said you told everyone."
The Martian blinks. "I did." she says. "I mean, I left a message on the comms – Hello, Megan! He must not have noticed." She turns to Danny with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, Danny. We're going Christmas Caroling in Gotham. Would you come with us? Please?" She clasps her hands in front of her and gives Danny the Puppy-Dog-EyesTM.
He smiles. Danny may not like the Holiday Season much, but he had only heard of people Caroling, and had always wanted to try. "Sure, sounds fun."
Megan cheers. "I'll be right back! I have a sweater in your size!" She flies off, deeper into the cave.
Danny turns to his other friends. "So, what songs are we going to sing, and who are we singing for?"
"Mostly just random citizens." Robin answers, leading Danny into the midst of the group.
"No going to Arkham again, Rob." Wally, dressed in his regular Kid Flash costume with a horrid neon green knitted sweater that had a lot of yarn cats and dogs sown on, gives his best friend a glare. "The first three times were bad enough." He shudders and hugs himself. "Never again."
"But the inmates need something to look forward to during the Holidays." The Boy Wonder says with a completely serious face. "It's become a tradition. Besides, if we don't, they'll stage a breakout and cause a bunch of trouble."
"Robin," Aqualad interrupts. "I can admire you willingness to makeup with you villains, but I believe we should keep this outing to the residential areas. I am sure Batman will allow you to perform for them another time, if it truly keeps them in Arkham during the Christmas."
Robin let's out a dejected sigh. "Fine, even though Caroling sounds better in a group," he grumbles.
"Thank you."The Atlantean returns.
Megan zooms back into the room, holding a sunny yellow sweater. "What do you think?" She asks, raising it up to reveal the reindeer and Santa's sleigh decorating it, said deer and Santa himself wearing sunglasses.
"It's definitely an ugly Christmas sweater." Danny says, wincing at how bright it looks in the light.
"Thanks!" she giggles happily. "I was trying to make sure they were all as clashing as possible, with each other and everyone's costumes. Your's was the hardest, I mean, hello Megan, white and black go with just about everything. But, it works out!"
Danny takes it from her and phases into it. "Well, what do you think?" he asks, spreading his arms out.
"Disgustingly mismatching," Artemis, in a bright purple and red sweater with a collection of snowflake designs and an Elf hat, says. "Just like the rest of us."
"Yep," Megan chirps. "Now, let's go!" she grabs Superboy's hand and starts tugging him toward the hanger.
~! #$%^&*()_+
KNOCK KNOCK.
Danny hovers in the back of the group with Megan and Rocket as Robin takes a step back from the door he'd just knocked on, waiting for the resident to answer.
He had been having a lot of fun this last hour. They'd sang Christmas Carols, danced around a Christmas tree in a park with some of the kids occupying it, knocked on dozens of doors, and basically be the teenagers they are. It was nice, not having the wait of the world on your shoulders.
Up in front, Robin knocks on the door again. "Huh," he mumbles, "I could have sworn someone was home." He steps back and turn to everyone. "Oh, well. Let's go guys, to the next house."
As he's turning, Danny notices a glint in one of the dirty windows. He narrows his eyes. What is that?
A light purple glow, so faint he can barely make it out. That couldn't be right.
Danny tries to track were it is pointed, spotting... No.
"Robin!" Danny lunges right as a lavender bolt of energy darts for him, wrapping his arms around the slightly smaller teen and tapping into his Core to turn them intangible. The energy flows through them, and despite their untouchable state, Danny can still feel it strike. His vision swirls, a kaleidoscopic of colors tinted in purple, and his legs give out from under him.
~! #$%^&*()_+
Danny comes to slowly, feeling weak and out of place. Also, hot. Far, far to hot, especially in his chest. He hadn't felt this kind of heat since the accident, and he'd gotten... his... Ghost... Core.
Oh, gosh.
He couldn't feel his Core.
He couldn't feel it. At all.
He couldn't feel it. Whycouldn't he feel? This wasn't possible. How could somethingtakehisCoreitwasn'tpossiblewherewashis –
A firm weight presses onto Danny arm, pulling him from his thoughts (and what he would later realize was a panic attack), causing him to look around him through a strange white film.
He's in the Cave infirmary. This is good. They'll help him find his missing Core.
A gentle squeeze on his arm attracts his attention. He looks up, meeting white lenses of Batman's mask.
"Sir?" Danny mutters, then immediately coughs at his dry throat.
"Robin." The Dark Knight grabs a cup with a straw from a side table and holds it in front of Danny's mouth.
He takes a sip, then his brain catches up with what Batman called him and he chokes.
"Um, sir," Danny manages after clearing his throat. "I'm not Robin."
Batman goes still and seems to narrow his eyes. How do you convey narrowing your eyes when you're wearing what is essentially a pare of sunglasses?
"What did you say?"
Danny gulps, and repeats himself a bit louder. "I'm not Robin. I'm Danny."
Batman shifts his attention to something behind Danny, who turns to see what he's looking at, only to discover... himself?
But that doesn't make sense, he's right here.
Wait, Batman thought he's Robin, so that means...
Danny looks down, black gloves and pants meeting his vision. Red and black uniform, yellow highlights, the signature "R" insignia.
"I'm... Robin?" Danny whispers in shock.
Suddenly, Batman turns, cape swirling behind him. "Explain the situation to Robin when he wakes up. Don't leave the infirmary until I get back." He orders, and then he's gone.
Danny blinks after him, dazed by the abrupt departure.
"So. That just happened."
Danny jerks around to spot that Robin (in Danny's body, that's going to take some getting used to) is now sitting up in his own bed, a bit wide-eyed but otherwise okay.
"Wait, were you..."
"Awake this whole time? Yep." He smiles mischievously. "I was trying to see how long it would take for Bats to notice I was awake. He didn't. At all. Which means I finally got one over him, that he'll ever admit it."
"Right." Danny says. "What now? I mean, its not like we can leave."
"Actually," he smiles sheepishly. "I could use some help." He removes the sheet over his legs to reveal... his legs aren't in bed, but phasing through it.
Danny hand flies to his mouth, trying (and failing) to hold his laughter in.
"Yeah, ha ha, laugh it up. So not 'turbing."
Danny gets his mirth under control. "No-no, its not you. Its just, I had that same problem for months after I got my powers," he gets out of his bed and walks over. "It was so bad I was banned for life from holding the school beakers cause they kept slipping through my hands. My English teacher even gave me a belt after catching me right after my pants slipped down one to many times."
Robin snickers. " 'Asterous."
"Not to me." Danny says. "It was mortifying." He offers a hand to the other. "C'mon, I'll help you walk through the bed and then we can work on getting it under control."
Robin grabs his forearm. At the contact, Danny can feel a phantom blossoming of his Core in his Chest.
Danny looks at his teammate. "I think I can switch us back."
"Really?"
"Yeah, just... focus on being untouchable."
"Right."
It takes a moment, but finally the other arm slips through his fingers. Yet again Danny's vision swirls in a multitude of colors, this time tinted green, then goes black.
~! #$%^&*()_+
The next time Danny opens his eyes, he finds himself only a few inches from a white lensed domino mask.
He yelps, scrambling backwards as Robin laughs.
"Gotcha," the Boy Wonder says cheerfully.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Danny grumbles.
"Hey, look at it this way. We're back in our own bodies." He waves his hands down at himself to emphasize his point.
"True." Danny admits. "Let's just... never do this again, okay?"
"Yeah. So not 'whelming."
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
And there's chapter 15.
Once again, this one goes to kimcat, who asked for accidental body-switching. You rock, kimcat! Thank you!
Review answers.
foxchick1 : Thank goodness. I found it rushed and kinda anticlimactic, and it kinda snuck up on me, but I still like it, and it works. Thanks for reviewing!
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