Sorry it's shorter than the others, i had issues...
Once again, I do not own Danny Phantom or Arrow.
Take control of your life before someone else does.
Chap 4: Complex
Whispering was surrounding him as he walked down the sidewalk, talk of the street kid coming out in the open. He understood their words; his clothes torn from the scaring from his parents and the GIW. As he continues people parted their ways like he was some form of disease.
There was a mall in the distance that he could see. 'That's one thing I can't get away from, enhanced senses.' He stopped at a red light, people pushed into him and he began to follow the crowd.
He was a block away when he heard an argument close by, something inside him resurfaced, but he ignored it continuing to head inside the building. He froze at the sight in front of him, it was crowded. At first he wanted to run, then he began to think like he was being hunted again. 'If I run, I would be sighted out. If I choose to blend in with the millions of shoppers here than I can stay hidden. I'll get strange looks from the state my clothes are in, but other than that I should be fine.' He took a step forward, slowly walking at first before becoming steady. Even with his resolve, he kept his head lowered ignoring the stares he got. As he walked towards a cheap clothing store he began to feel eyes on him, not the kind that judge you. They weren't the kind that landed on him as he past, it was more of a stare down from behind. Shrugging off the instincts that told him that something was wrong, he stepped into the store.
The family store was the same as any other, so he followed the signs to the men's section. As he looked for jeans, something across the aisle caught his attention. Grabbing the jeans he needed he grabbed the item and moved up to the register.
"That will be $42.56." he handed the lady his money, trying not to be bothered by the eyes still locked onto his figure. "Your change is $3.44, thank you and come again." He walked out of the store finally seeing the group that was staring holes into his head, now they are trying to get his attention. Instead he walked past them heading to the restroom to change.
He stripped of his shirt showing the angry red scaring from a few days ago. The filth that attached to his old clothes didn't help the irritation. His new shirt that he slipped on is a dark blue that looked black. After changing his ripped jeans into the new ones, he slip on the item that caught his eye. It was a black hoodie with thin off white stripes down the sleeves.
He walked out of the restroom to come face to face with one of the teens that saw him earlier. "Got somewhere to stay?" he asked Danny.
"No." Danny answered walking away, the stranger grabbed his arm pulling him back. Steadying himself from the force he automatically placed his right foot forward.
"You can come live with me and my friends. That way you have a roof over your head."
His instincts screamed at him to step away, for once he listened to them. "I'll be fine on my own." Danny stated walking down the hallway. He was stopped again by two more people.
"The glades needs someone like you. Someone that cares for them, the kids we are looking after need someone like that to look up to." The girl stated. Danny backed away from them.
"The only thing that they can look up to are Arrow and Arsenal. We don't want them to get hurt." Danny looked back at the voice, it was the same person that cornered him. A fourth person came out as they began to back him up into a corner. There were kids involved, which scared him more than it should have. "All you have to do is keep the kids safe from harm."
When kids were involved he only had one answer, "Sure, I'll do it." the four parted letting him through, just as a security guard passed by.
"We'll meet here tonight." The girl of the group gave him a scrap of paper. They walked away, leaving the opposite way he entered. Taking a deep breath he left the mall to explore the area between here and the glades, which was where he apparently landed last night.
Making it to the edge of the city, there was a whimpering coming from the alleyway across the street. The whimpering sounded like crying, unable to ignore the silent cry for help, he rushed over. The farther he walked, the more the darkness grew. Sitting on a crate was a young boy no older than twelve, he was shivering from the cold. Allowing his feet to fall harshly on the ground, he walked over to the boy. "What's wrong?" he asked the kid making him jump. "Sorry." The kid began to panic, backing up into the wall. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Danny stated quickly and calmly. "What's got you upset?" he asked when the kid calmed down.
"My parents started to yell at each other, I ran to get away from them." Danny slipped off his hoodie, giving it to the boy. He accepted it. Once he put it on he stopped shivering, while Danny smiled at getting an answer.
"Did your parents know you were listening?"
"Not that I know of." The tears began to dry up. A door opened beside them, creating a loud bang against the brick wall.
"There you are! How dare you leave this house!" an older man came out yelling.
"James, come to mommy." A lady walked out behind the man. The kid, James, jumped off the crate and ran towards his mother, who placed him behind her as the man turned to them. He raised his hand, slapping the mother across the face, she didn't turn away. He raised his hand again only to find his wrist stopped by another hand. Danny pushed him back away from the mother and James.
"Boy! You should mind your own business!" the man said, throwing a sloppy punch.
Danny caught the fist in his own, using his attacker's momentum against him, he threw him to the ground. The man struggled to stand back up, Danny turned to the duo. "Call the police." The mother nodded, pulling a phone out. Danny heard movement come closer, he turned to dodge the swing of a knife. Putting the attention of the threat at hand, 'A man twice my size with a knife. Great.' Dodging swing after swing of the blade, Danny realized that he was wasting critical time. He found the pattern the man was using then intercepted to knock the knife out of his hand. The knife was above him as it fell, the man cursed from anger. Danny felt pain in his left eye, he kicked his feet out from under him. When he fell, he hit his head on the pavement knocking himself unconscious. Danny held his hand over his eye in pain as the mother came over to him.
"The police will be here in a few." She gasped when he brought his hand away. "You should go to the hospital!"
Danny shook his head, "It'll heal." He said, not really knowing the extent of the damage, only knowing that he was bleeding.
"At least let me clean it." Danny stepped back when she came closer. The familiar flashing of red and blue came closer, along with a siren. The police car stopped in front of the alleyway next to the home. As mother and son walked up to the officer, Danny slipped away moving farther back towards a side street. "I never got to say thank you." He heard as he turned toward the city.
He came across a fast food restaurant called Big Belly Burger. Feeling his stomach growl again he walked in, ordered some food. Then sat down with his back facing the wall.
As he ate, he began to remember the conversation he had with the other four teens. 'Arrow and Arsenal, figures I end up somewhere with its own heroes.' Paying the bill he walked out nearly walking into someone in a red jacket.
Returning to the glades, he began looking for the location the note stated. Walking on the outer edge of the glades he found a building called Verdant. Taking mental note of the location he kept walking.
It was nearing nightfall when he still didn't find the location. He turned right at an intersection to see the four kids around the corner.
"Hey, right on time." Danny cautiously followed the kids, not trusting them one bit. They walked down two blocks before turning left into a building that lead to a warehouse. When they entered the main room, there was 10-15 kids ranging from 8-15 years old. In the group he spotted James who is still had the hoodie he gave him on.
"Everyone, we got a new member to the family." The girl yelled out getting the attention of the kids. All of them looked unsure, except for one who came over. Danny kneeled down to James' level; he was tackled in a hug. After James' positive movement the others came over as well.
"Thank you." James said pulling away. The others looked on curious.
"You can get to know the kids, we'll be in the backroom." The leader said. The other three walked towards another door, the leader kept talking. "Also, that was the first time James spoke since he came here." Then he walked away.
"I did what any other person would have done." Danny stated towards James.
One of the older kids came up behind him as James looked down. "Actually, not many people care about the kids in the glades."
Danny hugged the kid before him, "Go play with the others, I'll be over shortly." James looked up excited, it reminded him of how kids looked at him as Phantom. He stood up facing the older kid. "What happened that so many kids are here?"
"Either the kids run away from home, are abandoned, or their parents get killed. Life is hard in the glades when alone." He explained.
"I'm Danny, I ran away."
"Alex, my parents were killed in the Undertaking."
"The Undertaking?"
"Malcolm Merlyn and Moira Queen destroying the glades?"
"I'm from the east."
"You haven't been watching TV?"
"Things got complicated." Alex looked strangely at him, Danny looked away towards the kids. He walked over sitting by James and the others. 'Something doesn't feel right.' He thought before getting to know the kids that he'll be helping look after.
Yeah, shorter than I wish. I wonder how many of you caught the in writing hint/foreshadowing?
Now I wonder how many of you re-read the portion trying to find it?
Now, how many couldn't find it?
Trust me, this story is not ending anytime soon. If there is a random update this week, don't freak. It's not going to be an A/N, I'm trying to figure out a different update schedule since I'm ahead by 10 chap.