A/N: Hi everyone, Hope you all had a good day.

Thalen glared at the ghost waiting for any sign of an attack. The suited ghost gave the pair of halfas a grin. "I suppose I should introduce myself; it is only proper, of course," the ghost said giving the pair a curt bow. "Good afternoon, my name is Somber. It's been a pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine," Thalen said mockingly before turning to his ghost form and swinging an ecto-energy filled fist.

"Thalen," Abigail called shocked as the former thief's fist made contact with Somber. The ghost fell back at the force of the blow as Thalen turned to face Abigail.

"What?" the teen asked.

"You can't randomly attack ghosts. He could just want to meet us," Abigail said her voice shocked. The teenage girl walked to the fallen ghost. "I'm so sorry. My friend gets a little protective," the girl said reaching down to help the ghost up. Thalen narrowed his eyes not trusting the ghost; there was something in the look that he gave Abigail that the older teen didn't trust. Thalen pushed the smaller girl away to reach out instead.

The ghost dipped his white-haired head as if to thank the teen. Thalen pulled the ghost to his feet. "Thank you, Miss.."

"Abigail," the girl said with a smile.

"We should be going now. We have some very important things to do," Thalen said pulled Abigail away from the ghost.

"Of course, I would hate to make you late," Somber said his tone sarcastic. Thalen turned angrily intending to show the ghost who he was messing with.

Thalen gasped as he was struck by a blinding headache that drove him to one knee. "What's wrong, Thalen?" Abigail said concerned by his side.

The teen was going to accuse the ghost, but his voice was lost as his vision turned white.

….

Thalen blinked up at the blinding fluorescent lights. He tugged at the bounds that tied him to the lab table. He didn't have much strength due to the 'tests' the scientists had done the day before. The teen strained his sore muscles trying to tear himself away from the table.

The door to the pure white room slid open with a hiss of compressed air. Thalen looked fearfully at who walked through the door, unsure on what new test that the scientist had in store for him. As always, the pair of scientists wore white hazmat suits that made it impossible for Thalen to tell who they were.

"Leave me alone," the teen shouted pulling away from the pair as they neared his table. They said nothing as always. The shorter one who had more of a feminine figure held up a syringe full of a glowing green liquid. Thalen struggled to get away from the scientist as the other held him down.

The teen looked away from the injection not wanting to see the needle break his skin. He tried to control his breathing that started to accelerate in panic. There was a small pinch and then the feeling of something cold run down his arm.

Thalen braced himself for something to happen. Nothing happened and it was clear that the scientists were upset at the result. Without saying anything to the teen, they stomped out of the room turning out the lights and leaving the teen in complete darkness.

The teen calmed his raging nerves. The chill that begun at the injection sight became a burning sensation as if his blood became lava. Thalen shouted at the brain numbing pain that ran through his body. Muscles and sinew was on fire. The teen involuntarily arched his back.

DP~DP~DP

"Thalen, Thalen," Abigail shouted at the shaking halfa. She had both hands on his shoulders before turning her glare to Somber who was chuckling. "Whatever you are doing you're going to stop it right now," she said angrily to the ghost turning into her ghost form.

Somber gave a mock thinking face before grinning at the girl, "I don't think I will. There's a feast with this one." The ghost licked his lips before a bright green ecto-blast hit him from behind.

Abigail watched as another ghost landed, white boots crushing the grass. The newcomer had snow white hair and silver blue eyes. Somber regained his senses to look at the two teenagers. "It seems I overstayed my welcome," the ghost said before flying off at lightning speed.

"Somber is a real coward," the ghost said glaring where the parasitical ghost disappeared.

"Would Thalen be okay?" Abigail asked returning her attention to her friend who was staring blankly ahead.

" Somber feeds off negative emotions that come from memories, so your friend is just feeling drained at the moment," the ghost said looking at the shaking halfa. A pair of white rings turned Thalen back to human. "He's half ghost?" the ghost asked his blue eyes widened.

"We both are," Abigail said turning to her human half as well.

The ghost shook his head and gave the pair a disbelieving look. Abigail wondered if the ghost would be a threat as well. "I guess we have a lot in common," the ghost said before turning human as well. Abigail watched as the ghost shifted into a young man with chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. "The name's Robin. Robin Peary. "

"I'm Abigail and this is Thalen," Abigail said.

"Do you have a place to rest?" Robin asked. "Thalen is going to have to sit down for a little while.

"We're supposed to meet up with the rest of our group in a couple of minutes by the DALV building," Abigail said trusting the older halfa.

"Is the rest of your group halfas as well?" Robin asked.

"Yes, we're all training and learning how to use our abilities," Abigail answered trying to pull Thalen to his feet. Robin lent his help pulling the thief's arm around his shoulders so the younger halfa was leaning on him.

"I don't need any help," Thalen slurred as his angrily pulled his arm away from the taller halfa.

"You're going to fall flat on your face," Robin said bluntly, but didn't try to help the other halfa again.

"Oh you think so," Thalen said as if accepting the challenge. Abigail sighed, but smiled to herself at Thalen's insistence. The trio left the park without much trouble and headed to the building where Vlad and the others would be waiting.

DP~DP~DP

Vlad looked at his watch irritated. He could be patient, but he had at least expected Catalina to be punctual. Truth be told, he expected the woman to have followed him into his meeting. Vlad pulled the briefcase in his hand closer. Inside was material he would need to repair the ghost gauntlets.

The older man watched as Alex and Sylvia ran toward him. "Sorry, we're late," Sylvia said meekly.

"There was a bigger crowd than we thought," Alex added.

"That's fine. You're the first here," Vlad said before catching sight of Abigail and Thalen with another young adult. The billionaire took in the situation quickly. It looked like Thalen was wobbling on his feet which caused Abigail and the new man to give the teen a worried look. Vlad also was slightly concerned about the halfa.

"Hi, Vlad. We ran into a little trouble," Abigail said a small concerned smile on her face.

Vlad looked at the newcomer, "Who is this?"

"My name is Robin. I'm like all of you," Robin said his hazel eyes looking straight at Vlad.

Vlad didn't need an explanation on what the young man was saying. "Have any of you seen Catalina?" he asked now concerned that the woman hadn't shown up yet. Alex and Sylvia both shook their head negative.

Thalen and Abigail also shook their heads 'no'. Vlad frowned feeling a little concern. "Maybe she was attacked by the same ghost that attacked us," Thalen said looking up.

"Nope, I just got distracted," the woman's voice came from the building that Vlad had exited. The older man turned to the woman. She was smiling, but Vlad could see that it was fake. He known her for months now and knew that the woman had been crying. He wouldn't comment on it now, but once they returned to the base he would press the matter of this mysterious ghost.

Vlad sensing how tired Thalen and Catalina were called his driver and the group boarded the limo; Robin also boarded the vehicle. Once everyone was settled, Vlad spoke to the newly discovered halfa. The billionaire explained what the group of halfas were striving to do and offered the same to Robin.

"I'll think about it," Robin said, "I still have family here."

"I understand. I'll have Morris drive by your house to drop you off," Vlad said knocking on the divider between the passengers and the driver before opening it. "Morris, can you head to 125 North Eighth Street?"

"Yes, Mr. Masters," the driver responded before Vlad closed the division again. Vlad felt something heavy land on his upper arm. He looked at the offending object which happened to be Catalina's head. She decided that Vlad would make a good pillow. The billionaire rolled his eyes but didn't move the exhausted woman.

"Thalen," Alex's voice complained as he pushed said teen away from him. Thalen frowned but leaned over to Abigail who didn't seem to mind lending her shoulder. Sylvia giggled at the trio as she focused back on her sketchbook.

The vehicle stopped at an apartment complex and Robin prepared to leave. "Robin, I hope to see you soon," Vlad stated.