"Hey, are you busy?" Zatanna's voice came over the speaker when Robin picked up. She sounded a bit nervous which was incredibly unusual for her. Even more so that she was calling with Artemis' phone and not her own.
"Tana!" Phantom excitedly called out, keeping up their habit of him hijacking the call.
"Seriously? You needed my phone to call Phantom?" Artemis' annoyed tone drowned out Zatanna's greeting. Neither boy could hold back from rolling their eyes, not surprised the archer wasn't too entertained by Phantom existing.
"Hush, we need him." Zatanna softly scolded as police sirens sounded in the background. "What are you doing out, Pompom? Are you guys busy?" She sounded more concerned than nervous now which put not just Phantom and Robin on edge but also the eavesdropping little captain.
"Is everything okay? You don't sound okay." Robin insisted, gripping the phone a little too hard for Phantom's liking. Snatching the device from his hand, he kept it out of his brother's vice like grip so it wouldn't break.
"We're fine." Artemis huffed before they could hear Zatanna push her away.
"It's not for us. We had a bit of a situation here and could use some advice." The young magician answered, sounding slightly calmer as the sirens turned off. "The cops have our scene closed off for the moment so it's not super urgent but it would be handy if you could come over."
Before anybody could answer, the Shadow fired at some muggers down below. Drifting through the streets once more, she not so silently prowled to invoke a sense of security in the souls of the city so used to seeing her preoccupied vigilantes defend the people. The little intervention worked quite well as more souls drifted aboard and followed the crew's instructions to head below deck.
Cujo was running around on the streets too, using his adorable face and need for some roughhousing to tempt some of the more skittish souls into a piggy back ride. A lot of the souls remained connected to living family, wanting to keep them safe where they had been failed. It took more than just a cool ship for them to trust their family was in good hands. Even if they can't get everybody this year, they'll have many more to come to gain their trust and finally chose to move to a more appropriate place to live their afterlife.
"Was that a cannon?" Artemis asked incredulously, audibly shoving closer to the phone again if they could go by Zatanna's surprised squawk.
"Do you have any proof that it was a cannon?" Phantom asked rhetorically, childish playfulness slipping in as he smirked at the phone. He could feel Artemis' annoyance from miles away and that was more than enough for him.
"Are you coming or not?" The blonde snarled through the phone, not bothering to hide her agitation.
"Oh, I don't know. Are we?"
"Pompom," Zatanna chastised, "I don't feel right just leaving this place and it's right up your alley so could you please come over?"
The boys shared a glance, that uncomfortable feeling creeping back into the back of their head. They may not have known Zatanna for long, but this was the most serious she'd ever spoken to either of them. Phantom looked over to Youngblood, silently asking the little captain's permission.
With a stern nod from Youngblood, Phantom turned back to the phone. "Send the coordinates, we'll be there." He reassured before hanging up. Looking at the text they got only a few seconds later, a knot formed in his stomach. He didn't know what but something about that place felt wrong to him. Trying to shake off the unease he looked Youngblood dead in the eye. "How fast can the Shadow go?"
Youngblood took note of the stern tone, shoulders squaring as he took lead of his ship. "All hands below deck! Stay with our passengers and keep them safe!" He started shouting out orders, only keeping a select few on the top deck as they prepared to depart the city.
"Safe? What does he mean keep them safe?" Robin questioned, sending a quick message to Batman and Catwoman that they were leaving to go assist Zatanna and Artemis. Better to have their departure logged before anybody tries to use it against them in the future. Nervously he looked around as most of the crew disappeared to the lower levels of the ship. The Shadow was doing most of the work herself, only getting some assistance from the crew for the smaller details as Youngblood's hand hovered right above the helm.
Phantom grabbed Robin's arm, walking over to the stairs and leaning against the wall. A deep frown was set on his face, mask contorting enough to make the wrinkles show. Gripping his wrist hard enough it nearly left bruises, Phantom kept a hand on the banister next to them.
The crew still on deck did so too, each holding onto a part of the ship as they started funneling ecto into her. The glow of the Shadow intensified as the power surged through every wood grain and sail threat of her body.
Robin wasn't sure what was going on until he felt it.
The moment Youngblood grabbed onto the Shadow's helm, their connection was made. With Youngblood's knowledge on where to go, the Shadow set off at a speed Robin hadn't thought her possible of. He could feel his footing slip on the slick decks as the Shadow proved just how ghostly she truly was. Fully entering intangibility, she coursed through the skies. Cutting their estimated time in half, it only took them an hour or so to make it over to Manhattan.
Fading from view, the Shadow hid herself as she docked an ends above the rooftop the two heroines were waiting. With the help of Cujo, Phantom and Robin floated down to greet the pair. Surprise colored their faces as the boys landed. "You got here fast." Artemis remarked, usual snark missing from her voice.
Phantom smiled toothily, enjoying the chill it sent down the archer's spine. "We had a lift." He nodded up to the hidden ship, knowing only Zatanna would still be able to see her. Just as he thought, the young magician followed his gaze and nodded in approval.
Turning her gaze back to the new arrivals, her brow scrunched in worry. "Are you okay?" She asked, walking closer and summoning a health spell she knew all too well, not even needing to say the words. It didn't quite work on Phantom, being a ghost and naturally resistant to magic, but it said enough to calm her nerves.
Phantom pulled her hand away from him, not quite sure what spell she was using but he didn't want to risk her finding out too much. "Why wouldn't I be?" He laughed nervously, glancing over to Robin in hopes he would have a better idea. Receiving a useless shrug, he turned his attention back to Zatanna.
Dispelling the magic in her hand, she fidgeted with the hem of her jacket. "You didn't sound too good in training with M'gann and Canary didn't want to explain what happened." She explained, looking up towards both bats before looking away again. "It didn't really seem like something my father had to see so it's not like I could ask over text before."
Color drained from Phantom's face as he realized they never quite hung up on the call before he cleansed M'gann. That had to mean Zatanna heard everything before the mentors probably realized their mistake and hung up for them. But if she knew, then, "Is that why Mr. Zatara gave you your phone back?" He asked wearily, eyes not even able to focus as his core hummed loudly in his ears.
Zatanna nodded, eyes still turned downwards. "It was in the training report. I had to argue with him that it wasn't some type of evil manipulation as the med bay logs also recorded that you guys went in there. And then Canary had to inform him Catwoman had to come pick you up so you really did get hurt trying to help M'gann." She rambled on, eyes welling with tears as she remembered how awful it sounded and how powerless she felt being stuck miles away and unable to help at all.
Silence fell over them as it slowly sunk in what it all meant. Nobody quite liking that so much more was known in League records than they had thought. Phantom tried to play it off as something lighthearted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck as he flashed the crook of his arm. "I'm okay, Zatanna. Nothing a quick IV drip can't fix."
Zatanna eyed him suspiciously but relented. "You better be." She mumbled, hugging her own arm closer in slight discomfort. "Dad agreed to let me attend a team practice to 'get a better feel' on you. He's discussing with Canary when we can come over."
"On that lovely note," Phantom awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to shift the mood away from the doom and gloom. "Tana, Artemis, meet Captain Youngblood and his quartermaster Bones. They're coming along to see what's up." He looked over to his left, frowning when that little troll had decided to go invisible.
"There's nobody there." Artemis remarked unimpressed, staring blankly at Phantom as she crossed her arms.
"No shit." Phantom growled softly, trying to figure out where Youngblood and Bones had disappeared off to. He could feel the two were still around but the presence of the Shadow up above them was masking their exact location. He tried to find them, looking around wildly while cursing under his breath.
Zatanna giggled slightly, pointing out to the empty space behind Artemis. "You know, it's not nice to hide when people try to introduce you." She uttered between giggles.
Youngblood and Bones popped back into visibility, dejected their little prank didn't work. "No fair! Why does the Magi know?!" He drew his sword, ready to challenge her to a battle. The fact he clocked Zatanna as a magic user didn't sit too well with him as Robin jumped between the two.
"Phantom said she can see souls, it's not like invisibility hides your soul. It wasn't meant as anything bad." He tried to diffuse the tensions, not wanting to have to report on an ghost vs magician fight when they were just here to help.
Phantom coldly started at the pair of ghosts, not moving an inch. "Stand down." He ordered, much to the discontent of the little captain. He looked ready to argue against it but Phantom's unmoving stare dissuaded them.
Sheething his sword once more, he floated a bit closer to the ground as he went to Phantom's side. "Of course you of all beings managed to befriend one like her." Phantom sent him a soft glare, prompting Youngblood to snap his mouth shut with an audible click.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Zatanna countered playfully, not wanting the mood to drop again because of a little misunderstanding.
Of course, a certain blonde had quite the opposite feeling to it. "You might want to call your dad, Z. You've all clearly lost it. There's nobody there." She grumbled, looking over to them in slight distain.
Phantom however, couldn't care any less. "Oh you're one of those." He copied Youngblood's tone, causing a few eyebrows to raise in his direction. "Lookie me, I'm Artemis, I'm sooo mature I bully others for things I can't see because I'm just so not a kid anymore." He openly mocked her in a fake girly voice with his hands on his hips.
Artemis balled her fists, not taking too kindly to the blatant disrespect. "I'm 15, not a little twerp like you!"
Phantom glared at her even more. "Good for you, you're 2 years older than us. How mature of you." He floated closer, getting all up in her face as the blonde closed the gap herself. "If you ask me, you're the most childish one of us here. But of course, you wouldn't care about that." He pointed a finger right in her face, a breath away from actually touching her and starting a brawl. "There's nothing wrong with just acting your age! Ugh, unbelievable, you're just like Jazz!"
The moment the name left his mouth, Phantom froze. Drifting down to the floor and all previous annoyance vanishing in an instant. He hadn't meant to say her name. Or even think of her for that matter. How would she have felt, seeing him here? Ancients, he's almost her age when they first met Youngblood. Artemis was older than Jazz ever got to be.
"Who the fuck is Jazz?"
Phantom ignored the question, pulling up his hood to tune them out. Frost grew under his feet as he drifted off towards the edge of the roof, needing a moment to himself to recollect his feelings. Robin tried to follow after his brother, worried about the sudden switch up. He felt Youngblood grab his shoulder, shaking his head as he knew the young hero still struggled with the consequences of his failure. Seeing the little captain hold back her friend, Zatanna stepped in to block Artemis' view of Phantom, making sure she got the message to leave him be.
Phantom pulled up his hood, letting his cape drape over him completely as he hugged himself. He sat on the edge, taking a few deep breaths when he felt that pit in his stomach grow once more. Like something, or somebody, called out to him.
Ignoring the calls behind him, he floated down towards the street. The stench of death was prevalent, overpowering the lingering burnt mess that was the building across the street. He wandered closer, chest freezing over with a chilled breath caught in his throat. The closer he got to the building, the worse it felt. The pull lead him over to the backyard.
He could feel the others were following him, but he paid them no attention. The moment he walked through the fence, he knew why he felt drawn here. Upon a pile of still freshly upturned dirt sat a makeshift grave marker. He floated closer to it, sitting down on his knees as he read the sign.
Greta Heyes
Beloved sister
Every fiber in his body was screaming that the add on was a lie. "Zatanna what the fuck?" He heard his brother curse behind them as the rest made it over. They stayed a respectful distance away, which Phantom appreciated. He could tell she was still here but too weak to form. Taking a deep breath, he forced out the mist from his lungs as he pressed a palm next to the dirt mount.
Sending some ecto into the ground, he could feel somebody absorbing it almost immediately. Happy his hunch was right, he supplied more ectoplasm until Greta managed to become corporal. Sitting on her own grave marker was a young girl with pale blonde hair. Her skin and lips as pale as could be.
Phantom smiled up at her, a soft hello escaping from his mouth. "Secret." Greta answered, a sad smile on her lips as she looked over the people near her once more.
"I did say it was right up Phantom's alley, didn't I?" Zatanna whispered to Robin, trying to defend herself from the judgmental stare she was still getting.
Phantom kept ignoring them though, preferring to focus on the girl in front of him. Stretching out his hand, he guided her to sit down with him. Greta still eyed him suspiciously but chose to sit atop the little mount. "Feel better?" He asked, keeping it simple as he focused on the ecto bond. He hadn't tried it with another ghost outside of Cujo, but it seemed to work quite well.
"Secret."
"Oh," Phantom blinked before smiling wide. "Thank you for helping them. You'll have to forgive Artemis though, she isn't the most trusting person around."
"Secret."
Phantom looked over his shoulder, making direct contact with the blonde. "I'm sure she feels really sorry for pointing a crossbow at you like that." Artemis looked incredibly perturbed, mumbling an apology under her breath. Pleased enough, he turned back to Greta. "How old are you? It doesn't really say." He rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly trying to make small talk before asking the big question.
"Secret."
Phantom's breath stilled a bit, muscles tensing ever so slightly before he forcibly relaxed and did his best to smile warmly at the girl. "That's okay." He reassured her, arm dropping back to his side as he forced his voice to remain steady. "I was twelve too." He heard their audience's sharp inhales, trying desperately to ignore the eyes burning in the back of his head.
"Secret."
He followed her pointed finger over his shoulder, trying to keep up his smile. Scooting to the side, he cleared her view on the others. "So that's my brother, Robin. We're usually down in Gotham but we took a little trip to come meet you. You've already met Artemis and Zatanna. The short stack is Captain Youngbl-"
"Secret."
Her voice remained steady, but was still barely audible. The smile on Phantom's face disappeared completely, ice growing underneath them. A shiver ran down their spines as the others could see a bright green glow filter out from underneath Phantom's mask before he faced Greta again. "What." He sneered, voice echoing more than usual, like it layered over itself.
"Sec-"
"No, don't force yourself to explain." He interrupted, worry mixing in with the clear anger radiating off of him. He pulled on the edge of his hood, making sure it was well in place as he felt a familiar weight materialize on his head. "I know somebody that will make sure he won't know a day of peaceful rest anymore. He'll learn what true harm means, one way or another. His soul will stand trial for his crimes, you have my word."
Slowly, the ice surrounding them melted once more, vanishing into thin air like it never existed. Greta looked too stunned to say anything, letting Phantom's vow echo in her mind. Youngblood and Bones weren't feeling too talkative either, too stunned from the scene before them to dare utter a word.
"Greta?" The girl in question looked up at Phantom and nodded. "I'd like for you to visit a good friend of mine. He's a doctor and could help you recover." He offered with sincerity. Greta didn't look convinced, shifting a bit as she curled in on herself and closer to her grave marker again.
Phantom held her hand gently between his two palms. "I promise you, he can help. Cujo can help guide you if that makes you feel more comfortable." At the mention of his name, the pup trotted forward. Sitting patiently with his little head held high, the pup wagged his tail excitedly when Greta reached out to pet him.
"Secret."
Phantom stood first, staying bent over just enough to let Greta get up at her own speed. Once she was standing, Cujo jumped up into her arms. With a shy smile, she grabbed on to the pup. Nuzzling their foreheads together, she visibly relaxed more. Reaching for her hand once more, Phantom led her over to the group of incredibly confused teens. "What?" He asked, now confused as well.
"How did you do that?" Artemis asked, looking between the undead pair before them. Phantom stared at her, having no clue what she was talking about. "How do you understand her?"
Phantom rolled his eyes, letting his head fall to the side. "It's called words and having ears, Artemis. You might want Ollie to get you checked out too if you're having issues with that." Surprisingly, the blonde didn't react to the backhanded comment.
Robin awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, looking a lot more intrigued than the other two. "Is this a ghost thing? Because all we heard was 'secret'." He air quoted Greta's singular word, getting nods from both heroines.
Phantom stared at them, now even more confused as he was sure he had heard her speak like normal. He glanced over at Youngblood, hoping the Ancient of Youth could help him out. The little captain lifted up his hat, running a hand through green locks before putting his hat back on and shrugging.
Oh
Phantom took mental note of that tidbit before nodding. "Yeah, guess it's just a ghost thing. Frostbite can probably help with that too."
"Speaking of Lord Frostbite," Youngblood used the name drop to shift over to a different topic before any of the humans could try to question it. "The little stowaway was carrying a package to deliver to you."
Robin blinked owlishly before his brain fully kicked back into gear. "Frostbite finished that already? I thought it wouldn't be done until next week." Phantom shrugged, not wanting to think about it too much.
Taking the lead to not so awkwardly leave, Phantom looked over to Youngblood. "Do you think you can drop us off in Central before crossing back? There's one last little something we need to get over with before Cujo can help her to Frosty." Luckily for him, the little captain nodded. Offering his hand and a new source of ecto, he guided Greta into flying so they could board the Shadow.
"Where is he taking her?" Artemis asked, following where she had seen Greta fly off to.
Phantom smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. It still brought him some sense of joy, knowing Greta wasn't the only one getting some help tonight. "Home. It's his job to guide the lost to the other side. Usually she would have moved on after tonight, but something else is still tethering her here so it's for the best she goes where it's safe."
"The big Yeti?" Zatanna asked cautiously, already more than happy they managed to help Greta rest more peacefully than before. Phantom nodded, remembering she briefly met Frostbite before but didn't want to linger on it for much longer.
They said their goodbyes, some more pensive than others, before the two bats set off towards the Shadow once more. Popping back into visibility, she set sail at a much calmer pace. As they made way towards Central City, Phantom and Robin took joy in pointing out landmarks down below to Greta. It seemed like she never got the chance to explore more of the world before coming to her untimely end. The least they could do was show her some things before their final goodbye.
Before long they were docked near Star Labs. Robin knew both locals were still out. Gotham wasn't the only city with an eventful Halloween, though Wally was currently at Happy Harbor High with the rest of the team which left only one speedster roaming the city.
Taking the small package from Byarni, Phantom set off first as he could catch up to the speedster a lot faster on his own. It didn't take too long to find some crime big enough that it would require a quick intervention. The second he saw that red streak zoom by, the chase was on.
"Hi!" Phantom half yelled, matching pace with the speedster who nearly had a heart attack and crashed into a lamppost.
"Kid, what the hell?!" He cursed, rubbing the newly formed bump on his head as he glared at the ghost floating in front of him.
"You know," Phantom mused awkwardly as he waited for Cujo and Robin to catch up. "You guys should really work on your emergency breaking. I'm starting to see a worrying pattern here." He tried to lighten the mood but it clearly did anything but help.
Dusting himself off, Flash stood up. He tried to hide it but Phantom could tell there was still a slight limp. Sobering up slightly, he tuned out the glare and beratement of entering a hero's city without warning until his brother finally showed up. "Seriously, you too? You know better than this, Robin." The elder hero chastised as the boy in question got off of Cujo's back to let him shrink down into a pup again.
"Well hello to you too, I guess."
Flash stood ready to argue even more until Phantom cut him of with a soft whistle. Cujo walked up to him, brazenly sitting down right next to Phantom and glaring at Flash. Phantom handed him the little package, but the pup remained seated.
"Cujo." He scolded disapprovingly with a hand on his hip and the other pointed at the now confused hero. "Apologize. Now." He softly glared at the stubborn pup, a battle of wills happening all the while Flash tried to figure out what was going on. The scarlet hero looked over to Robin for help but received nothing but a cold stare in return.
"Cujo." Phantom repeated a bit more forcefully, tilting his head in Flash's direction. Finally folding under the pressure, the pup huffed in discontent. Clenching his jaw down on the wrapping string of the package, he took a few steps forward before sitting down again.
"You know that's not enough." Phantom called out, arms crossed over his chest as he held his gaze on the pup. Cujo looked back exasperatedly, but Phantom only raised a waiting eyebrow. With another huff and head dropping down an inch, Cujo begrudgingly walked closer. Every step clearly against his will as he kept looking back until he was sitting right in front of the hero's legs.
Dropping the package on the ground, he pushed it forward when the hero didn't react. Flash stood frozen, both in confusion and mild fear as his last encounter with the ghost hadn't been too pleasant. He held his eyes trained on the pup, refusing to move a muscle until it left again.
Cujo, of course, wasn't pleased with it. Not sure if the dumb static human understood or not. With the deepest sign only an old soul could make, Cujo stepped closer just enough to push his little head against Flash's covered up wound before nudging the package closer once again. Staring up in clearer annoyance than should be possible for a dog, he held eye contact until the hero finally bent down to pick it up. Cujo's head snapped back towards Phantom who finally nodded and let Cujo retreat back to Robin's side.
Flash still stood perplexed, finding the little note attached to the package with instructions on how to care for his injury. Before the man could even ask what was even going on, the trio had already left. Looking around to find a sign of them, his mouth stood agape as the Shadow drifted over him, the Bat ensign still waving proudly in the non-existent wind.
Phantom and Robin took a moment to laugh, waiting until they were at the border of the city before finally disembarking for the last time that year. Waving their goodbyes to everybody aboard the ship, Phantom held out his hand to Robin. Lacing their fingers together, he flew them back home, neither really speaking and simply enjoying the serenity of a nightly flight.