AN:

Hi there! I am so so sorry for keeping you waiting for so long!

I just couldn't get this written, I rewrote this chapter…gosh about seven or eight times. I' happy with this one though.

I'm starting on the next chapter right now.

Enjoy and read and review!

Arty.

Blue eyes.

Chapter one.

Memento.

He couldn't move.

His blue eyes scanned the building and he felt like he was choking.

A hand rested gently on his shoulder and he jerked slightly, head snapping round to meet the sad blue eyes of the blond woman known as black canary. "Are you okay Danny?" She asked softly.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and ignored the burning in his eyes as he turned back to gaze up at what had been his home for his whole life.

"yeah…I'm fine." he said softly.

He still found the op centre crammed on top embarrassing. But now it also gave him a feeling of complete loss.

His hand was shaking so badly as he stepped up to the door to unlock it, that Dinah had to take the keys from him and unlock the door for him. He grabbed her wrist however when she went to open the door.

"You should let me go first…d-dad rigged the door sometimes…against ghost…he mainly got the postman though." He explained quietly, as his eyes burnt worse than ever.

He opened the door slowly…slower than necessary, part of him didn't want to go inside, to see the countless reminders of everything he had lost.

He opened the door fully with a shuddering breath, which turned to a shocked gasp as a gallon of green slime was dumped on his head. He stood there dripping for several seconds before letting out a surprised laugh.

He stared at the slime as it suddenly started to glow softly.

"Dad…what are you doing to the door?" Danny asked nervously, as he watched his father fiddling with a large canister above the door.

"Fenton Ghost Detection Goo!" His father said happily over his shoulder, a large childlike grin on his face.

"Do I want to what that does to normal people?" Danny asked warily.

Jack waved a hand distractedly. "It won't hurt humans, but it'll glow if the person has ectoplasm within them, telling us If they've been taken over by ghosts!" He explained, almost falling from the ladder as he gestured excitedly.

Danny stared up at him and sighed before reaching out and holding the ladder. 'Guess I'll have to get tucker to go in first then." He thought with a grin.

His happiness vanished as quickly as it had come, and he stayed silent as he allowed his body to go intangible, allowing the goo to drop off him and splatter the floor.

"Danny?" Dinah said softly, as she stepped through the door, eyeing the canister above the door wearily.

But Danny didn't hear her as he finally looked around.

"It's exactly the same." He said softly.

And it really was…but at the same time, something had gone from the house…it no longer felt warm…like home…instead it was cold and empty, covered in dust.

They were really gone.

His arms wrapped around his chest as he felt an almost physical pain in his chest. Tears dripped down his cheeks as he hunched over slightly. Dinah moved closer and silently pulled him into a gently hug. "Its alright Danny, let it out." She said softly.

So he did.

He didn't know how long he cried for, just that sometime while he was crying, Dinah had got him sitting on the couch and was sitting next to him, an arm around his shoulders securely.

"Better?" She asked gently.

He nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed as she offered him a small packet of tissues. He avoided looking at her as he wiped his eyes and blew his nose.

"Are you sure you want to go on? You got further than I thought you would already…you can always come back, Batman seized the house from Masters…you can always come back…anytime you want." She said carefully, seriously worrying about the teen, he had go through so much in the past couple of years… stronger and older people than Danny had crumbled after such things…he was a strong kid, but everyone had a snapping point.

She flashed back to what Masters had said, about Danny losing his mind and destroying the world.

She wondered how close Danny was to losing himself, to falling over that edge of sanity he was so dangerously balanced on.

But she was pleasantly surprised and impressed, as she watched Danny take a deep calming breath and open determined eyes, meeting hers firmly. "I can't leave not yet…I need to do this now…I wanted to come back for so long…" He trailed off, his hands curling into fists and Dinah frowned as she heard muttered words she wasn't supposed to hear. "But Vlad wouldn't let me."

She pretended she hadn't heard and just smiled. "Okay kid…lets get going then." She said with a smile.

Danny took another deep breath and got up and headed to the closest room.

The kitchen.

He froze in the doorway and stared at the kitchen table, where plates were set for dinner. His mother must have been getting the table ready for dinner when Lancer had called her.

He pulled his eyes away and glanced around the room, his eyes landing on the fridge.

Danny followed his sister into the house and both froze in the doorway as the smell of burning reached their noses.

They exchanged a horrified look and bolted for the kitchen.

They took in the scene of their mother frantically turning off the cooker as the pot on the stove bubbled over, spilling dangerous looking green water all over the cooker.

Their mother swore violently as she slammed the lid down on the pot, while the two teens stared rather fearfully at the green liquid that hadn't stopped bubbling on the cooker and actually seemed to be eating through the metal.

"Um…Mom…what're you doing?" Jazz asked, her voice slightly scared.

Maddie jumped and spun round brandishing a spatula, which she hid behind her back when she saw them.

"Um…Hi sweeties!…I just thought I'd make you an after school snack…just some hotdogs…nothing can go wrong with that, it's just boiling water after all…right?" She rambled, with a innocent grin…which was destroyed when, something behind her growled.

They all froze and Maddie slowly turned to the pot, which was now shaking rather alarmingly.

Slowly Maddie set the spatula down on the counter and backed away, her hand slowly reaching towards the Ecto-gun in her holster.

Jazz sighed in defeat and opened the cupboard next to her and brought out two Fenton Anti-Creep Sticks.

And they both got into swinging position as the lid of the saucepan flew off and several glowing green snarling hot dogs leapt out at them.

All three Fenton's let out a battle cry as they leapt into battle.

Danny smiled and stepped over to the fridge and knocked on the door, he could see Dinah's baffled expression out of the corner of his eye, which turned to slightly freaked out when something inside the fridge growled and the fridge rocked slightly as if something was trying to get out…which they were.

"Yeah don't open the fridge…the hot dogs are a bit territorial." He said fondly.

He pretended not to notice Dinah taking a slightly scared step away from the fridge.

Instead he headed for the lab.

Danny hesitated on the steps, but squared his shoulders and went down. He let out a relieved sigh as the ghost portal still towered over the lab.

He had thought Vlad would have stolen it for sure.

He walked over to it and placed a hand on the cool metal doors and Dinah gasped as his hand and eyes glowed softly.

"This is the ghost portal…I died inside it…well half died…this is where Danny Phantom came to life." He explained softly.

"It must have been painful." Dinah said gently. He flinched slightly as he remembered the complete and total pain that burned throughout him like his blood was on fire…he had wanted to die…and he did sorta.

He was screaming, it hurt so bad.

Other screams were mingled with his and then he was opening his eyes. Everything was so clear and Sam was in front of him, her face crumpled with horror and fear, beautiful colours swirled around her as he slumped into her arms.

His body was twitching as she cradled his head on her lap, her hands stroking his face. "It'll be okay Danny! It'll be okay, I promise!" She was sobbing, Tucker was kneeling next to them now, his face scared and amazed.

"Danny…dude…you….you're glowing dude…I-I…I think your dead Danny! You're a g-ghost!" He rambled terrified.

He started clawing at his hair in horror. "We killed you!"

Terror filled Danny as he struggled to sit up and stared down at his hands…his glowing hands. Then he was on his feet and stumbling to the small toilet connected to the lab. He stopped dead at his reflection…his hair was white and his eyes were glowing inhumanly and they were green.

He was so pale…he was dead.

He screamed.

A flash of light, then darkness and he opened his eyes to see a hospital room.

He stared blankly around him, before spotting his parents and sister in the chairs around his bed. His mother's head was resting on the bed and she was holding his hand in a strong grip for someone who was asleep.

Jazz held his other hand in a limp grip, while his dad had a hand resting on his foot from where he sat, looking older than Danny had ever seen him.

He lay there for what seemed like ages…wondering hopefully if it was just a dream…but he could feel it.

He was different.

Something inside him was cold and he just knew it had been real, he had become a monster…he was alive but he could feel it inside…he had become one of the things that his parents hunted and hated.

He tightened his grip on his mothers hand.

Her eyes snapped open instantly and they stared at each other for several seconds and then his mother had him in her arms and was hugging him tightly. "Danny, oh my baby boy! We're so sorry! It's all our fault…we shouldn't have left you down there on your own, we're so sorry!" She sobbed, and then his dad was there and so was Jazz.

And even though he was a monster now…he felt safe.

"Danny?" Dinah's voice pulled him from his memories and he pulled his hand away from the portal.

"Sorry…I just…I died here…" He said shakily, stepping back.

Dinah rested a hand on his arm. "Its alright Danny I understand, you don't need to explain…it must have been a scary experience."

"At the time it was the scariest thing that had ever happened to me…but not anymore…I've been through worse." He replied softly, his hand rubbing his wrist as Dinah watched him carefully.

"Do you think Batman will move the lab for me? Somewhere closer to the cave maybe?" Danny asked quietly. "I-I need to be near it…ghosts can still get through…its my duty"

"You don't need to explain, Batman already expected you to ask, its all in motion already."

Danny slumped slightly in relief.

He smiled at the blond almost shyly and began to poke around the many odds and ends all around the lab, Dinah noted him pocketing several things, before stopping at the large desk against one wall. There were two well worn desk chairs, one seemingly modified to hold a larger person.

Danny paused at the desk and ran his hand over the things lying on it. His hands stopped on a medium sized notebook the exact same shade as his mothers jump suit. He picked it up and flicked through his eyes widening at discovering it was a journal, half filled with scientific notes and a few personal entries. He clung to it and also grabbed his mothers spare goggles.

He dug through the mess on the other side and grinned as he found a near identical journal, but his dad's signature orange. He flicked through it and smile sadly at his fathers messy writing and little doodles of ghosts and ideas for weapons.

Danny had little else to do in the lab so he headed up the stairs and into his sisters room. He smiled at the neatness of the room and moved around, trying to find something of his sisters to take back to the cave.

His blue eyes lit up when he saw the edge of a book sticking out from under the mattress. He flicked through the first few pages of the notebook and grinned as he saw that his sister had made a diary that was filled with not only his sisters neat writing, but some photos too.

He smiled at one of the photo's. It was of him and Jazz standing with their father hugging them both. He was laughing as the two teens stared at the jumpsuits they had been forced to wear with their fathers face on the chest.

"Dad, I'm sorry, but there is no way in hell I am wearing this…thing at school!" Jazz huffed, her hands on her hips.

"But JazzyPants you look wonderful and it's a family tradition! Danny, son, back me up!" Jack turned to his son hopefully.

"Sorry dad but I'm with Jazz, I'm low enough on the school food chain already…I'm not wearing this…thing either." Danny muttered, as he tugged at the picture of his dads face, hoping that it would come off.

"but-But, Madds come on tell them they have to wear it." Jack turned to his wife desperately.

It took Maddie a few minutes to answer, due to the face she couldn't stop laughing at her children's expressions of horror. "I'm sorry dear…but they would get teased a lot at school if they wore the jumpsuits…but how about we take a picture instead?" She said slyly, holding up her digital camera.

Jack perked up instantly and put his arms around his kids with a booming laugh. "Good idea Madds!" he laughed. "We can put it on the mantle!"

Maddie laughed as the teens shot her a betrayed look. "Say cheese!" She chirped.

Danny's smile fell as he remembered. He ran his finger lightly over the picture and his eyes landed on a small paragraph written next to the photo and the smile returned to his face.

Me and Danny were forced into these hideous jumpsuits today. I love my dad, but I'm sorry I am not wearing a tight fitting jumpsuit with my dad's face on it! I do want to eventually have a boyfriend you know!

He shut the book and headed out to his own room, he paused in the doorway taking in the familiar room…it felt like it belonged to someone else now.

This room belonged to the old Danny Fenton, the teen with a family that was alive and happy…after what happened to him….with the explosion and Vlad…Danny Fenton was long dead.

He dropped down besides his bed and pulled a large duffle bag out from under it.

He dropped it on his bed and unzipped it, nodding as he saw the few weapons and Fenton Thermos', Danny dropped the journal and goggles inside and gathered up some of his clothes and shoved them in.

Danny grabbed his dust covered laptop and put it inside as well.

He paused and grabbed a few of the photo's that were pinned to the note board.

Then he zipped up the duffle bag and left the room without looking back.

He headed down stairs and found Dinah sitting on the sofa, her hand to her ear as she spoke softly, he almost unconsciously silenced his footsteps as he crept down the stairs, listening closely as he moved closer.

"Yeah…he's handling it better than I thought, but I still think he could benefit from a few sessions…yes I suppose…we should be heading back soon…alright I'll let him know, canary out." She ended the call and got up, obviously heading to go look for Danny.

She turned and let out a slight cry of surprise as she found herself inches from Danny, his glowing green eyes staring straight into her eyes, an odd expression on his face. she stepped backwards a hand going to her chest where her heart was pounding from the scare. "Danny you scared me!"

Danny blinked at her cry and shied back looking uncomfortable, his eyes shifting back to blue with a blink.

"s-Sorry…I…I can't help it sometimes…I guess it's sorta in my nature to scare people…couldn't resist sorry." He apologized, flushed with embarrassment.

Dinah stared at him for several seconds. "It's alright Danny…just try not to do it again okay?" She said with a small smile, because to be honest she was used to the odd quirks of superheroes…like J'onn and M'gann with their Oreos.

Danny shifted uncomfortably and gripped the strap of the duffle tightly. "Um…I'm ready to head back now." He said quietly.

"Are you sure? Got everything you need?" Dinah asked gently.

Danny nodded, his eyes never leaving the floor. "I-I got what I needed…I-I need to leave." He said quietly, but he looked up his blue eyes hopeful. "I…I'm allowed to come back though right?"

Dinah instantly felt a flash of hatred towards Vlad masters, but fought it down as she smiled sadly at Danny.

"Of course you can come back as long as a league member can go with you…just to make sure Masters doesn't show up." She frowned slightly, as she notice the shudder than ran through Danny as she said Masters name.

She didn't say anything though and led the way out.

They were just about to get into her car when someone called out to Danny, causing the teen to tense, instantly putting Dinah on guard.

"Fenton! Holy crap it really is you!" The large blond haired teen called out as he headed towards them, an odd expression on his face, almost uncomfortable. He stopped a few feet away and shifted on spot looking awkward.

Danny was staring at him confused and warily. "Hey Dash…what do you want?" He asked quietly.

Dash shrugged. "I just…where have you been Fenton? After….after what happened…you just vanished…the Foley's and Manson's…they were looking for you, you know? Been asking everyone at school about you…" He trailed off looking uncomfortable.

He ran a hand through his blond hair and took a breath.

"You doing okay?" He blurted suddenly.

Danny stared at the blond looking almost comically confused, before he frown and something cold entered his eyes. "Why the hell would you care?" He asked, and Dinah blinked at the coldness in his voice.

Dash flinched and took a slight step back.

"I…I don't know really…I just…I just saw you and I just had too…" He trailed off again, before squaring his shoulders. "I also wanted to apologise." He said suddenly, and it was Danny's turn to blink.

"You're apologising? For what?"

Dash shrugged looking uncomfortable. "Everything I guess…for taking my bad grades out on you when it was my fault…for ragging on you all the time…I was an ass…and that you lost your family and your friend and your girlfriend."

"She wasn't my girlfriend." Danny interrupted softly.

Dash seemed taken aback by that and then sad. "Then I'm sorry that you never got to tell her too." He said quietly, he held out his hand. "I'm just sorry okay and if you ever come back to this freak town…I hope we can hang out." He said hopefully.

Danny stared at his hand, looking thrown, but reached out cautiously and shook it, they both let go rather quickly and looked even more awkward. "Are you being overshadowed of something?" Danny suddenly blurted, causing Dash to let out a bark of laughter.

"No dude…I just got some sense knocked into me by my girl that's all." Dash replied, with a rather soppy smile.

Danny raised a confused eyebrow. "Paulina?" He asked in disbelief.

"Nah we broke up…I'm dating Christine…she was one of Jazz's friends…I said something I shouldn't about you after you vanished and she slapped me and ripped me apart in front of the whole school made me see how much of a bully I was…it was so hot!" He said, looking rather sappy again.

Danny pulled a face and looked even more uncomfortable. "That's nice."

"Anyway that's all I wanted to say…see you around Fenton." Dash said with a shrug, before he turned and walked off, waving over his shoulder.

Danny stared after him until he vanished round the corner, before turning to Dinah looking rather freaked out. "I think that was the first sign of the apocalypse…I think hell just froze over." He muttered, pulling open the car door and getting in.

Dinah laughed as she open her side and got in.

"So that was?" She asked as she pulled away from the curb.

Danny shrugged. "Dash Baxter…he's been beating the crap out of me since kindergarten." He said simply.

All humour dropped from Dinah's face.

"He beat you up?"

Danny nodded. "Yep, daily. He's an ass…or I guess he used to be…not sure if I'm sorry covers most of what he's done over the years…but I guess it's nice he tried…" He replied, staring out of the window thoughtfully.

"Why didn't tell your parents?"

Danny shrugged. "They suspected it, but there was nothing they could really do, no one at school would beck up the claims…not even the teachers…I guess Mr Lancer would have…but Dash made sure he never saw." He replied, and Dinah was worried about the non caring tone in his voice.

"Did you ever try to learn a martial art? I could teach you some if you would like? I teach all of the team some form or another." Dinah said softly.

Danny glanced at her and smiled. "I'm a black belt in karate and I'm pretty good at judo, my mom taught me and Jazz the first time she saw a bruise on me." He said quietly.

Dinah blinked. "Then why didn't you defend yourself?" She asked confused.

Danny shrugged. "I tried to once…got detention…and Dash hit harder after that…so I just couldn't be bothered and just put up with it…then I got my powers and he couldn't really cause lasting pain after that, I was stronger and I healed quick so there was no point in complaining anymore and If I fought back I'd have gotten expelled for putting Dash in the hospital." he explained clearly unbothered.

Dinah studied him out of the corner of her eye and had to admit she was surprised at how mature the fifteen year old was.

And she was worried about how little he seemed to care about himself.

She cleared her throat as they exited Amity Park, Danny glancing out of the back window with a sad expression.

He glanced over at her curious.

"Batman wanted me to talk to you about something kid." She said calmly, and he instantly tensed, eyeing her nervously now.

"Oh…um what about?"

"He's worried about the effects of the last few years had on your mind…I'm a trained psychologist and I have monthly sessions with the rest of the team…Batman would like you to have daily talks with me…Danny are you alright?" She broke off suddenly, as she noticed that Danny had paled drastically and looked sick.

"I….I don't want anymore session…" He muttered suddenly, sounding terrified.

Dinah cursed Penelope Spectra violently inside her mind. How dare that creature ever call herself a psychologist! How was she going to fix what that witch had done to Danny if he was terrified of even the mention of a psychologist?

"Alright Danny, it's okay…we'll talk about it later okay…you won't have anymore sessions with her." She said calmingly.

She talked about light-hearted subjects for the rest of the trip to the closest zeta point.

Danny never uttered a word, he just sat silently, staring blankly out of the window.

Danny didn't utter a word as they arrived at the cave, he just walked off to his new room, not even looking at the team who were assembled in front of the computer with Batman.

"What happened?" Batman asked.

Dinah turned to him, finally allowing her fury to show on her face, causing the team to take a startled step back. "If I ever meet Penelope Spectra ever again Bruce, I will find a way to bring her back to life just so I can kill her again!" She snarled dangerously.

She pointed after Danny.

"I couldn't even talk to him, about talking to me, about what happen to him! He turned completely unresponsive! How am I supposed to help him if he's terrified of the very notion of psychologists!?"

Bruce rested a calming hand on her shoulder and she took a calming breath, her shoulders slumping.

"It'll be alright Dinah…if anyone can get through it's you."

"I hope so." She said softly.

The team exchange a look.

'Should we…?'Artemis asked quietly, over the mind link.

M'gann frowned slightly. 'His emotions are all over the place and his thoughts are drifting into a very dark direction…it might not be a good idea to leave him alone to long…' She answered worriedly.

'That's decided then! Lets get some snacks and a film and go cheer him up!' Wally chipped in.

The team nodded in agreement and snuck off, leaving the two older heroes alone.

Chapter End.

An:

Hope you enjoyed it!

If anyone could think of a good Villain for Danny to fight in the next chapter or the one after would be welcome to put it in their review!

Laters,

Arty