I'm alive … surprise …

I apologize for the long wait, however the last year have been a major roller-coaster for me. I almost died from a severe Gallbladder infection, the company I was working at this time closed down there office. Started a new job that wasn't as I've expected. My depression - that I had for years - pushed me to a breaking point and when I finally manged to see some light in my life, I've got sick again… yeah … I got better and somehow managed to continue… started even writing again … (a one shot that will released around Halloween) then I've lost my job … With some luck I got quickly a new one and now it slowly rises from the ashes … or I hope so at least … as I, so does my next chapter.

Have fun … and keep in mind English is still not my first language :)

Big thanks again, goes to my Beta: KodiakWolfe13

Chapter 8: The visit

Saturday at Mount Justice was often the same, if the group of teenage heroes that called this their home base, had no urgent mission. They gathered all together in the hide-out, spending time as a team, sometimes helping each other with homework or studying for upcoming exams. It was also the time they occasionally had private training sessions with Black Canary or a different tutor from the League, helping them to exceed with their own special sets of skills.

Today's Saturday was no difference. Shouting echoed through the rock wall corridors, leading an attentive listener to the main living quarter in the cave, an open plan kitchen and living room area.

Two boys sat on the spacious sofa in the centre of the room in front of a big screen TV module. One had raven black hair and dressed casually in jeans, a green shirt and an open black hoodie. Sunglasses obscured his face. The other boy had bright red hair and was dressed in a yellow, long-sleeved shirt under a red, sleeveless vest. Each teen had a controller in their hands that they used to steer their vehicles over a digital track, all the while shouting profanities at each other.

Superboy, Zatanna and Artemis were seated at the counter by the kitchen, all three also in casual clothing, half-watching the boys playing and half-observing Miss Martian as she attempted to make a new peanut-butter cookie recipe.

Kaldur'Ahm, Kaldur for short or Aqualad, had yet to arrive. It was not unusual for him, though. As the official leader of the team, he held a lot of responsibilities.

Loud cheering caught the overall attention of the room's occupants, steering their attention to Wally and Robin. The later held up his arms in a winner position, while the redhead had fallen back in his seat, groaning in defeat.

"Another win for Robin, I see." Spoke a rough voice behind them, turning all head to the entry. Leaning casually against the doorframe was a dark skinned young man with unusual blond, almost white, coloured hair.

"Kaldur, good to see you," greeted Zatanna first. M'gann, as Miss Martian preferred to be called by her friends, came next holding a plate with the finished cookies under his nose.

He declined politely and said, "Just so you know, Batman just arrived and I..." He was interrupted by the centre screen turning to a live video showing the Dark Knight. "Suit up and report to the hangar. You have a mission." Just as suddenly as his announcement came, the screen switched back and the seven teens looked at each other.

"As I was saying, I think he has a mission for us." Kaldur smiled and turned in the direction of their hangar/trainings area. The others quickly followed.

First to arrive was, as usual, Wally, even with stopping at his own room to change into his red and yellow suit. Batman stood in front of a console to the side of the open plan hangar area, waiting for the rest to follow his call. Once the full team had arrived, the Dark Knight glared at each teen for a brief moment, wordlessly ordering them to be silent, before he turned towards the console again.

"This mission will only require three of you. The others have an extra training objective later on."

The teens shared a quick and confused look, as they rarely received missions that split them up.

"Aqualad, Robin and Kid Flash, this will be your mission: protection detail. You three will accompany your target to these coordinates." On the screen above, the seasoned hero had several digits appear, the digits being the longitude and latitude of the location.

Robin swiftly typed in the numbers into his wrist computer, confirming the location on a holographic map: "Wisconsin?" He tilted his head to the side, "… Greenwood Cemetery."

"A graveyard?" Inquired Aqualad. "What is there to find?"

"My parents." Came the answer from behind them, a slight echo in the voice.

As one, the seven protégés spun around, surprised that someone had entered the room without their notice. Before their eyes was a young man, slowly fading out of invisibility. White and black was his overall colour scheme. Only his eyes- a toxic green -differed from it.

Each young hero, except Robin, who recognised Danny in his non-human form from pictures, got in a battle ready stance.

One eyebrow raised, the half-ghost teen glared at them for a moment, then focused on the adult in the back. "I don't need a babysitter, Batman."

"This is not up for debate."

"Fine," The teen threw his hands in the air before crossing his arms over his chest. "But they need stay out of range and no eavesdropping. What I have to say is private."

"Agreed," approved Bruce, "Team, meet Phantom." He introduced.

Seeing that their surprise guest was not a danger, the teens all relaxed back into a normal stand.

The halfa waved a short greeting, his posture still showing how peeved he was. "Call me Danny, please."

Kaldur was the first to step forward. "Hello. I am Aqualad," he pointed at the next teen to his left, "This is Miss Martian," and continued to point at each member as he introduced them, "Zatanna, Artemis, Robin, Kid Flash and Superboy."

"Nice to meet you." Greeted Manhunter's niece with a smile, holding her hand out for him to take.

Danny did and genuinely smiled back at her "You too."

Batman had stepped away from the console, walking slowly around the group, stopping next to the female green alien girl. "Miss Martian, please prepare the Bioship."

"Sure." She waved a quick goodbye to Danny and flew over to the red and black blob near the end of the cave.

"Soo," caught Wally the attention from Danny, "Why the protection detail? My guess, you can do more than just become invisible." Wally guessed, pointing out the athletic build of his body.

The halfa huffed in the direction at the only adult among them, glaring at him, not offering any answer to the question.

"Phantom is not from around," offered Batman as explanation.

"Yeah…what about his parents then?" questioned Zatanna.

"Well…they're not my real parents…" mumbled Danny scratching the back of his neck. "They kind of are…were…" He let out an exasperated sigh, "but then again…never have been in this universe."

"You're from a different dimension?" asked Artemis.

Green eyes turned to the female archer. "Different universe, not dimension."

Tilting her head she sized him up, "Isn't it the same?"

"No it's not." Danny started, but was interrupted by Batman, who said, "You can explain later. The ship is ready."

"Then let's go." Kaldur said, taking over. He waved his arm in a gesture for Danny to go first, not trusting the teen quite yet.

Rolling his eyes, Danny followed the subtle order.

Once inside of the spaceship, Robin took the chair in the middle of the small room that made the cockpit, preparing it for launch. Danny followed his hands with interest, comparing the control in his memory against the few jets and the one shuttle he had flow in his lifetime.

He was so focused that he missed the question that Kid Flash had asked. The boy was waving his hand in front of Danny's face as he said, "Hey, earth to Danny."

The halfa recoiled from the closeness but didn't lash out. He only glared with his glowing green eyes, annoyed at the other teen. "What?" H spat out, more aggressive than intended.

Wally flinched slightly from the death glare transmitted through the eerie glowing eyes but recovered almost immediately, "I asked if we've met in your 'universe.'"

Danny's eyes turned sad. "No." He turned his head to the side, looking out of the window.

"What about other heroes?" Wally asked again.

Danny sighed, hurt and sadness dimming the slight glow surrounding him as he said, "There were no heroes."

"What about you?" inquired Aqualad, still having a bad gut feeling about their guest. The flinch that followed his question did not go unnoticed.

"I," his voice was sad when Danny managed to answer, "I may have protected my world to the best of my abilities, but only few people saw the things I did as heroic, and later in the war, they just saw me as a tool, a weapon to defeat the otherwise invincible enemy."

"War?"

Danny weaved his glowing fingers through the white mop of hair on his head, turning away, looking outside. "Can we please not talk about it? Not right now, at least?"

"Sure," jumped Robin in, glaring at his team leader, transmitting wordlessly to drop the questioning.

Kaldur narrowed his eyes at Batman's protégé. The dark haired teen knew more of this than he let on, courtesy of his mentor, most likely. He didn't like being left out of the information flow. In general, Batman had not told them anything about Phantom and what he was capable of. The question, though, was why.

Danny, on the other hand, knew exactly why the Bat had only shared the minimum of information with the team. He wanted the others to ask and for Danny to talk, something BC, Manhunter and himself struggled to get him to do. Secretly rolling his eyes, he waited for the questions to come.

"What are your powers? Where did you get them? Where you born with them or did you had an accident?" rapidly asked Wally.

Aqualad could see Robin flinch then roll his eyes at his friend. Phantom, he could see, was half way to a face-palm when he stopped himself, deciding against it.

... Several hours later ...

Bruce had been home in Gotham, working on a few thing for his company, when he received a mission update from Red Tornado. Kaldur's team and Danny were on their way back, and they requested medical attention by arrival. Being alone at the moment, the usual scruffy man didn't have to hold back the annoyed growl that passed his lips. Trust in Dick and the others to find trouble on a simple mission such as this. With a sigh, he let Alfred know that he would be out and used the 'Zeta-access' from the cave to travel directly to 'Mount Justice.'

Perfectly timed, he arrived with only a few moment to spare in the hangar. The android Red Tornado and Miss Martian were already waiting. The bioship passed the hidden entrance into the hide-out and slowly descended onto her usual spot.

When the door had fully opened, it was Wally who appeared first. His right arm carefully supported an injured Robin, a bloody bandage around his upper left leg. Together, they slowly limped down the few meters to the ground. The second they reached the end of the gateway, Miss Martian used her telekinesis to levitate Batman's protégé and adopted son onto the waiting stretcher.

Searching out his mentor's eyes, Robin tried to sit up after he was placed. The glare he found made the teen flinch.

"Batm-"

"We will talk about this later," The Dark Knight interrupted, giving the green alien girl a signal to take him away.

With his right arm free to use, Kid Flash warped it around his own mid-section. He looked up to the intimating hero. Bruce noticed the stiff posture from Wally, pain displayed in his eyes and with a curt nod, he ordered him wordlessly to follow Robin to the infirmary.

'So both of them had been injured,' Bruce thought as narrowed his eyes, waiting for Kaldur and Danny to appear. On que, the young halfa stepped out of the shadows. Batman could not see any obvious damage on the teen. He, however, noticed right away his rigid posture and his arms held securely behind his back. The conclusion wasn't hard follow: Danny's hands were cuffed.

Right behind the white haired teen came Kaldur, one of his bearers formed as a mace in his hand.

The detective searched out the green eyes from Danny and received a tentative smile. Whatever had happened, the young halfa was okay. Fixing his glare on the Atlantian, he waited only long enough for them to be in earshot and growled, "Start talking!"

"Phantom made a deal with Kranio." Claimed Kaldur.

"I did not!" Danny indignantly replied.

Bruce held up his hand and wordlessly ordered Phantom to be silent. Looking at Kaldur, he ordered, "From the beginning."

The dark skinned teen gave his captive one last glare before turning completely towards to the seasoned hero. "We arrived at the confirmed location. Robin landed the bio ship behind a grove of trees, hidden from view…

With an inaudible hiss, the hatch on the end of the alien spacecraft opened. First to step a foot on the ramp was Wally, closely followed by Danny, Kaldur and Robin coming last.

"Kid Flash, do a recon. See if anybody is in the near vicinity." Ordered the Atlantian.

Wally confirmed the command with a sharp nod and ran faster than a mundane human could dream of into the distance. Ten second later, he came to an abrupt stop, startling Danny with his sudden appearance. "Some rabbits in the field behind the trees and a couple of crows. There's nothing else that is breathing.." Reported the red head, smirking at Danny's reaction.

"Good," confirmed Kaldur, "Robin."

"No," Danny interrupted. Kaldur narrowed his eyes at the half ghost. Danny said, "Batman agreed that I go alone." The older boy was hiding his displeasure well; nonetheless, Danny could still feel it. "If you insist, you can stay within sight but not in earshot. What I have to say is private."

They may not be his real parents, but they were the closest thing to blood relatives Danny would ever be able to find in this universe.

For a second, he thought Aqualad would protest but a barely visible shake from Robin stopped him. Now unchallenged on his word, Danny released the hold of his flight and made his way to the place that held the last remains of Jack Fenton and Madison Belova, his mother's maiden name. The two had not been married when they had died by a freak accident in college.

Kaldur waited until Danny was, in his opinion, far enough away, then turned to Robin, his arms crossed over his chest and fury blazing in his eyes. The normally cool Atlantian was a breath away from shouting as he questioned, "What was that about?"

Dick rolled his eyes, not hiding the annoyance over the antics of his team leader. "Don't know what you're talking about. Danny hasn't done nothing to deserve your animosity against him; nonetheless, you are treating him as if he had kicked your puppy."

Kaldur glared at Wally, who snickered at the mental image. The teen said, "He is keeping a secret from us. Doesn't it make you suspicious? Normally, you are the one who wants to know everything."

Wally was about to ads his own opinion when Kaldur suddenly continued to rant at the other teen. "But then, your casualness must mean you already know! So you are keeping information us too? Here I thought we were a team."

Even the typical lax character he was, Kid Flash cringed at this low blow. It had been a month since any member from the Young Justice had questioned the integrity of another member. However, the blow Wally had expected as retaliation didn't come. Instead, he observed Robin tilt his head to the side and closely examine the reaction of their team leader and friend.

The young boy came to the conclusion that Aqualad's behaviour was perhaps caused by Danny's physique. It was similar to the half ghost's reaction to Superman, only reversed. Robin didn't lose his temper, like he might have in the past, and spoke in a calm tone. "Are you done?"

Kaldur glared at him in reply but didn't speak up.

"Good. Yes, I do know more about Danny because I asked or he shared this information willingly. I don't know everything. He is highly secretive, something that is to be expected with his background. The question is what makes you so hostile against him? Sure, Batman hasn't shared all he knows about Danny, but tell me when had he ever done something like that?" Robin took a deep breath. He was about to appeal to Aqualad's rationality when suddenly all three found themselves on the ground.

Each of them were pinned down by a huge, mechanical, wolf-like creature. It pressing its heavy paws on their shoulders, effectively preventing any movement.

"The sidekicks…" A dark voice spoke behind them. Aqualad, Robin and KF had to strain their necks to get a look at their attacker.

"Kranio," grunted Robin as he recognized the man.

"Who would guess that Batman had the balls to give something so valuable to a bunch of teenager?"

Wally made a tentative push to free himself and was rewarded with a dangerous snap of two rows of metal teeth closing just a breath away from his nose.

"What are you talking about?" asked Aqualad, carefully manoeuvring his legs into a better position.

"Don't try to deny it. I know that one of you has it."

"Has what?" questioned Wally.

"My guess is on the little bird… Hm…what do you think Amber?" The canine next to the mercenary snarled. The robot over Robin shifted, his sharp claws slicing easily through the enhanced fabric and into his thigh. The young teen screamed in pain, unable to move his attacker off him.

Pushed by the agony from their friend, Kaldur and Wally managed to break free of the robot animal holding them down. The Atlantian immediately has his two water bearers active, each forming a pain-promising mace. Meanwhile, KF had run off, gaining enough momentum that when he barrelled into the robot holding Robin down, the machine was upturned enough for the trapped teen to jump back. Robin stood on his right and uninjured leg, adrenalin pumping through his body.

"My, my, look who got some fight left in their bones." Laughed Kranio. His loyal companion on his side snarled at the three teenage heroes. On command, the robot canines attacked.

Kaldur used his mace, meeting the razor sharp steel claws in mid jump and denting the metal with the force behind the strike.

Defensively, Robin threw a hand full of exploding discs. The explosion was enough to blow the robot back at his master's feet.

Wally dodged the first two jumps from the metal animal that was focusing on him. By the third time, he stumbled over some root on the ground and a cold metal hit him square on the chest, knocking the wind out of his lungs. He stayed on the ground gasping for air.

One of the three robots moved in front of his master protectively. The mercenary pulled his smoke grey Desert Eagle from his thigh holster. The safety unclipped, and Kranio held it in his right hand with a smug grin on his face. "I think killing the three and searching their corpses will be the best, Amber." Kranio lifted his weapon and aimed it at the still grounded KF, the boy's accelerated healing not having yet the chance to work though the extensive damage to his chest.

Before any of the group could react, a black and white figure landed with a thud in the free space between the two groups. The boy held out both of his hands, not trusting his back to anyone.

"Enough!" shouted Danny, the echo in his voice much more audible than before and the energy behind the simple command vibrating into the ground.

Kaldur's grasp on his weapon strengthened, draining all colour from his knuckles. Something in him stirred and made it difficult to decide who was enemy and who was friend.

Kranio took in the new boy, aiming his weapon at his chest. "And who might you be? I've never seen you before. Are you new to the circus?"

"That is none of your concern." Snarled the young halfa. "Who are you?"

"A, a, ah I asked fist."

"Name is Kranio, a mercenary and thief." Robin jumped in.

"No telling!" yelled the bulky man, firing a warning shot at Batman's protégé's feet. A green energy barrier appeared, ricocheted the bullet back at the shooter, barley missing him.

"Nobody hurts my friends." Spat Danny, glaring with blazing eyes at Kranio.

"Friends?" asked Batman, the raised eyebrow audible in the one word question.

Phantom met the Dark Knights eyes and shrugged. "It felt right to say it at this point."

Steel blue eyes focused on the halfa. "So you do belong to the sidekicks."

Otherworldly green eyes flashed angrily at the mercenary. "I belong to nobody."

The mercenary's companions growled at the half-ghost teen, hackles raised, ready to pounce at the slightest order. They were interrupted by a double beep at Kranio's hip. He looked at Danny and said, "You!"

Danny tilted his head, confusion all over his face. "What?"

"You have the Thermos and its energy source. Give it to me! Now!" demanded the older man.

"No," declined Danny, his posture tense. 'How does he knows of the Thermos?'

With a snap of his fingers, the three metal animals turned towards the halfa, underlining the thread with their deep growling.

Not showing any sign of being intimidated and readying himself for an attack, Danny said, "The Thermos belongs to me."

"Belongs to you?"

Danny nodded, "Yes."

"How so?" inquired the other, irritated by the claim from the young teen.

Danny ignored the subtle shake from Robin and answered honestly, "I built that Thermos."

"You've built…" the mercenary stammered, "What's with the energy source?"

"It's in my possession" Danny confirmed.

"Your possession…"

"Were you a parrot in your previous life or do you like repeating everything I say?" Quipped the halfa.

Sensing her master's anger, the real canine at the mercenary's side let out a deep growl, baring her teeth at the teen. Kranio found himself mirroring the sound. He had to rethink his strategy quickly, especially if the white haired teen before him was the one who created the Thermos and was able to control what was inside… Andrew and Mr. Luthor would even be more generous with their payment, possibly adding some sort of extra bonus. Therefore, making the young man his enemy would be counterproductive, so he coughed the growl into a laugh. "Aren't you a joker? Fine, if that thermos is yours, what do you want for it? I'm interested in buying it."

"Sorry, not for sale."

"You haven't even thought about it. You are what, 16? 17? You and your parents sure could use some cash these days." Bargained Kranio. He missed the dark expression from the young man as his parents where mentioned. Though, when he finally noticed it, it was already said.

With a dark glare, the teen explained, "My parents are dead. As I already said, I belong to no one!"

Kranio swallowed the sharp counter that lay on his tongue. Instead, he replied more carefully "Then you could use the money all for yourself."

"No," stated Danny firmly. "I can manage without your money just fine."

"Hm," the older man hummed, scratching his unshaven check. "If it's not money you are interested in, then maybe something else? My employer can be very resourceful."

Danny hesitated, not with the thought of actually agreeing to something, but over the revelation that someone behind Kranio pulled the strings, and apparently, it was someone with a lot of power.

His prolonged silence didn't pass unnoticed. Kaldur, still exasperated, growled, "Phantom!"

Robin promptly hushed the Atlantian.

The young half ghost teen sent an angry glare at the team leader. He would've preferred having his name not mentioned so early on.

"Phantom…interesting name choice." Remarked Kranio.

"Sure." Danny's green eyes switched back to the mercenary. "Anyway, I'll meet your employer."

With a winning smile, Kranio made a move forward but was promptly interrupted by Phantom raising his hands. "However, it will be on my terms." Danny ignored the quiet growling from the teen heroes behind him and focused on the older adult. "In three days, we will meet again. There," he pointed at a nearby group of trees, "At noon."

The mercenary hesitated. It would create an easy way to ambush him, as the brats had heard every word spoken between them. He asked, "What about them? And the rest of the League?"

"They can't do anything. As I said, the Thermos and its content is my property and to my understanding, I can do with it as I please."

"Not sure they will take it as well as you may think." Kranio said, pointing at Aqualad.

"Let me worry about it. Now go!" Danny said before adding, "And don't try anything or any possible deal is off. If that happens, the Thermos goes to the League, understood?"

Kranio nodded and with a sharp whistle, the robots and his canine companion retreated.

"Hm," Batman hummed thoughtfully, sizing Danny up with a calculating look. "It's risky."

The halfa shrugged, bringing both his hands to the front, handing over the lose titanium cuffs. "Not any more than it'd be if they surprised me at another time. This way, I'm aware they will come and can prepare for it."

A low growl turned their attention towards Kaldur. "You are approving of this?"

Robin's mentor glared a long second at the Atlantian, tiling his head so slightly nobody really noticed. After the short moment of irritating silence, he turned his eyes from Kaldur to Phantom, wordlessly ordering, 'Tell him.'

Danny sighed, crossing his arms over the chest, showing his dislike to the obvious command; however, seeing that he had no reason to refuse, he spoke, "It's a ruse, Aqualad. I won't sell anything to Kranio, nor to any of his employer."

"How can we be sure that you are not lying to us right now?" He asked aggressively.

Danny had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "For starters, you don't see Batman protesting." When he noticed that the other teen still refused to relax, Danny added, "And second, selling that mentioned energy source would be selling myself into slavery, something I sure as hell won't do."

"Yourself?" Kaldur asked confused, his posture finally loosening, even only a fraction. It still showed, though, that the Atlaner was listening.

"Yes."

"How is that possible? You are clearly a person..."

Unaware about his actions, Danny rubbed his neck in a nervous habit. "I'm very different to anything you have ever encountered. I'm only half human and my second half is based on an energy matrix."

"Like Captain Atom?" He asked, looking at Batman.

"Not directly, but similar, yes." Offered the experienced hero as explanation.

Kaldur thought about the new information for a moment, looking from Batman to Danny. "The energy source in the Thermos, Kranio spoke of, was you then? How?" He wanted to know.

"The Thermos was specially designed to hold beings from my not human half. The war I mentioned previously," here Danny made a breath long break, giving the other teen time to recall the memory, if necessary. "That was between those two species. It working on me as Phantom is just an unlucky coincidence."

"Then why offer the Thermos at all and risk captivity?"

"Kranio is not the one in charge. Whoever has hired him and his guns is. I'm new to this world, but I for myself know it would be suicide to kill any of your team. The retribution of the League would be hell on earth. Kranio was ready to risk that." Danny shared a meaningful look with Batman. "I felt that to keep his interest in the thermos a secret, he planned to leave nobody alive. He has someone powerful enough to protect him, if the full force of the League would call for his blood."

"Not many people hold that amount of power. I'm sure we can find this out without 'faking' a deal with Kranio, risking your capture." Suggested the other teen.

"We won't know for sure, if I don't do this." Danny saw that Kaldur was about to add another argument, so he quickly continued, "Remember, I'm new to this universe. My powers and abilities are unknown. The risk is the lowest as it can be right now, and I prefer to know who is after me so that I can be prepared when they try again."

Kaldur looked at Batman, searching for an indicator that the seasoned hero would be swayed to his side of the argument. When he saw nothing, he sighed deeply and deactivated the energy bearer in his hand. "Fine." He turned around and left, leaving the other two standing.

Once the Atlantian was no longer in earshot, Batman turned towards Danny again. "You have another reason. What is it?"

The white haired teen nodded, green eyes looking into nothing. "Kranio had a radar to track my energy. I've seen those before in my world. I can't say how good it is, but if it's any good at all, it will be able to follow my human half as well."

"This could result in exposure of your secret and endanger with whoever you will stay." Summarized the Dark Knight.

Danny nodded. "Though, I should be able to mask my energy signature once I know how the radar is set up."

Batman thought about the possible risk and finally agreed.