Chapter 8

Dick knew his adopted father well-enough that stalking would be involved in the mission. Not stalking by the team mind you, it being the team being stalked on the mission. Nightwing might not be able to spot his father, but Clark and John were significantly less sneaky. He spotted the Lantern on the way back to the hotel, and Dick would bet his dad and likely Clark wasn't far behind. Instead of his past feelings of betrayal, thinking Bruce didn't trust him enough for the mission, he's feeling particularly nostalgic and fond. Being an older brother gave him some insight on looking out for his baby bros, and he was starting to understand it was Bruce's way of saying 'I love you and I'll maim anyone threatening around my babies'.

Bat feelings always equal to stalking. Normality was overrated anyway.

He was also starting to shift in using 'Dad' instead of 'Bruce'. Tim and Jason were already fully using it, not that Jason didn't accompany it with heavy sarcasm. Dick didn't mind the change; it was high time someone Dad adopted would have no problems expressing feelings. Statistics would catch up eventually; they were bound to adopt someone with some semblance of normal human interaction. Too bad about their track record on hero-complex, still not getting any luck on that. Maybe the hair and eye colour too…

They would be teleporting home soon enough. Hopefully Tim and Jason hadn't finished off Alfred's cookies. He turned to watch Danny and Wally pack up their gear as he typed away their mission report.

"You guys ready to go?" Dick was already contacting J'ohn for a teleport.

Getting confirmation, the trio grouped together and disappeared from nightlife of Bangkok.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Watching the team teleport, Bruce and the rest beamed back to the cave. Dick should be arriving at the Watchtower first to transfer the data and report before heading home. John had gone straight to Central City to wait up for Wally while Clark had followed him back to the cave.

"Did you ever wonder what Danny was like before?" Clark asked as he watched his partner check for the team's update at the Watchtower. While Danny was young, he had a disturbing amount of experience in remaining alert and focus in a mission for a teenager. Even the older teen heroes had a tendency to get distracted easily, unable to cope with a covert missions well.

"Of course. I had to get a profile of his experience with his power and battles as Phantom in Amity Park, so I asked. I have full report of it." With flick of fingers on the computer, the report popped up.

It didn't take long for Clark to read the data in super-speed.

"He's defeated an all-powerful god-like ghost from another dimension? Himself?!"

"He also retrieved and destroyed a 'Reality Gauntlet' from mind-controlling psychopath, from his description of it, the device was practically a time-changing and reality-destroying artifact. It can change matter, erase memories, bring things to life, and control some level of time."

"What." Clark was practically gaping.

"He destroyed it. I asked why, he just said it was too much trouble to keep safe something that troublesome and dangerous. Something with almost all-powerful potential instantly destroyed by a teenager." Bruce almost seemed amused. "Some of the military could learn from him."

"He didn't think of using for himself didn't he?"

"Neither of his best friends either, apparently."

"… He picked good friends. How's he been about that?" a kid losing family and friends, it's hard to remember that such a happy, kind-hearted teen had that kind of history.

"As far I can tell, he's adjusting well. He's happy here and getting the others to get along with each other better. Tim and Jason have been staying home more often, Dick has settled back. Alfred's been making some hints about helping them move back in as well." Bruce let out small smile. "They've been hoarding his time since."

"That's good. And is that his little side project?" He pointed at the octagonal ring of machines.

"Fenton Ghost Portal, he's been at it for weeks. Recreating his parents' greatest invention with a better filtering process." Both adults walked towards the corner of cave claimed by the ghost-child. His little corner of a lab for everything ecto-related. Weirdly glwoing green-tinged gadgets scattered on the table, strange enough to make Clark smile. Was that a boomerang? And a fishing pole? It certainly wasn't a proton pack from Ghostbusters.

"What sort of changes?"

"Funny mistakes, putting the on/off switch outside for one. A selective portal, so it'll allow access if it recognizes the right ecto-signature."

"He has pen-pals in there aside from Clockwork?"

"Apparently, he has plenty of friends and allies. Some enemies have been less aggressive as well."

"You know of them?"

"Not for now, but I have been trying to get more information out of him concerning that Pariah, the Ghost King. Trapped in sarcophagus, but I wonder how long that sort of containment would last."

"You think that king would try again for this world?"

"I think a king who's used to getting what he wants would be very motivated to avenge whoever put him back in his prison." The father was very concerned indeed. According to the data collected during Pariah invasion of Amity Park, the signals from Ghost Portal received by the Fenton satellite had spiked.

"Why do you think he'll be able to break out? This prison is magical, at very least, not man-made technology. If it would wear-out, how would you know? Shouldn't Danny be aware more than you?"

"That satellite they sent in during the Pariah's attack, it had detected a specific signature spike during his attack. Danny's been too focused on the portal, he hasn't been looking at past readings and miles of data collected over decades of work. I have. That satellite is still transmitting data, self-powered by the ectoplasm surrounding it."

"You found a spike?"

"It's an identical in pattern, but it's significantly smaller. I'm not sure if it's residual from his previous release or if there's a crack the prison." Bruce fingered a small chip under his watch. "Danny was paranoid enough to give most of us chips, they won't be enough to block attacks but they're enough to repel over-shadowing. Wouldn't be good if the heroes got possessed by the enemy."

"He's getting ready to open that thing then huh?" Clark's chip was embedded underneath his own watch. He turned to his best friend in concern. "What about you? How are you adjusting to your powers?"

It hadn't been missed by Clark how Bruce never seem to exhibit his powers, ever.

"I avoid using it when I can, too much power for a man like me. I'm still running experiments but for now, I've had received an amulet from Clockwork that can halt the power flow temporarily unless I break the spell. Zatana confirmed its effectiveness when she couldn't detect any difference in my aura."

"Magic word?"

"Yes, and as per Clockwork's advice, I'll only remove if Danny's life is in danger. "

"We'll be ready if it that's the case, Danny's geared most of us with some ghost-protection and information. He won't be alone this time." He place a reassuring had on Bruce's shoulder.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luthor had to admit, he didn't expect to garner anything from is suspicions on memory tampering. The witch managed to scrape out a new face he couldn't recognize, everything else was blur not even magic could discern.

The face was young, unfamiliar as well.

He and the witch only knew the face, but nothing of the incident that transpired. As if a higher power was preventing it. He'll attempt to do a reconstruction and run it thru a facial recognition program, his instincts were screaming potential.

A/N- Been real busy for the past 2 years, got medical school now in the middle of clinical years so I've neglecting my old stories

This one is alive though but slow going! Still a DP, Batman, and JLU fan big time ,and now I need extra income so I'm selling my sticker designs at my etsy page. Just Google etsy wss3thepaintproject if you wanna check it out! I have DC heroes and Marvel heroes but a ton more characters!