Hey, so too many of my favourite fics haven't updated in awhile, and I've decided to fill my lack-of-fanfiction void with my own writing =_= Readers, please enjoy, but be warned. If what I have currently planned for this fic comes to pass...well, let's just say it won't be pretty.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or Danny Phantom, both belong to their respective owners, yadda yadda yadda

Enjoy.

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In the lives of each and every human, there is always a moment of doubt. A fleeting instant in which we question ourselves, and what we are doing.

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In the lives of each and every human, there is always a moment of thought. A slow of the mind in which we ponder the 'what if's and 'could have been's.

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When we walk past a burning house engulfed in flame, we stop and stare. Not because we find the flames mesmerizing, but because for a split second we are completely and utterly overtaken by the fact that we can't stop it.

We can't stop the screams. We can't stop the molten fire from swallowing the little girl trapped upstairs. And it is in that escaped slit of time, that transient moment of heartstop, that we turn away from the fire. Because we are useless. Because we're afraid of the fire, and of our hopelessness. Because we simply, can't. Then, as the house behind us collapses, consumed by the flames,

we walk away.

"Clockwork." Danny hissed, annoyance biting into his tone.

Honestly, why the hell couldn't he just have a normal day? It'd been going great. No, it'd been going fantastic! No ghost attacks, a kiss from Sam, and to top it off, Mr. Lancer had said he could retest. He should have expected this. After all, good days had moved into the non-existent zone the moment he'd stepped into that damn portal. He wasn't complaining. Just, sometimes he wished he could, y'know… have a break.

Somewhat reluctantly, Danny met the shadowed gaze of the Time Master, narrowing his eyes at the immortal's serious expression. They were in some kind of zone of oblivion. Nothing but white surrounded them, and Danny found himself blinking just to bring some other shade back into the picture. Clockwork, he soon noticed, had changed for the occasion. His telltale cloak was a dirty white.

"Nice outfit." Danny smirked. The Time Master was not as amused.

"Danny Phantom," Clockwork sighed, "how nice it is to see you… again."

The immortal looked weary, if not a little worried. He held onto his aged form, never once changing back into the smooth-skinned youth. His eyebrows were pressed together and his eyes flickered with something akin to remorse. It was with this realization that it finally dawned on Danny. Something was wrong. For the first time in… he didn't know how many months, Danny fell silent in front of a ghost. He was left waiting for Clockwork to speak, and the silence stretched on for what seemed like hours.

"I brought you here to apologize in advance – or regress – for what I'm about to do." Clockwork said finally, dragging a hand down his face. Whatever he was talking about obviously wasn't pleasant. The Master of Time sent him an apologetic look before raising his hand to point at, well, nothing.

Danny couldn't help it, he laughed.

"Is this some kind of jo-" he stopped. Where there once was nothing but white, a looming door hovered above the invisible ground. By now, Danny had sorta learned not to be surprised. After all, who'd have thought Clockwork could look tired?

"Okay Clockwork, whatever it is you want me to do, I'm not up for it." He crossed his arms defiantly, fixing a glare at the ghost. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was reminded that he was powerless against the Time Master's manipulations, but he chose not to acknowledge the thought. Clockwork sighed for the hundredth time, and shook his head.

"I'm afraid that you're wrong. I don't want this to happen. It might not show but I like to think I have a bit of a conscience." The ghost allowed himself a small smile. "Unfortunately, in this situation I don't believe either of us can change the inevitable. You are needed in the future of another, and you will fulfill what fate has planned."

With this, the door clicked open, an invisible force pushing it ajar. The darkness swirling on the other side didn't exactly look welcoming, but before Danny could even grasp what was happening he was being sucked into the hungry opening. He struggled, oh yes he struggled, but it seemed that he was powerless against the crushing pull.

He wasn't even able to finish screaming the Time Master's name before the door slammed shut, filling his world with darkness.

Hisfault hisfault allhisfault.

Robin leant heavily on his staff, shivering amidst the downpour of rain. The skies were grey and miserable, as if they too felt his hard melancholy. His team – or what was left of it – was crowded around him, trying to provide comfort for him even though they needed it as much as he did. This was his fault. No one else was to blame. He was the leader of this team, and as leader it was his responsibility to keep his teammates safe. Safe, happy, together.

And what had he done? He'd failed.

Instead of protecting them, he'd let them get hurt, God damnit he'd let himself get hurt. He'd let them fall apart. Now they stood, broken, aching, crying, because they weren'tthey anymore. No, the twisted piece of metal glowing a faint blue was proof of that.

Robin couldn't help it; he broke down. For the first time in years, Richard Grayson, the Robin, cried. Right in front of his friends. His teammates. His family.

At the sound of his sobs, Starfire placed her hand softly on Robin's back, almost drawing back when she felt his violent shivers. Concern clouded her already poignant face, adding more misery to the load.

"F… Fear not Robin," She said softly, weakly, "Cyborg has strength. He could not have commited the act of leaving."

She tried to keep her voice strong, but it ended up sounding like she was trying more to convince herself than her team. Raven had drawn her face into the darkness of her hood, and Beast Boy was shaking as hard as Robin.

The night did nothing to weaken the onslaught of rain, and the team huddled close to each other for warmth and assurance that wasn't there.

At the core of the group sat the evidence of their despair. It wasn't much, but the highly advanced little gadget told of a desolation that was all too real. Cyborg was gone. Taken by the enemy they'd failed to defeat. Gone. Lost. Kidnapped. Dea-

No, there had to be hope. Even if the blood splattered across the ground belonged to their missing brother. Even if that tiny piece of metal had been a vital piece of Cyborg's body. There was no body, nothing to ensure his fate. They'd get him back, no questions, no doubt. It was just a matter of getting through this qualm…

If they could get through this qualm.

If he could get through this qualm.

He had to be strong for them. A team was nothing without their leader.

But, Robin shuddered, a leader is nothing without his team.

A very grave Clockwork entered his time dwelling looking grim. His eyes were immediately drawn to the hovering scene displayed upon the portal. An image of a sleeping Danny sprawled on cold cement, completely oblivious to what would be happening to him in the next few days caused the Master of Time to grimace. The boy, troublemaker that he was, didn't deserve this. No, he didn't deserve it at all.

From the shadows crept an Observent. Though obviously unwelcome, it came to rest beside Clockwork, peering curiously at the sleeping and all-too-human Danny Fenton.

"Clockwork we know little of your intentions. You spare the boy when we ask you to eradicate him, and yet now you wish to send him to his death?"

The Time Master narrowed his eyes in response, appearance still that of an old man.

"There is a chance the boy will not die, though he may wish for death as an escape."

"But why put him through such cruelty? What happens in the other dimensions is not of our business, nor does it concern the Phantom." The Observent retorted, staring incredulously at the old being.

"Ah but you see," Clockwork sighed, "Soon it will."

The Observent frowned. It had been over thousands of years, and his clan still knew next to nothing about the Master of Time. Heck, Clockwork had probably manipulated the clan without being noticed, that was his specialty after all. The boy, Danny Phantom, was just as mysterious as Clockwork himself. Defying the laws of time, defying their judgment, defying nature in becoming a blend of two species not meant to be combined. The boy was bloody uncontainable. He shouldn't exist, much less be alive. Still, as wild as he was, there was no denying how useful Danny Phantom had proved. He kept the balance of good and evil on earth, well, at least his earth. The Observent narrowed his eyes, again watching the sleeping Danny.

"What are you planning, immortal." He hissed at Clockwork, realizing that whatever the Master of Time had done, it would most likely to throw off everything he knew about the time stream.

Clockwork only shook his head regretfully, slowly floating past the Observant and into the shadows.

Well, on that [depressing] note... who wants to donate reviews to this sick, pitiful, needy story? I'll give you cookiesssss *waves cookie around

Anyways, that was the end of the prologue and probably all the inspiration I have for this story. I don't expect it to do the best, but if i do get some reviews, I'm quite sure inspiration will come with them. Like I said, reviewers also get cookies. No, even better, Danny-Phantom-shaped cookies. YES, NOW NONE OF YOU CAN RESIST AHAHAHAHA

(Note to anyone who doesn't know what an Observant is - Remember the two dudes in 'Ultimate Enemy' that were with Clockwork? Y'know, the crazyass one-eyed midget things? Yeah, those were Observants [wiki it] )

(x.O)/) see ya