Chapter Text
Danny hadn't slept in days, hadn't been able to text or call Connor in days either. He had spent those days trying to figure out what the GIW were doing. He had been shot and electrocuted many times, heard more and worse insults of his being, and had seen the body parts of his subjects. So, his temper was at an all time low.
Honestly, everyone was lucky that he hadn't gone off by himself! Then again, he was trying to get in the habit of relying on his teammates and trust in their abilities. Plus, if he was the one to take them down, they'd likely just spin it as something evil. So, yeah getting the Young Justice involved was a smart choice that his tired brain could do.
"You should rest." Superboy's warm hand tenderly squeezed the halfa's shoulder.
The pair of them drew the short straw of being settled into the back since there was only so much room at the front. Ms. Martian had suggested reshaping the bioship, but his friends were pretty adiment about him staying in the back. Of course that meant at least one more should've been put in the back as well, and Superboy basically volunteered.
Danny glanced at him, his vision swimming ever so. The dark colors merged, blurring into a monster. It corrected itself quick enough.
"No, it won't be good. I can-"
Superboy's mask lifted where his eyebrow was. He clearly didn't believe him. With a heavy sigh, he reached behind him, grabbing a thick blanket from somewhere within the shadows.
"You'll be covered. No one will look." He tapped his mask.
Danny leaned as far away as he could in their shared seat.
"You know?" He couldn't hide the fear in his voice. He thought he had hidden what he was well! Heck, he wasn't entirely sure that Batman knew what he was!
The clone tilted his head in confusion. He was like a giant puppy.
"Uh, no? I figured it'd make you feel safer."
Green eyes scanned over that confused face. He was serious, truthful.
"Why'd you think that?" He mumbled, keeping his distance the best he could.
The Kryptonian tilted his head, a thinking expression appearing on his face.
"Don't know." He finally admitted, shrugging. "You've clearly been keeping yourself awake because of those guys... I guess its so they don't get you."
Danny looked away, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was so exhausted. When, not if but when, they get into a fight... He'd be useless, a hiderance. Sighing softly, he gave in. He leaned against the bigger teen, closing his eyes.
"Wake me when we get there?" He was sure his voice sounded weak like a child's.
"Of course." It was like a comforting drum as the dull light of the room faded into nothing.
It felt like only a few minutes passed before a firm hand shook him awake. He slowly blinked, a bit of power coming back to him. He could at least now function, years of sleeping for a few minute, or hours if he was ever so lucky, had come in hand.
"We 'ere?" He slurred, wiping the back of his mouth. He was so comfortably warm.
"Yeah, we're here... Do you want to sleep more?" Superboy rubbed his back, keeping his hand above the blanket.
"Hmm..." It was such a tempting offer. "Nah... But can I just..." He paused, biting his bottom lip. He wasn't sure how to explain that he needed privacy to change back. He was sure he had felt him shift, felt his usually cold weightlessness shift into a cool human.
"I understand. I'll make sure no one comes down till you're ready."
Two simple sentences. Two simple sentences that lifted an invisible weight. It felt nice not having to beg or explain, just to have a quiet understanding.
They both shifted, the clone gently tugging on the blanket to keep it fully covering the halfa. He walked with heavy steps, making his location known. Danny still waited an extra minute before peaking out like a scared child. He was alone in the bay, the ship having formed a door for extra privacy.
Tenderly, Danny placed a hand on the bioship's wall. He sent a thankful pulse and she pulsed back with what felt like a smile. He pulled his hand away from the wall, letting the connection break. He then took his time folding the blanket, calming his heart as he tried focusing himself just like Frostbite had taught him.He had to just imagine that he was fighting against Vlad. Vlad always got under his skin, but he could handle him, could control his emotions for the most part...
"No, that's the wrong person." He groaned softly.
As much as he could control his temper with Vlad, it was always easier just to try and hurt the fruit loop. Placing the blanket on the seat next to him, he leaned his head back, trying to think of his other friendly rogues that he could try and control his anger with. It wasn't very easy considering ghosts mostly talked with their fists.
He shook his head, finally standing up and stretching. His bones creaked and popped satisfilying back into place. He slumped a little, sighing softly. With a buzz of power, Fenton became Phantom.
He took another deep breath before going to the door, opening it. Standing like a guardian statue was Superboy, who turned his head to look at him when he heard the door open.
The clone offered him a smile.
"Ready?"
"Yeah, sorry for taking so long."
He went to open his mouth, but Kid Flash zipped between the two, groaning like a bored child.
"Yeah, yeah! It's fine, it's whatever! But lets go! Go!" He was bouncing on his feet, looking close to a glowstick with how his lightening curled around him.
"Dude. Plan." Danny reached forward and playfully wacked the back of his head.
The speedster pouted, but he did stop moving. The others soon moved in, Ms. Martian looking toward the halfa with a concerned expression.
"We were told you don't like telepathy?"
Danny felt a shudder run down his spine. It may have been a few years, but he could still feel that violation that left a horrific taste of rotten tomatoes within his mouth. With his whole being actually. It was disgusting. He didn't want to feel that type of violation again.
"Bad experiance." He growled.
Superboy nodded, an understanding expression. Danny wanted to know what happened for him to have the expression, but that felt invasive.
"We won't force you." He gave a hard look to his old teammates, specifically toward KF.
His face scrunched and he made a hard gesture, like he was arguing a point.
"You guys already set it up?" Danny looked toward his friends.
Foxglove shook her head.
"Neither of us joined."
Pharaoh nodded, looking rather confident.
"Like I would be able to focus with this veggie-head's thoughts."
"Veggie-head?" Sam growled, sneering at the meat-lover.
He sneered back, quickly opening his mouth.
"Yeah! All you seem to think about-" His voice echoed within the small room.
"Oh, don't you even start!" She pointed a finger at the nose of his mask, her voice echoing like leaves blowing in a storm.
Danny pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Both of you shut up."
They looked to him, their mouths open to defend themselves, but they quickly stopped.
"We can talk about this later. Also, I thought you guys were stopping this whole aruging over nothing?" He sighed like a disappointed father, whcih shouldn't have worked on his hard-headed friends, but they shifted their weights.
"Sorry." They nodded to the other, huffing a bit.
Danny nodded, proud of them before going back to the team. They were looking at him with wide eyes.
"Is... Is that how you guys operate?" Robin looked confused, perhaps a little conflicted.
"We've been friends since kindergarten, butt they act like they've been enemies for years."
"I think they have been enemies for years." Artimes snickered, giving the Phantom group a smirk.
Foxglove and Pharaoh huffed, but hadn't actually denied her statement... Which only made Phantom shake his head in another bout of disappointment.
Ignoring them for now, he turned his attention back to the green alien. It was nice to meet a living alien, but did he really have to deal with telepathy?
"Only connect to me when you have an emergency."
Ms. Martian nodded slowly, looking unsure.
Kaldur stepped forward, a palcating expression and body on display.
"We need not waste more time. We have to go now." His sharp eyes turned to the halfa, looking for his approval.
"Yeah, no more bickering. Keep comms active but low." His order was mostly for his friends since the other team didn't seem to use comms very often.
With that out of the way, and having wasted too much time, they finally left the bioship. They had landed just a klick from the base, which was good since Danny was sure they had something to see through invisibility.
"KF," he watched through his periferal as said speedster shivered in disgust, "take those guards out. You'll be faster than their cameras."
He hesitated, openly looking to the Atleantian. Seemed he agreed as the other teen did as the ghost suggested.
Danny looked to his best buddy, tilting his head. A feral sort of grin grew underneath that oddly shaped mask.
"KF, can ya get me? I think I can hack into the system."
Robin perked up. "I think I should join."
"You look for a map?" A suggestion that made the feral child grin like a unearthly creature.
"Of course."
The two were gone in a blur, quickly seated by the control panel that both of them somehow were able to plug their devices into. The door opened in a few seconds and then Robin stood up a few seconds after.
"Cameras and all other things are repeating."
The rest of the Young Justice hurried over, carefully creeping down the long hallways. Robin pinged everyone a copy of the building, highlighing different areas per person. Well, everyone except Danny since he didn't have their wrist thing.
"I'll go with Danny." Superboy nodded to Kaldur and Robin.
"Then me and Robs will go to the main control area." Pharaoh wrapped an arm around the younger hero's shoulders. "We can keep them distracted with fake calls at least."
Fox cracked her knuckles, a sinister chortle sounding behind her mask.
"And send them to her." Robin playfully thinned his lips with the expression of regret.
"Then break." Danny was already walking, well floating. He didn't want to waste anymore time.
Something felt... Strange... Then again, he didn't get a lot of sleep and as his sister had repeatedly said, lack of sleep eventually equals worse paranoia.
Please just be paranoia.