Hi guys, it been a while. Just wanted to thank you all again for sticking with my book.
Also I felt everything while writing this chapter. I was angry, I cried and I also cheered. Hope my readers will experience the same.
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The vigilante trio didn't dare to leave the cave with Dick being injured. Their sudden departure for their mission was suspicious enough. Three days has passed since his abdominal injury and the oldest son was able to walk on his own again. While staying in the cave also during the day, Bruce and the rest of his family were able to complete all their work and solve some cases.
Jason paid them a visit few times per day to inform them about the situation on the surface, in the manor. Danny hasn't left his room since the accident with the separation and Jason was having problems with getting some food into the boy. The halfa blocked out the outside world, sulking on his own.
"Why the fates hate me so much." Danny shouted and banged his head against his table for the millionth time today.
"You are a ghost, everybody hates ghosts." Dan said, his voice full of silent fury. The human and the ghost side talked together more often now but not in the best way. They mostly talked whether to join the leagues or not. Danny loved his family but he was also fed up with them. Jason told him about their arrival three days ago and why they stayed in the cave for so long. Not to make it suspicious.
"Do you think they will ever trust me enough with their secret?" Danny asked, looking directly at the drawing of Dan he finished few hours ago. He felt little less crazy when he was talking to something visible and tangible, even though it was only a drawing.
"Why would they? They took you in only because of Jason. Without him, I would roam freely now." Dan grunted and then, deafening silence fell upon the two of them.
"They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy
They can say, they can say I've lost my mind"
It first came out as a light humming but it evolved into a song. This song stuck to Danny and he now used it to calm himself down. The soft melody always quieted down his loud thoughts and sometimes even the big bad Dan. He heard Jason walking by his door and then stopping few times, but he didn't care if Jason heard him sing. These days, the halfa found nearly everything pointless and boring.
"I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy
We can live in a world that we design
'Cause every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake
I think of what the world could be
A vision of the one I see
A million dreams is all it's gonna take
A million dreams for the world we're gonna make"
"That was beautiful." A male's voice echoed around his room. Danny slowly moved his gaze from the drawing to the newcomer who could be identified as his stepfather. Bruce was now standing in the doorway, looking at the newest addition to the family.
"What's that?" The man asked when he didn't get a reaction to his compliment from the boy. He couldn't make out what the picture was from his spot because Danny's hands were covering the most of it. The only visible part was something looking like a fire.
"Phantom." Danny deadpanned and moved his hands away.
"Why did you draw him?" Bruce asked slowly, eying the boy for any reaction. He knew that the killing beast killed Danny's parents but nobody would want to see the killer of your family.
"I needed someone to talk to..." Danny trailed off and his father was starting to get worried.
"You could talk to Jason or Alfred, they weren't far away."
"No, I mean talking to him, like accusing him of everything that happened to me." The halfa growled at the picture and then he threw it into the bin. Hours of work were threw away but he simply didn't care.
Bruce stepped closer to the chair and turned Danny to face him. Two pairs of blue eyes were staring at each other, both searching for some type of an answer.
"Danny, I love you as much as I love all of my children. You don't have to keep secrets inside of you, always having someone to lean on is good for you." The halfa huffed in response. He didn't like the talks about secrets, it always made him wonder how different would the world be without secrets.
After a while in silence, Bruce pulled the boy into a small hug. Danny's body got lost in the muscular form of Bruce. He wanted to pry the man off but it wouldn't be nice of him, instead, he suffered through the long minute. No one hugged him in a long time and Danny didn't think about changing it anytime soon. Jason was the only one with the privilege to do so.
"Alfred prepared dinner, will you come?" Bruce asked with expectancy in his eyes. The boy wanted to decline, he wanted to stay away from people but at the same time, he couldn't say no.
"Fine." Danny grumbled and slowly stood up from his spin chair. "But I would like to take a quick shower before." Bruce only nodded and then left Danny's room. The halfa took off his clothes and stepped onto the cold floor of the shower, making him shiver unwillingly. Danny turned on the water, set it to the coldest possible and enjoyed the feeling of water running down his skin. The droplets of water on his face helped him clear his head and made him feel refreshed. The boy dried himself with a white towel and put on some clean clothes.
When he was ready, he gave himself a short glance in the mirror. Since the separation, he kept seeing glances of Dan in the mirrors which made him feel vulnerable. What if someone saw the ghost while standing in front of the mirror with Danny?
'No! You can't think like that!' Danny internally scolded himself for those thoughts. He had enough things to deal with like it was, he didn't need to make another problems.
The halfa slowly made his way through the huge manor into the kitchen. The smell of a delicious dinner could be recognized from miles away. At least the food was something he was looking forward when it wasn't meeting his family.
When Danny stepped inside, the whole scene in front of him was played. he could tell. Jason was forced to play the role of a son interested in his father's work while the boys were talking about their business trip. The newest addition to their family sat further away from them as he did usually. The dinner conversation soon died down and everyone was staring at Danny who was silently eating from his plate.
"How's you week been?" Tim asked sounding genuinely interested. He meant good but his twin seemed to have a bad day, so Danny snapped at him.
"Don't ask." Worried glances were sent towards Jason who just helplessly shrugged his shoulders. He may know Danny's biggest secret but the small ones did matter too.
"May I be excused." Danny asked politely and at the same time rudely. Bruce gave him a forced nod while he watched him leave the room.
"I'll go talk to him." Dick sighed and with a small smile, he stood up.
"I know Danny better than you, it isn't a good time to talk to him now. Trust me." Jason said.
"He's my younger brother, it's my responsibility to know what bothers him." The oldest brother gave everyone a small glare, daring them to stop him from going.
Dick caught up with Danny as he reached the stairs. "Danny, wait!" He called after the smaller boy and he turned around.
"Please, just let me go..." Danny sighed and made a small step upwards. Dick didn't like it and pulled him down the stairs next to him. There was a short glaring contest which Danny lost.
"What do you want." Danny snapped, being truly annoyed. His brothers, especially the biggest one was eating on his nerves for few weeks now.
"I want to talk to you."
"There are 5 more people living in this house. Why don't you talk to them?" The halfa asked sarcastically, emotionally hurting his brother.
"You are right, there are five more people in this enormous house and yet, you didn't talk to anyone." The young adults voice raised a little, which only angered Danny more. "You know, you aren't the only one with problems here."
Dick just crossed the line and he knew it. Everyone in this house shared their secrets but this boy seemed different. 'If he's not going to share willingly, then I'll force it out of him.'
Their loud comments attracted unwanted crowd. Bruce, Alfred and the boys were all standing nearby, watching the fight.
"Danny, this house has one important rule and it is NO secrets." Dick shouted at his angered brother. To his surprise, the young halfa broke into a hysterical laughter and he truly meant it. Danny wiped a tear away, refocusing on his older brother again.
"Dick, you should cut it out." Jason hissed from the corner of the room. He knew better than to anger Danny over this point. Unfortunately, this was near Danny's breaking point and Dick wasn't helping at all, he was just making it worse.
"It's okay Jason, I have it under control. After all, we are just chatting." Danny smiled sweetly at his brother.
"I know it's sometimes hard, but you have to face your demons." The oldest protege of Batman said, his voice soft.
"Is your demon 8 feet tall? No? Then don't tell me what to do!" He shrieked, shocking everyone and it seemed as if the whole house shook.
"Danny Stop it!" Jason ordered from the sidelines but he was ignored.
"Danny, why do you keep secrets from us? We are your family, we are here to help." The angry oldest brother now broke into tears. "Everyone was honest with you, why can't you?!"
"No..." Jason gasped and gave his younger brother a frightened look. He knew very well not to touch the topic of secrets, mainly the ones he secretly knew about.
"Oh, I'm sorry Dick that I'm not sharing my secrets," The halfa started sarcastically, "or should I call you Nightwing?"
The whole room quieted down. Everyone shared a questioning looks. Bruce was about to confess and apologize for keeping the secret but Dick cut him off.
"I'm sorry Danny, but there's no secret. You must have mistaken us for someone else."
"Playing the dumb game again?" Dan asked amused. He felt Danny's increasing anger and he decided to help him release it. "Why don't WE leave now, they apparently don't want us here."
The human side of the duo had to stop to think about those words. It didn't sound crazy, it was honest. Danny also knew that Dan was slightly forcing him the idea of joining the league, but his anger made the argument a priority. He didn't care about his other side right now.
"I KNOW THIS FUCKING GAME, SO STOP IT!" Danny screamed at the top of his lungs. He was so frustrated and angry... "I don't know why I'm ever bothering." He sighed.
"I HATE YOU!"
Everything came to halt as they looked at Danny. He was still kind of himself, except his burning red eyes and green sparks in his hand.
"You are Phantom, the hero who disappeared?" Tim gasped, being the first one to snap out of his trance. Danny looked at his twin dumbfounded but he quickly returned to his angry expression.
"And who cares..." he snapped at Tim even though he did nothing.
"Danny, do you realize the seriousness of this situation? You broke the mutual trust." Bruce scolded, slightly forgetting about Danny's mind state.
"I don't care! I already have someone I can trust, I'll just turn to him." The halfa explained and threw his hands in the air.
"Are you referring to Jason?" Dick asked from far away.
"No..."
"Then who?"
"Dan." Danny's growl made everyone flinch, even the big bat. There was silence, everybody trying to figure out who the heck this Dan guy was. Dan had now the best opportunity to take over, but something stopped him. It wasn't Danny's will, it was something deeper.
"Danny no... I'm here for you." Jason walked closer to his brother and sobbed with hung head.
"I'm sorry Jason, but it's the truth." The smaller boy sobbed. He then looked at his family as if he was a deer in the headlights and sprinted to his room. Jason was left standing in the middle of the room alone. He stood there for a few seconds, just staring at the free space where Danny stood moments ago.
All of sudden, he turned to his family with the hardest glare he could muster. "I told you you should tell him." He growled and stormed upstairs. The vigilante peeked into Danny's room but found no one. He knew Danny needed some space so he didn't search for him, instead he headed for his room.
Meanwhile, Danny could be found at the edge of the rooftop sitting down, watching the night city and silently crying. The small boy really didn't know how to feel. Should he be sad or angry? He went for sad.
The same feeling of a part of your mind drifting away swirled inside of him. A new presence appeared behind him. He didn't have to turn around to look at the newcomer. It was Dan.
"I don't care, just go. Do whatever you want. Kill me..." the boy sobbed into his hands. Few days ago, the ghost wouldn't hesitate when hearing those words. What has changed? Maybe the fact that Danny said that he was the only one he fully trusted.
"Not today." The tall ghost whispered and looked at the city. They stayed like this for few minutes, no one knowing what to do.
Suddenly, the ghost moved towards the edge of the building and sat beside the human. He looked at the sobbing boy and wrapped an arm around him. Dan expected to be rejected, he expected Danny to throw his arm away and scream at him for doing such a thing...
In reality, Danny welcomed the friendly gesture and leaned in. An unknown instinct told Dan to wrap the boy tighter and so he did. The sobs soon died down and they sat there in silence.
"Thank you Dan." Danny whispered into Dan's muscular chest. The ghost looked down at the tiny human and a soft smile crept onto his face.
Danny's breathing soon evened and he fell asleep in the embrace of his older self. Dan couldn't fly them through the wall so he stayed on the roof and laid down. It wasn't cold outside but Danny instinctively curled up closer to the source of heat.
It didn't take long and the ghost was sleeping too. Their minds subconsciously merged back together, leaving only a sleeping Danny near the edge of the roof.
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I made it!!!
I've been thinking about this chapter since the first day of writing this book.
This was the fastest chapter I have ever written and for the first time, I feel like I did a good job.
Hope you enjoyed.
~TheWhiteKnights