Chapter 17: Assessment

The training ring was already glowing by the time the Team returned to the Mission Room.

More people waited by the circle's edge than expected. They clustered together, talking in quiet, sombre voices.

"Uncle J'onn!"

The interlopers stepped apart at M'gann's delighted exclamation, the young Martian flying over to wrap her arms around Manhunter.

A blur of yellow and red followed, Wally nearly beating the telepath across as he skidded to a stop in front of his own mentor.

"What are you doing here?"

Flash scuffed a playful hand through his nephew's fringe. "What, we're not allowed to say hello?" The redhead ducked, pushing the hand away in mock-disgust. His mentor grinned. "Heard you were all getting together. Thought we'd stop by."

Artemis took a more sedate pace, weaving her way around the ring to stand beside the central figure. Green Arrow gave her shoulder a tired squeeze. A few feet away, Black Canary's lips turned down. Even at a distance she could see the weary edge to Ollie's smile, the fading grey shadows hidden beneath the mask. At least now he was averaging more than three hours a night. It had taken a few too many near-misses for the truth to sink in; the sleepless, single-minded search just couldn't be sustained. No matter the duty he felt he owed to Roy - both of them - they weren't going to achieve it running themselves into the ground. None of them wanted to admit it - it felt too much like giving up - but as days had become weeks, then months without sight of leads, priorities had to shift. To prepare for a long haul - make room for other responsibilities again; not just to the League, and Star, but to himself. And to his younger protégé.

Speaking of responsibilities… Zatanna and Conner had come to a halt by Red Tornado. Superboy covertly scanned the group, hopeful eyes darting between them and the Zeta Tubes. His mouth pulled flat, blank resignation smothering the spark of hurt at the absence of a red-caped figure. Canary bit back a sigh. No one could deny Clark had been trying harder since New Years'. Still, it was early days; testing the waters of each other's boundaries, figuring out exactly what their relationship was supposed to be. Not enough time had passed for Conner to feel secure that the change would last. For Superman to not be here when everyone else was…

She reached out to touch the young Kryptonian's sleeve. "He radioed ahead." At least this time there was a reason. Bad news, to be sure, but still infinitely better than no news at all. "There was an air disaster over Metropolis. The situation's contained" - from the corner of her eye, she saw the others relax - "but recovery efforts are going to take a while." His surprise was met with a warm, steady gaze. "Otherwise he would have come."

Conner blinked at her. Then softened, nodding as he turned to look back out at the circle. From her place at Manhunter's side, M'gann sent an encouraging smile.

"Aquaman sends his apologies as well." Tornado shifted to address Kaldur. "Important events required his attention in Poseidonis." The android paused for a moment before adding, "Family matters."

Aqualad's expression was fond. "I understand." His attention passed around the ring, acknowledging the Leaguers with a respectful nod. "I will be sure to pass on any news."

"And our best wishes," interjected the older Martian. "It has been good to receive such positive updates. I hope one day we will be able to see for ourselves." A few heads dipped in enthusiastic agreement.

Kaldur's smile warmed further. "He will be glad to hear that. Thank you."

Two people still remained on the far side of the circle. Robin tugged at the taller's elbow, pulling him lightly before setting a course to Batman. His companion didn't quite follow fast enough to avoid the attention of the League.

Three extra pairs of eyes focused in on the newcomer.

"Oh?" The white-haired teen froze at Manhunter's voice. "Then, this would be…?"

"This is Phantom." Relief flickered across the boy's face as Batman came to the rescue. The Dark Knight answered Arrow's curious glance, "He's being considered for a place on the Team." Understanding dawned on Flash's features as he returned to studying the new addition. "Phantom," the teen blinked at being addressed directly, "this is Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow and the Flash." Batman's gaze moved on, "Red Tornado is the primary overseer for activities at the Mountain." He gestured to Dinah. "Black Canary is in charge of combat training."

The heroine took the silent invitation, keeping her smile as welcoming as possible. "I look forward to working with you."

Phantom fumbled briefly in response, whatever answer he might have had planned swallowed back in favour of an anxious nod to each Leaguer. Canary held down a sympathetic wince. This… complicated things. Despite how it may seem, the privacy around the meeting wasn't just an indulgence of Batman's cryptic tendencies. She and Tornado had already been over Phantom's profile. With just the three of them supervising it would have been simple; a brief overview and some baseline assessments before incorporating the newcomer into a routine training session. The unexpected audience added significantly more pressure to the process. Her eyes darted to Superboy. Unfair as it was to Conner, it was probably for the best that Superman hadn't come.

"Alright kid," Flash brought his hands together, still watching the teen with interest, "what've you got?" This time the grimace was harder to push back; Phantom baulked again, a bolt of panic colouring the look he sent to the Dark Knight. 'Barry…' Honestly. She might have trodden on his foot if she'd been close enough to get away with it.

She let it out in a breath, the group's attention shifting as she took a step forward. Damage control then. "Most Team members join after working directly under a League member." Her voice stayed calm, reassuring. "In your case the situation is a little different, so we'd like to cover a few things first." It wasn't an accident that most League inductees were either public associates or former protégés. Beyond just trust, collaboration was an easy way to gauge more subtle factors; temperament, tactics, cooperativeness, preferred fighting styles. Batman's file gave a solid character reference, plus detailed second-hand reports for just over a year of traditional field-work - and a decidedly less detailed intervening period - but it still left a number of holes to fill.

"Okay." Partial success - the teen relaxed faintly, even if the apprehensive look didn't entirely vanish. His expression turned vaguely expectant. "Um, so…?"

Red Tornado moved forward as well. "Our file contained limited information on the specifics of your abilities." Not a completely accurate statement; the report provided a surprisingly long list of powers. Hearing Phantom describe them, on the other hand, would give a better idea of his approach. "We were hoping you could elaborate."

Another nod, this time more slowly. "Alright." His eyes moved carefully around the gathering, trying to gauge how much each of them knew. They lingered in places, jumping from Robin to Batman and across a few of the Team before returning to her and Tornado. "So," a second flicker around the group, "I guess the best place to start would be… I'm a ghost."

Judging by the reactions, this wasn't news.

To all but three, anyway.

"Wait, kid," Flash asked haltingly, "do you mean…?"

A small, uncomfortable dip of the head. "Yeah. That kind." The ghost in question shrugged, not quite managing to make it seem offhand. "Except, you know, less of the rattle-your-chains, vengeful wailing bit." He chanced a paper-thin smile to the Leaguer. "Have seen one in a bedsheet though."

The joke landed in silence, Robin offering a single, weak snort as the older speedster stilled. Manhunter's brows were up, red eyes wide and pensive beneath them. A ripple passed down Ollie's throat, something uneasy creeping through the back of his expression. Dinah saw him close his teeth around the realisation of a possibility; one just slightly better than the worst-case scenario that had hung over his search from the beginning. A question that Phantom might be able to answer.

And that she hoped they never felt the need to ask.

The same thought had occurred to her when they'd first gone over the spirit's file. For a moment Canary lamented their oversight in not briefing the rest of the mentors on the details. All of them were at least aware that a recruit was being considered, even if there'd been good reason not to spread the information to the League at large. Granted, they hadn't informed the Team either, but that was because Phantom and Robin had asked to handle it themselves. Her eyes darted to the younger attendees. Going by the lack of response it seemed they'd done exactly that.

Well, the lack of response from all but one. Wally's disbelieving cough was probably meant to be quiet.

A good deal of shyness faded from Phantom's face as he turned to the younger speedster. "Would it help if I got you a journal paper later?" She'd almost appreciate the diversion, if she couldn't hear the seeds of a long-running argument in his tone.

"From where, The Mysterious Times?" That probably wasn't meant to be audible either.

"You know there's an actual field dedicated to this right?" And apparently the argument was already ongoing. Wonderful. In hindsight, Dinah supposed she shouldn't be surprised - supernatural concepts had never played well with Kid Flash's comfort zones.

"Riiight." Wally's tone didn't seem to be playing nice either. "My bad. Guess I missed Nature's 'parabiology' run. Hey, so," his eyebrow crept up, question practically dripping with derision, "what was the peer reviewing like? 'Cause last I heard, the leading 'experts' were a couple of yeti-hunters writing out of a basement." Robin jolted at Batman's side, hands flying in a sudden, urgent motion. It went ignored as the redhead shrugged. "Kinda hard to be unbiased when you're shilling 'spirit catchers' on the side, you know?"

Phantom didn't dignify that with a response.

Or, at least, not verbally. His jaw was clenched tight, expression frozen in frigid, livid disbelief. The corner of his lip began to curl. Green eyes narrowed in contempt, something dangerous glinting in their depths as they bored into the speedster.

An uncomfortable chill spread around the room.

Dinah sent a concerned glance to her fellow onlookers. 'Odd thing to be touchy about.' In her experience, nonhuman-researcher relations tended to be… strained at best. Wally had by no means been polite about it, but to provoke such an intense reaction… 'What am I missing?' The tense silence offered few answers. A pained grimace was visible beneath the hand covering most of Robin's face. Barry, J'onn and Ollie were no help; expressions equal parts alarmed and confused. What little she could see of Batman's simply looked profoundly tired.

The Team, meanwhile, was less affected. Some concern - largely from M'gann - but for the most part reactions ranged from unimpressed boredom to resigned exasperation. The corner of Artemis' mouth curved sardonically. They'd… expected this, it seemed. Then again - she remembered Tornado's report from the Tower of Fate - it wasn't the first time they'd dealt with this mindset from Wally.

Who, judging by the self-satisfied tinge to his smile, appeared to have taken the ghost's silence as an admission that he'd gotten the last word.

"Alright." Thankfully, Flash stepped in before Phantom could amend that. His eyes moved carefully between them as he caught his nephew's shoulder. "Enough, you two." A quick apologetic grin was sent in Canary's direction. It turned jovial as he tugged Wally back. "Finish this up some other time. We've got a meeting to get through."

The strained atmosphere deflated like a balloon, cold dissipating as the ghost blinked at him, anger falling away into embarrassment as though suddenly remembering where they were. A sheepish cough sounded, ears tinting green as he scrubbed the back of his neck. After a moment Kid Flash relented too, letting his mentor draw him away with only a hint of smugness.

Dinah spared Barry a grateful nod, eyes closing briefly before calling attention back to herself with a brisk clap. "Leaving the... implications aside for the moment, could you talk us through your powers?" Hopefully this was just a case of bad first impressions. Wally and Zatanna worked together just fine, after all, despite his initial stance on magic. Until then… She made a mental note not to pair them together. Rivalry was one thing, but she'd prefer not to have training matches side-tracked into a way of settling petty disputes.

Phantom took a second to collect himself. "Right," the embarrassed look hadn't quite faded, "so-" he stopped, studying their group carefully. "None of you have really met a ghost before, have you?"

A small frown flickered across Artemis' face before Kaldur answered.

"Outside of the ones in Portland?" The Atlantean shook his head. "No."

The spectre's mouth pulled into a thoughtful line. "Okay," he rubbed the back of his neck again, brows drawing together, "first thing then: ghosts aren't really a species the same way humans," his eyes flicked to M'gann and J'onn, "or Martians, I guess, are. They can be pretty different, and I'm, uh, more different than most in… a couple of ways." He cleared his throat, moving swiftly on. "There are common patterns, and ways to work out what you're dealing with but…"

'But don't look at me and assume everyone else will play by the same rules.' Dinah nodded. The file had made some mention of that. "We appreciate the warning." She gestured for him to continue. "Then…"

"So, to start with, every ghost can fly and turn intangible - pass through solid objects," he clarified. "Most can go invisible too, though they don't tend to do that as often."

Behind her, J'onn made a small noise.

The explanation petered out. "Are..." Phantom's gaze was cautious as it landed on the Martian. "Is there something…?"

Manhunter raised a placating hand. "Apologies. It is just… similar abilities are common among my kind. I would be curious…" Red eyes studied the ghost speculatively. He took a half-step forward, "If I may?"

There was no small amount of wariness to the answering nod. "Uh, sure."

Green eyes tracked the Martian's path across the circle, darting down briefly to sweep from feet to shoulder as he drew near. The spirit shifted back a little, tensing at the proximity of the older hero. Manhunter regarded him patiently. A green-skinned hand was extended into the space between. 'Oh.' Canary's interest sharpened as she realised exactly what J'onn was hoping to try. The same comprehension dawned on Phantom's face a second later. His own lifted to mirror it.

As they watched, Manhunter's hand changed, blurring to the signature indistinctness of a density shift. He moved it to the left, passing through the teen's still-solid palm. Phantom's fingers twitched at the sensation. The ghost flexed his hand for a moment. Then it shifted as well, fading to a different kind of translucency; clearer but less substantial. He inched it back toward the Martian's, hesitating before closing the distance. They passed through unimpeded. One of J'onn's eyebrows lifted. It made sense, Black Canary reasoned; based on his past explanations, density shifts moved between the gaps in other solids. Intangibility, meanwhile, seemed to ignore solids altogether.

Manhunter passed the hand back and forward a few more times - testing different densities, no doubt - before resolidifying it with a thoughtful hum. Phantom followed suit, moving his hand through the Leaguer's a final time before returning to tangibility.

"Interesting." The Martian changed focus, tilting his palm towards the spirit - Phantom moving quickly to copy. This time colours and textures shifted, swirling to a near-exact match of the training ring's. It spread to the rest of his body, leaving only a mirage-like distortion behind - an effect only slightly ruined by the holographic light striking them from below. Phantom peered up at him, head tilting in a faint, confused squint.

"Camouflage." J'onn didn't wait for the question to be asked aloud. "An extension of our shapeshifting. You could say it is more a… 'blending in' than true invisibility."

The ghost blinked, disconcerted. "Right." The frown returned, eyes moving from Manhunter's hand to his own, "That… Ours isn't like that." His fingers began to disappear, fading past the Martian's to vanish entirely, spreading down his arm like oil wiped from glass. If they hadn't seen it happen it would be easy to believe J'onn was standing alone in an empty ring. No evidence remained to suggest the ghost was there.

Or that he was still there.

The back of Dinah's neck prickled. With flight to mask footsteps and intangibility rendering them undetectable by touch… Nonthreatening as Phantom generally appeared, she was starting to understand why his kind had developed such an unsettling reputation. The idea that a ghost could be present at any time - eavesdropping, spying, interfering - without any of them being the wiser was… disquieting to say the least.

Then again, those exact same abilities were almost tailor-made for the Team.

With a cough, Phantom popped back into view. He'd used the cover to retreat a step, she noted with a touch of amusement.

"So," Flash rolled his weight to the other foot, unable to keep the unease completely out of his question, "is there any way to tell when one of you is… doing that?" Wally sent his mentor a vaguely sour look.

Manhunter faded back into visibility as the spectre turned to answer.

"There are, yeah. I can sense other ghosts… usually," he rubbed a thumb against his collar, "but the easiest way is with detector-tech'. Our powers can't exactly hide our ecto-signatures."

A few eyes turned to Batman.

"We're currently refining sensor schematics for League use." Subtle relief loosened the stances of the mentors.

Another difference struck Canary as J'onn moved to leave the ring. "Your powers are also transferable, aren't they?"

"Yes, but I have to be touching…"

The Martian stopped, proffering his palm again. An invitation. Phantom hesitated before reaching to press tentative fingers against the green skin. This time when his hand vanished it took Manhunter's with it.

J'onn peered curiously at the space. "How far can that be extended?"

His arm reappeared as the ghost pulled away. "Pretty far, I think? I can cover a few people at a time. Vehicles too. It kind of depends."

Manhunter flexed the hand experimentally. "Impressive."

"Um," Phantom rubbed his neck, a tiny, bashful smile claiming his face as J'onn returned to the sideline, "thanks." M'gann smiled back over her uncle's shoulder.

Dinah inclined her head towards the hero. "That answers some of our questions." Even if they had gone a little off-topic in the process. A querying eyebrow was directed Manhunter's way. "Was there anything else…?"

"No. That… was all." There was a definite sense of 'for now' to his words. No doubt they'd be asked to hold a second briefing later.

"Alright." Her attention returned to the newcomer. "In that case, would you mind running us through the rest of your abilities?"

The spirit's head bobbed in a short nod. "Okay. So, intangibility, invisibility and flight are the most common powers. After that is ecto-energy." He seemed to weigh something, flicking an indecipherable glance to Batman before raising his palm. Neon green light crackled, fire-like, across his fingers. He closed his hand around it. "For me it's mostly rays, blasts, shields, some redirecting… stuff like that. Other ghosts can do more." A faint shrug. "Not usually something you'll see from less complex ones though - most animal-types can barely manage an ecto-blast unless they're really strong."

A pause followed as he looked to them for cues.

"Right." The ghost rubbed his neck again, pushing forward. "Next is…" he trailed off, dragging white-gloved fingers through his fringe with apprehension. A short breath was released. "We call it 'overshadowing'. It's…" he winced, shrinking back, "it's basically possession."

This time the unease was harder to hide. Clearly Phantom noticed, because he rushed to add, "It's not perfect. Sometimes the host will kick the ghost out themselves, and there's tech' that can keep us from touching you at all. Plus we can't overshadow each other - we think part of it's our powers, so some of you might be…" his eyes made a nervous circuit. "And anyway," hands fluttered in a vaguely panicked attempt at reassurance, "it's not something that happens often. Overshadowing limits the other powers we can use so most won't if there's another option. So," the hands dropped back to fidget at his sides, "uh, you know…" With a shrug he retreated, falling into tense silence.

There was at least some comfort there, Canary thought. Not so much in the limitations themselves - very few restrictions couldn't be worked around by someone clever or determined enough, although preventative tech' did offer a little solace - but in Phantom's own awareness. A power like that was rife with potential for abuse. So easy. So tempting. They'd all brought in a few who'd ended up on the wrong side simply by not realising the implications of their abilities; too caught up in the thrill of what they could do to think about what it might mean. Even the Team weren't completely immune. And with so much firepower on hand… at least 'responsible power use' was a lesson he'd started learning himself.

"If someone was…" Ollie's eyes were definitely on Artemis as the older archer found his voice. "Would there be any way to tell?"

"Yes," the answer came quick and tight. "Detector-tech' will still work - might not be as clear when they're in something but there's still a ghost there for sensors to pick up. And there are physical tells too." He motioned towards his face. "Eyes are a big one. They can hide it sometimes, but you might see them change colour - especially when they're using their other powers. And even if they're trying to blend in they still have to pretend to be the host, so unless they actually planned and studied them they'll probably seem… off. You know: acting weird, talking weird or old-timey or with, like, an accent, not knowing things they should, stuff like that. It's not exactly a lot, but…" he grimaced apologetically.

Manhunter raised an eyebrow. "Then it only affects the body? Not the mind?"

The ghost frowned, thinking, then nodded. "From what I've seen and the times I've-" he cleared his throat, opting not to finish that sentence. To be honest, Dinah wasn't all that keen on pursuing it either. "We don't get access to the person's head. It's more like they get knocked out or fall asleep while the ghost puppets their body around. Most of the people I've talked to don't even remember what happened, afterwards." From a security standpoint, that much was a relief. Difficult as it might be to distinguish from other forms of control, it at least offered less risk of compromising sensitive information.

Green Arrow finally pulled his gaze away from his protégé. "How long could you keep someone like that?" She might ask Batman to put Ollie at the top of the sensor-tech' distribution list, if only for his peace of mind.

"Not really sure." His nose wrinkled. "Like I said, it isn't exactly popular. Longest I've seen is… maybe a week, tops? And even then, I know they weren't in the host one hundred percent of the time."

"What about Portland?" This time Artemis herself spoke up. "They were doing it for at least two weeks before we came in, right?"

Phantom made a face. "Yeah, but… that wasn't overshadowing. You know what I was saying, about ghosts being different?" he added at the younger archer's confused frown. "It's kinda that. Spectra can make herself look human when she's juiced up enough, and Betrand's basically just a shapeshifter."

J'onn blinked. "Is that common?"

"Shapeshifting?" The spirit shook his head. "No. Including him I've only seen two. Some others' might change a bit to match their mood but it's one of those powers that you've sort of got to take on a ghost-by-ghost basis."

Canary saw an opportunity to steer the conversation back to more comfortable waters. "And what about yourself?" The ghost startled, sending her a look of vague alarm. "Are any of your abilities unique to you?"

"Oh," Phantom's shoulders loosened. "Um, well… I guess we've covered all the really common ones. For me…" His mouth twisted thoughtfully. "There's ice, but that's not just my thing - frost-cores are pretty rare but there's still a whole colony of ghosts with them. Plus some smaller stuff - like duplication, which," he coughed, ears tinting green, "I'm, uh, working on. A few other ghosts can do that too. When it comes to me specifically there's… I guess there's the Ghostly Wail." His head tilted towards Dinah. "It's sort of like what you can do, I suppose. Except really destructive and really draining - once I use it I'm basically out, so it's kinda a last resort-type deal." The heroine nodded, mentally running through possibilities. Her biggest early struggle with the Cry had been accidental activation. Then later, focusing and extending how long it could be sustained. If Phantom's main issue was limiting his output… it wasn't impossible but it made a more difficult problem to train around. Then again, it would hardly be a travesty if he left one ability less developed in favour of the others. "I think that's everything," he finished as the quiet turned expectant.

Flash and Arrow exchanged a look.

"Let me get this straight: you can walk through walls, disappear, fly, take over peoples' bodies, plus the energy thing, ice and this Wail?" The speedster's eyebrows jumped beneath the mask. "Kid, that's… a lot."

The teen shuffled. "I, uh…" He rubbed at his ear, glancing bashfully away, "Other ghosts are the same but - I mean, yeah, I suppose…" Which was either extremely modest, or… according to the report, most of Phantom's field experience has been against other spirits. She wondered if he even realised just how much of an outlier that level of power was in more standard situations.

"So," Ollie's voice took on the joking tone he got when he was really trying not to sound bothered, "are there many of you around?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'around'. There's an entire Ghost Zone" - Wally made a disgusted sound and was promptly ignored - "but getting back and forward is rare and complicated, so you won't see them on this side very much." In hindsight it wasn't particularly surprising. Considering their dangerous potential, ghosts would be high on several priority lists if they'd ever crossed over at detectable levels.

Dinah's eyes moved around the gathering, inviting further questions. "Flash is right." None. Okay. "That's a substantial number of abilities." She could already see places to fit a few into their existing exercises. "However," right now there were more pressing matters, "there can be times when your opponent will be able to counter them - or you might not be able to use them without drawing unwanted attention to yourself. In which case you'll need another option." She appraised the ghost. "How's your hand-to-hand?"

A faint grimace and a glance to the Dark Knight. "I'm working on it."

"Show me." The heroine shrugged off her jacket, offering it to Green Arrow. Arguably this was the more important part of the evaluation. While they had eventually brought in some power-specific training for the cave-based members, combat practice and groupwork had always underpinned the Team's main sessions.

She turned a critical eye to the newcomer as she stepped into ring. 'Let's see what we've got to work with.' As raw material he seemed decent. Physically in good shape; taller and broader in the chest than Robin, not as stocky as Wally. Hard muscled. A little on the skinny side, though it could just be natural wiriness. Going by span of his hands and shoulders that would probably change as he got older. 'If he gets older…' She made a note to ask Batman about ghost physiology as soon as possible. As for temperament… Green eyes were wary again, tension stiffening the line of his shoulders. Alert, shrinking, but not overly defensive. Timid perhaps - he'd definitely spooked a little when J'onn got close. Or maybe just stage-fright. He hadn't shied away from showing teeth at Wally earlier. She could work with that; a touch of steel went a long way on the job, and anger could be a useful tool when focussed properly.

The eyes locked onto her as she came closer, flitting down to sweep her feet, waist, hands, shoulders. He shifted, stance widening subtly as he moved his weight forward. He'd done the same thing to Manhunter before. 'Interesting.'

She smiled, resting her hands on her hips. "What's your assessment?"

"What?" The ghost's voice cracked, ears tinting darker as he fumbled. A throaty chuckle drifted over from Ollie and Barry's position.

Her smile quirked dryly. 'Boys.' "You evaluate your opponents," she clarified. "So…?"

"Oh. Right," he blinked, eyes returning to her with deliberate focus. Apparently not a conscious behaviour, then. 'Bruce, where do you find these kids?' "Um," a frown. "I don't…" he met her gaze with an apologetic motion. "All I know is I wouldn't be rushing to fight you if I could avoid it."

Well, at least he knew to pick his battles. "I'm flattered. Now," she settled into a sparring stance. "Show me."

Phantom copied, falling into a standard ready position. Then paused, nose wrinkling as he readjusted his footing. Canary gave him a moment before starting, closing the remaining distance with a straight punch. Nothing too challenging - yet - just a test of fundamentals. The answering block was precise, though the retaliatory punch came out slower than expected. She caught it on her wrist, sending a side-kick into the opening. Another precise block - the force pushed him back a little, staggering slightly before he pulled back into the stance. 'He's holding himself too stiff.' The next jab was met with the same; overly precise block, slight hesitation on the return strike. With a sigh she wove into the punch, catching his overextended arm, taking advantage of the slow response to throw him unceremoniously to the floor.

A few snickers were muffled by his Teammates.

"Relax." She offered a hand as he pushed himself from the ring. "I need to see how you fight, not how well you hold your forms." Phantom gave a chagrined smile, floating the rest of the way upright. She reassumed her position. "Try again."

He nodded, dropping into a looser, wider stance. More like a street fighter's, though the martial root didn't vanish entirely - almost as if he'd received basic instruction at some point before the rest. This time she opened with a jab, followed by a quick left-hook. A broader block knocked the first away, Phantom dodging around the second to aim a strike at her exposed shoulder. 'Better.' She dropped under it into a sweep, the ghost's jump taking him high as he sprang out of the way. She pivoted, flowing from the crouch into a kick. The odd angle didn't faze him as much as expected - he caught it with a forearm, hopping back to absorb the impact. 'Not capitalising on openings.' She stepped to his side, intentionally dropping her guard. The bait was taken, a compact jab snapping out at the opening, keeping his left shoulder closed. She threw a feint at his right, changing targets to strike the offending area. It nearly caught him; a clumsy, last-second block taking the blow but throwing him off balance, distracting the ghost long enough for the next sweep to send him back to the ground.

Embarrassed eyes blinked up at her from the floor.

"That was better," Canary helped the teen to his feet. "But you shouldn't just wait for your opponent's lead." His ears were still faintly green. She stepped back. "One more."

A hint of reluctance touched Phantom's stance as he readied himself for the third time. Not that Dinah could blame him; hard to keep enthused about repeated defeat in front of an audience. She fell into position and waited, the ghost's brow furrowing as the pause stretched between them. The heroine raised an expectant eyebrow. 'Your turn.' He hesitated, shoulders telegraphing the opening kick before it arrived. Her arm was already posed to catch it, foot sweeping out at his supporting leg. He seemed to expect that; a twist turned the fall into a recovery roll, a high handspring widening the gap between them. She pursued, flowing into a pattern of strikes and kicks. For someone with so much raw power Phantom was a surprisingly defensive fighter; blocking in wide motions or weaving away, only offering one or two strong returns before retreating back to the middle distance. Canary skipped to the side, targeting his closed left with a similar feint. It glanced off his shoulder, knee aiming for the meat of her thigh as he attempted to pivot around her. 'Fast learner.' She almost caught him in a shoulder throw when he overreached the follow-up punch - his weight jarred against her grip as he wrenched the arm free. 'Avoids grappling where possible.' An attempt to step past and strike at his own back was shrugged away, the ghost ducking to snap a foot towards her ankle. The height difference played in her favour; longer legs placing her slightly too far out for it to connect with full power. 'Leverage that.' She reached, attempting to grab him in a pinning hold. He flung himself to the side, jump putting force into height as well as distance as he came out of the roll. White-gloved hands lifted in a small, odd motion before he caught himself, moving forward to re-engage. Now that she thought of it, he'd done the same thing a few other times too.

"Alright. That's enough for now," the heroine raised her own hands, stepping back as she called the match to a close. Phantom froze, eyeing her worriedly. "You did fine." He loosened faintly at the reassurance, straightening back to a standing position. "Room for improvement, of course. But from what I saw you're already at a decent level." She flicked a small glance and gesture of acknowledgement to the Dark Knight. As for the rest; "It would help if you could clarify a few things for me."

A quick nod. "Okay."

"Most of your experience has been with opponents larger than you?" A given considering the average age of the Team. Still, Phantom's movement suggested a greater size difference than just adolescent-adult.

Another nod. "There are a couple my size, but yeah, mostly." His lips pursed. "A lot of them weren't exactly human either."

"I assume that's why you avoid close quarters?" It made sense if he was effectively handling large animals. Too close without specialised training was a recipe for getting mauled. 'Explains the broadness as well.' Moves like that cost endurance in a prolonged fight but precise forms and anatomic knowledge were hardly priorities when dealing with non-humanoids.

"That's…" The ghost's brow furrowed, "That's part of it, I guess. Normally, though… if it got as far as actual fighting, I'd be using my powers. Easier to get a clear shot when there's space."

"If it got as far as actual fighting?"

"Well - you know," he shrugged, rubbing his neck self-consciously, "invisibility, intangibility… overshadowing. Sometimes it's better to just get past or get it over with quickly."

"I see." Canary bit the inside of her cheek. 'Conflict control.' She'd misread the point of his approach. Not entirely surprising - even among the League, a power combination like Phantom's was rare; Manhunter had the capacity for espionage but little by way of direct offense, Superman and Captain Atom the firepower without the stealth. Combine the two and… 'Less reactive than I thought.' Chance partnership or not, Batman and Robin's own techniques made them an unexpectedly decent match as sponsors. The trick now, she supposed, would be finding ways to improve his short-range skills that didn't hamper the use of those powers.

And speaking of powers; "Most of your combat is aerial, isn't it?" Outside of fighting on very uneven or unstable group, there was no reason for jumps to put so much force into height. In straight combat that kind of move would be nothing more than a liability. But with flight a universal ability among his kind…

"Against other ghosts, yeah."

The heroine nodded, casting her eyes around the group. It wasn't strictly necessary, but-

"M'gann?"

Miss Martian startled. "Yes, Black Canary?"

She beckoned. "Could you come here, please?"

"Uh - sure. Of course." The telepath's forehead creased as she complied, darting over to join them in the circle. Phantom's eyebrows crept upwards.

Dinah looked between the confused faces. "I'd be interested to see how you fight when off the ground." She could have asked J'onn - in fact, Manhunter would probably have provided more control - but, considering his earlier reaction, she doubted it would have been good for Phantom's nerves. Or his performance. Besides, this was a good opportunity to test M'gann too. "If you're both comfortable with that?"

A small glance was shared. Then two murmurs of assent.

"Alright." She raised a hand, typing into the holo-interface that Red Tornado helpfully opened. The colour of the light shifted as a score box appeared beside each teen. "Standard sparring rules, only aerial. No powers except flight, no going beyond the ring, points awarded for clean hits and pins, points deducted for unsafe strikes - and, in this case, also for touching the ground. First to five takes the match. Okay?" Identical nods. The heroine stepped back, "Then let's begin."

The pair pulled apart as they rose into the air, feet stopping to hover around Canary's eyeline. It was interesting, she observed, to see the difference even before they started. For all he might be anxious about their audience, Phantom held himself with a lot more familiarity once off the ground. M'gann, meanwhile, seemed less certain.

A pause stretched. Both hung in place, sizing each other up cautiously, neither willing to initiate the attack. On the sidelines, Robin cleared his throat with pointed amusement. Dinah thought she saw Phantom give a silent sigh, green eyes flashing the Martian an apologetic look. Then he surged forward.

M'gann's arm came up to deflect the strike - Canary recognised the block from a previous lesson - curling and flying backwards out of the way. The ghost followed, heading higher to bear down from above. She caught on quickly, darting out from under him to avoid being forced to the floor. Not quite quickly enough to escape, though - the counter ticked over as Phantom twisted to land a clean tag on her shoulder blade before she made it clear. If it had been visible at the start, the difference became more obvious as he pursued; Phantom was already beginning to assert control over the match. A second strike was scored - this time a kick to the side of her hip - before M'gann settled into the situation, sending a retaliatory punch into his upper leg as it withdrew. He twitched but didn't stagger. One of the difficulties of aerial combat - fewer effective target points. Miss Martian pressed forward anyway, trying to take advantage of the slight hitch. The ghost rose to avoid it, flipping overhead to get behind her again, legs blurring as her pivot forced him to continue the dive down-

"Phantom."

Both combatants came to a stop.

Black Canary raised her eyebrows, looking pointedly at the smoke-like trail smearing below his belt. "Physical and flight only."

The spirit froze as he followed her gaze, face collapsing into an embarrassed grimace. "Oh h-" he bit his tongue, vapour solidifying back into legs and boots. "I wasn't…" his nose wrinkled, ears burning green, "it just happens if I'm not thinking about it. Sorry."

M'gann studied the change with interest. "I didn't know you could shapeshift too."

"I can't, really." Phantom drifted upwards, rising back to a more neutral position. "That's about as far as it goes."

A gentle cough pulled their attention back to their combat trainer. "So long as it doesn't happen again." Mistakes happened; it didn't sit right to punish the ghost for a minor slip in control. Not on the first pass, anyway. "I'll have to take points for future use. Alright?"

More nods.

With a hand-wave she motioned them to continue.

Miss Martian opened the second, throwing the full force of her flight behind the punch. A shudder ran up Phantom's shoulders as his forearms took the impact, dropping like a stone before twisting neatly, arching towards her back. She spun to keep track; fast enough to startle him, it seemed - a blue-gloved fist finding its mark in the opening left as his strike faltered. '2:2'. He jolted, jack-knifing his body to the side to disengage, rising further in attempt to retake the high ground. M'gann gave chase to avoid being pinned.

A series of aerial manoeuvres followed. Of the two Phantom was the more acrobatic flyer - a third point scored as he feinted to the left, rolling over to tag her exposed shoulder as she moved to block. Whether that was down to experience, or a difference in how their flight worked, Canary wasn't sure. He followed it up with a fourth strike, jinking over her shoulder in a repeat of the earlier dive, connecting a light, clean punch to her lower ribs on the way past. Miss Martian was getting wise to it, however - the heel of her boot drove down into the ghost's stomach as he passed below. A quiet grunt escaped. She pushed forward, trying to keep the upper ground, using her slight height advantage to keep him from closing. A near miss - Phantom rolled in mid-air, her strike skimming off his upper arm. It left her upper chest exposed. 'He could have taken that.' Some deft flying brought him back to level, though M'gann managed to hold the terms; positioning herself so that he was forced to meet her head on. 'Smart.' For a split-second he hesitated. His next kick came out broad, slow. 'He's telegraphing.' Dinah frowned, watching M'gann knock it away with relative ease. Phantom pushed aside the answering knee, flicking a light tag towards her open stomach. Another easy deflection. 'Is he…?'

A third exchange and the ghost changed tactics, pulling just far enough back to be out of reach. Miss Martian darted forward to reengage, snapping out a flat-handed strike. It barely grazed him, fingers slipping past as he moved away. She paused for a moment, suspicious, before launching into a kick. Again he retreated. Her eyes narrowed, mouth thinning as she stretched into a punch. Phantom moved. White-gloved fingers caught and restrained the fist, the ghost flipping overhead to tap his own firmly between her shoulder blades.

The end-match alert sounded.

They separated, dropping back to the ground with good grace.

Phantom brushed a rueful hand over his stomach. "Nice kick." She gave a tiny shrug, trying not to look too pleased with herself.

Their focus moved back to Black Canary.

"You both did well." She'd have to consult with J'onn about the quality of the flying itself, but even without it the match had revealed several new pieces of both their strategies. "However…" Including some unfortunate ones. She turned to the ghost. "Pulling punches for safety is fine but you don't help yourself or your partner by holding back." She hadn't missed his reluctance to strike at the Martian's front. Whether from courtesy, anxiety, or a misplaced attempt at chivalry, it was a bad habit to ingrain through practice.

Chagrin creased the spirit's face as M'gann's smile fell slightly awry.

"I-" he winced, "I wasn't…" Fingers scraped pleadingly at the back of his neck. "It's just… You, uh-" with a pained breath he trailed off, hand making an inarticulate motion. "Sorry."

"Deliberate or not, it's not a good idea to go soft on an opponent. Especially when you don't know what they're capable of." Dinah spared the Martian a consoling smile, "You did well to work with it. Ego aside, there's no shame in taking an advantage if someone hands it to you." She saw Phantom mouth a second apology as the telepath relaxed, mollified. 'Back to business.' "I'm starting to understand your blocking style. How do you usually keep track of enemies in the air?"

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, a speedster had other priorities.

Wally gritted his teeth, barely listening as Black Canary talked the pair through manoeuvring. Okay, he got it - bad form to call the new guy a liar on day one. But seriously? Everyone was just going to go with it. No questioning anything at all?

Fine.

It hadn't been a hard bout, but it was enough to have M'gann's breathing up slightly. Exactly the chance to find what he was looking for.

He reached for his goggles - ignoring the questioning look Uncle Barry sent his way. As he tugged them down a small voice in his head pointed out that it was probably pointless - no way the Batman would've cleared this without running tests. He pushed that aside too, flicking an irate glance at the Boy Wonder. All eyes on new-kid, just like everybody else. Well whatever. If Dick wasn't going to spill then he'd just have to get the evidence for himself.

With a button press he switched over to thermals, room swirling into an array of blues and reds. Most of the group were standard yellow, hot scarlet cores fading out to the appendages, varying slightly with the suits. Little warmer for Conner, little cooler for M'gann, Manhunter and Kaldur. 'Okay, so, normal.' Two major exceptions. Tornado; metal skin room-temperature blue, slivers of green peeking through the joints from his inner workings. 'Typical android.' And… Phantom. Deep, dark blue at the centre of the chest, extremities only slightly greener than the rest of the room. 'Kryokinetic, right.' No big deal - he'd probably get the same result throwing the filter on Icicle or Frost. Didn't prove anything.

Besides… He thumbed the edge of his goggles - earning another glance from Flash - to sharpen the focus. Dude was breathing; he could see the movement in his shoulders, the rise and fall of the chest. Slower than average, sure, but that wasn't impossible - even without powers, the right conditioning could produce some serious efficiency. Same thing with heart-

Wait.

He changed targets, focussing in on Robin's collar. Then on Artemis. Then on Canary. For all of them there was a pattern; a faint rhythmic fluctuation at the cores, tiny waves of red flaring outwards on a regular beat. Phantom's, meanwhile, stayed uniform, a steady gradient from blue to green, shifting only when he moved. 'That's…' No. No way. Any large-scale organism needed a functioning circulatory system to survive. And he was breathing. It'd picked up after sparring - had to be respiration, right? Newbie needed oxygen. But without something to carry it… He flipped over to M'gann, Conner, Kaldur. Slightly different heat-signatures, slightly different fluctuations. All pulsing. Back to Phantom. Nothing. 'That's not possible.' No animalian physiology would work. It couldn't - it shouldn't-

Kid Flash had gone grey.

Heads began to turn around the circle, central conversation petering out as the older speedster reached for his nephew's shoulder.

Wally pushed his goggles slowly back up - eyes too wide, unnerved - watching Phantom like someone who'd just uncovered a corpse.

For a moment irritation flickered at the back of the ghost's expression. Then faded, genuine concern filtering in as seconds dragged on without response.

"Hey," he took a cautious step forward, question coinciding with a quiet 'Kid?' from Flash, "you okay?"

Wally tensed, still eyeing Phantom as though expecting him to lash out and bite. His throat bobbed, mouth opening and closing wordlessly. An unintelligible mutter made its way free. Across the ring Conner jolted, turning to stare at the newcomer with wide eyes of his own.

The teen's brow furrowed. "Didn't quite catch that, sorry," he moved again - Kid Flash backed away further, green gaze still a little wild. "You okay?"

"Your heart's not beating!" It burst out as a panicked-tinged shout.

Everyone froze.

Phantom winced, posture collapsing into the grimace as shock echoed around the ring. The others began to stir, glances and aborted murmurs building up, attention swirling to concentrate on the spirit. White-gloved fingers were raised to his face, covering his eyes as he thumbed at his temples. The hand moved upwards, ruffling through his fringe with a long exhale.

It dropped back to his side.

"Wally," the evenness of his tone drained some of the tension from the room, "I'm a ghost. I don't technically need most of my organs."

"And yet you have them?" Tornado's flat question cut though the space, almost more a statement of fact.

Tension returned as Phantom froze again, a second, smaller wince crossing his face. "Uh, yeah." He tugged his ear. "So… what I was saying before - about me being different to other ghosts?" The android's head tilted. "It's that. The way I- well," he cleared his throat abruptly, "point is I'm a lot more human than most."

Flash cautiously removed his hand from Wally's arm. "What kind of things are we talking about here?"

The ghost's forehead creased, lips pulling together. "Anatomy mostly, I suppose. Other than that…" he ducked his head, scrubbing a palm over the back of this neck, "I can survive on regular food, I still need air, water, sleep - even if it's not as much." A small shrug. "Can get injured in the same ways too, under the right circumstances," he snorted, mouth twitching, "or seriously wrong ones, I guess, in that case."

"But no heartbeat?"

Whatever amusement there was faded from his face. He chewed his lip, eyes turning guarded. "Ghosts have cores," he answered finally. "Sort of does that and a couple other jobs for us."

Dinah reassembled her thoughts in the silence that followed, taking stock of the gathering. Initial shock was fading but an undercurrent of unease still pervaded the room; she could see it in the faint tapping of Barry's foot, the angle of J'onn's eyebrows as he looked over to Batman. Ollie's fingers repeatedly smoothed his goatee. The Dark Knight and Boy Wonder remained unaffected - Robin sending Phantom a commiserating look. The Team was… taking it better, if only by a little. Over to the side Zatanna and Artemis appeared to be having a silent conversation. If not for the faint angle of his forehead, Kaldur would seem completely recovered; how much was genuine and how much practiced diplomacy, she wasn't sure. Conner was still watching the ghost as though he held the answers to several questions. From the movement of his eyes she suspected he might be 'talking' to M'gann. After Kaldur, the Martian had reacted the least - smile still friendly despite the jitterly curiosity beneath.

Wally was… calmer. Not that that was saying much.

Heads turned in her direction as she spoke. "We appreciate the warning." She could hardly blame them - even pre-warned, Kid Flash's reaction had caught her off guard. The note was clear in Batman's file, but until then she'd put it to the back of her mind. "The Cave already accommodates for human needs." A gentle echo of a smile, "Obviously." Easier to focus elsewhere; on the effects, things she could work to impact and change.

Speaking of which…

"Alright. Well," Canary brought her hands together again. Much as she'd have liked to finish the assessment, the energy in the room left little chance of anyone remaining comfortable as pure observers much longer. "That's more than enough to start from, I think." Best to move on - progress to something more involved. Another sweep of the room. "Any final questions before we begin training?"

A few uncomfortable beats followed.

Flash broke it. The elder speedster tilted his head, peering at the spectre. "Don't take this the wrong way, kid," she could hear him skipping over other, harder, topics, "but you glow." It was hard to see amidst the light from the ring but while up in the air the white aura became more noticeable. What it would be like in the dark… "How's that going to shake out on stealth missions?" Barry squinted at the newcomer again, thumbing his chin in thought. "Unless you're planning to stay invisible the whole time…?"

Robin was the one to answer. "Already got a fix." He gave a faint grin, tilting his chin towards the ghost.

Phantom hesitated before reaching up to press the silver insignia. With only a few feet between them, Canary was close enough to hear the faint sound of stealth-tech activation, charcoal grey spreading to swallow the whites of the suit. As it vanished it took his glow with it; the holograms' upwards shadows shifted and darkened across his form, glow from the eyes and paleness of his hair more prominent in the absence of the backlit aura. It grounded him in an odd way. Made him more… solid somehow.

"Also blocks ecto-signatures," the Boy Wonder's grin took on a vaguely smug edge - most of which seemed to be directed at the ghost, "just in case someone's sensors are scanning in that range."

"Even when active, the suit itself can still be tracked by us." Batman's addition was definitely for the sake of their colleagues' earlier concerns.

Unease faded further as attention shifted, moving to the uniform over the person who wore it. Easier terms to handle; just another suit, another recruit, another set of abilities with their own applications and limits. All that focus needed was a little momentum, something to keep them moving forward instead of cycling back to dwell on implications.

'Okay then.' "If there aren't any more questions…" - no response - "I think we'll start training." The Team moved forward as she beckoned. "We won't have enough time for a proper free-spar," that was a lie - there would be if they pushed. But with a newcomer complicating things - "so today will be technical. We'll do a round of one-on-one matches as warm-up. After that, there are some advanced holds and throws that can be useful when you need to subdue an enemy quickly. Time allowing I'd like to finish with a review of the paired manoeuvres you practiced last session." Murmurs of assent. 'Paired spars…' Perhaps there was a way to work in the end of the assessment after all. Dinah quickly ran through groupings in her head.

"Alright… Conner, could you go with Robin?" That one was mostly for Superboy's benefit; larger opponents made up most of Robin's experience, but Conner could stand to improve his fine control. And without Clark to watch there was less cost to missteps - less pride on the line, or reason for a partner to try and spare it.

Two nods.

"Artemis, you'll start with Zatanna." Pairing preoccupation with preoccupation wasn't ideal, but their focus seemed to be running in the same direction and both were familiar enough with the other's style to prevent any serious mishaps. If nothing else it would give Ollie something to do.

"Okay."

"Sure."

"Wally." The speedster was still distracted. "I'd like to see how you work with Kaldur." Pure diplomacy; Aqualad could by no means be called a pity-pairing and, between his level-headedness and how long he'd worked with Kid Flash, she could trust him to keep things under control. Provide a challenging enough match to hold his attention without making things needlessly frustrating. 'Right on time too.' Wally followed almost mechanically, not even making the obvious comment before falling in step with the Atlantean. In other circumstances she might have appreciated it.

Which left her last two free.

"You know the drill," she addressed the others. "Usual rules: stay within your marked space, matches end when the timer runs out. Remember, these are warm-ups; I don't want anyone overreaching themselves in the early rounds." Nods from all but one pair. "Phantom. M'gann." Both looked to her, confused. "I'd like to see another aerial match while I've got you here. Afterwards you'll rotate to new partners. Alright?" Their expressions cleared.

Border-lines and score-boxes shimmered into existence around each duo as Tornado moved a hand.

"Then begin."

The ring stirred into motion.

More movement at the periphery - half lost behind the flurry of strikes and dodges - as her colleagues shifted around the edge to better spectate their protégés. Dinah saw Barry bite back a call as Kaldur stepped through a particularly wide opening to land a smart tap on Wally's chest, right in the middle of his logo. The younger speedster's eyes narrowed, homing in on the Atlantean as he redoubled his efforts. 'Good.'

J'onn wandered towards her, head tilting to follow the two in the air.

"So, what do you think?" She kept the question low enough not to carry.

"Hmm." He matched her pitch, still watching the duo. "He flies well. A little imprecise, perhaps, but there is potential. It will be a good opportunity for M'gann, I think."

"Do you have any suggestions?"

Manhunter made a considering sound. "For flying? Difficult. Our flight is an extension of our telekinesis - there may be little overlap in technique." A pause. "The Lanterns may be better able to offer advice. Or perhaps even…" he trailed off, eyes moving significantly in Conner's direction.

Dinah bit the inside of her cheek. "I think I'll leave that to Batman's discretion."

A hum. "That may be wise."

Other voices reached them - Ollie and Barry had converged on the Dark Knight, all three drifting close enough to be with earshot.

"… if I'd known," Bruce was speaking, "I would have briefed you. As it was, I was hoping to keep this low-profile."

She didn't need to turn around to see Arrow's eyebrow lifting. "Alright. Why?"

"Anti-ectoplasmic sentiment among other things. I'd prefer he didn't become widely known among the League."

"You think someone would…?" Flash sounded vaguely affronted.

"No - I doubt it. But the general public may not be so generous were it to leak." Unfortunately precedented; it wouldn't be the first time an 'alien' member had drawn unkind speculation. And with 'ghosts' already soured in the public eye… A finite note entered Batman's voice. "I don't want to risk exposing someone to that if we have the choice."

"That bad…?"

"Maybe worse if it reached the wrong ears."

There was a breath of silence, broken only by the sounds from the ring. She half-turned, watching them in the corner of her vision.

Batman used the break to signal Robin about his form. "Putting that aside for now, what do you think?"

"I don't know." Ollie tugged at his beard, cheek pinching thoughtfully. "It's… a lot to take in."

Barry made a noise of agreement, head turning to study the ghost once more. "I can see what you mean, though - plenty of recon' potential in powers like that."

"And for the rest of the Team?"

The speedster shrugged, thumbing the side of his jaw. "Don't know. Seems like a good enough kid..."

A slightly strained chuckle from Arrow. "Had stubborner, that's for sure."

Flash snorted sympathetically. "Guess we'll wait and see." There was a sigh - rueful, apologetic - as he rubbed his face, hand brushing over his earpiece as he watched the ring.

Well," Canary didn't need to turn to see where the speedster was looking, "provided those two don't kill each other first."

Two whole chapters? In one year? My goodness. Luxury. (I'm still very slow, I apologise.)

Yay, more of this. Bridging content again - I promise this is the last foundation to lay down before Arc II begins in earnest. I'd be really keen to hear how this chapter read for you, because it very much did not want to be written.

After this we'll be picking up the pace again as we move into the Young Justice side of YJ:DW.

In better news, all the major story beats and most of the fine plot details have now been hammered out up all the way to the conclusion. Speculation and ideas are still more than welcome but at this point I can't guarantee they'll make it into the final product.

Some more housekeeping updates:

I've been made aware that Season 3 contains new information about the history of at least one original team member. As YJ:DW was planned long before the revival announcement, we will be ignoring this for the sake of the story. Canon-compliance applies to pre-revival content only.

YJ:DW is now being cross-posted to Archive of Our Own for anyone who prefers to read over there. New chapters will drop roughly simultaneously on both from here on out.

Usual reminder that I also have a Tumblr (threewaysdivided) - the ask box is open if anyone wants to come hang out between chapters.

As always feedback is welcome and appreciated, as are any and all PMs.

Until next time,

-3WD