Chapter Thirteen


Dick supressed a laugh as Dick's boyfriend kept staring at him. It was hilarious.

"Wha-" He turned to Dick. "Who's this?" he asked.

Dick was grumbling under his breath while pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. Barbara was patting his shoulder in pity.

"That's Wally for ya," she said, looking at Danny in an "oh well" sort of way.

Wally's gaze was moving between the three. He was obviously confused. Somebody tell him what's going on, Danny thought, or he's going to short-circuit.

"Um."

Danny was a little tired of explaining his story after telling Batman and the others, but it also annoyed him to see someone so clueless. He glanced in Dick's direction, wondering how much he could or should say. Luckily, Dick decided to speak for him.

"Since you just came here anyway - even though I did say you shouldn't - I guess I might as well introduce you two. Danny, this is Wally aka Kid Flash. Wally, this is Danny, or-" He abruptly stopped. "Oh, wait. You don't... have a secret identity yet."

Wally was staring at him again. It was a little creepy.

Dick seemed to think for a second. "It would be useful though. Any ideas?"

"Phantom," Danny immediately suggested and Dick nodded in approval.

"Isn't that... a little boring?" Barbara countered.

Danny shrugged. He liked the name, but maybe she was right. What else should he call himself though?

"Got a better idea?" he asked, tone slightly challenging.

If she noticed, he didn't show it.

"I'll think of something," she said confidently and they let the subject slide for the moment.

"So," Danny began. "Wally. Who else knows of your relationship with Dick so far?"

Both Wally and Dick turned red.

"Wha-"

"Danny, no," Dick groaned while Wally was just confused. Again. Or still?

"Relationship?" he squeaked and stared at Dick.

Barbara was having the time of her life. This was absolutely priceless.

"Yeah. He couldn't stop talking about the kiss," she explained.

"Kiss?" Wally repeated.

Dick looked like he wanted to jump out of the window, which, considering they were in space, would be a very bad idea. Danny nodded.

"Yep. You're a good kisser, apparently."

"I never said anything like that!" Dick protested at the same as Wally looked at Dick and asked, "I am?"

"Wait," Danny interrupted with wide eyes and the biggest grin on his face. "Have you really kissed?"

Wally immediately clamped his mouth shut and Dick buried his face in his hands. Danny would have laughed had he not been so surprised. He may have been making fun of Dick and Wally - was that not his job as a brother? - but he had not actually thought they had kissed. Their reaction did imply it though - a lot.

"I- um," Wally shuffled his feet a little and looked anywhere but at Dick. "It's not like I didn't like it..." he said.

Barbara and Danny shared a look.

"I-I mean, uh..." Wally looked incredibly embarassed but managed to have an even more worried expression at the same time. "Oh."

Dick was looking at the ground, his face burning and Danny suddenly felt bad. The situation had gone a little farther than he had expected it to. He caught Barbara's gaze and they came to a silent agreement.

"Maybe we should... give you some privacy," Danny said to the boys.

"Yeah. We'll be over there," Barbara added and they went to put some distance between themselves and the two lovers. "I can't believe it," she said and laughed. "I mean I can, but- you know."

Danny shook his head and glanced at Dick and Wally across the room.

"Normal kids would call things like this their main life crisis. To me it seems like finding out about this would be the most normal and daily thing to happen since- Um. Yeah."

"Yeah."

He looked at Barbara and noticed her staring at him weirdly.

"Uh. You okay?" he asked.

She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, seeming to think about something.

"How about... Inviso-bill!" she exclaimed.

"What? No. That sounds terrible. Uh, no offense," he quickly replied.

Barbara rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, okay. I can see it. Then what do you think of... White Shadow?"

Danny hummed. It did sound kind of cool, but he had to think about this. He had been wondering what would happen once they - he - didn't need to deal with Vlad anymore. He lived with Batman and Robin (He lived with Batman and Robin, oh my god!) and he basically had superpowers, so maybe he could start helping them? He already knew some fighting basics and he could help save people. How cool would that be? Besides, if his own brother went out there, then why shouldn't he? And if he did... he would definitely need a name...

"Better than Inviso-bill," he decided.

"And better than Phantom," Barbara deadpanned.

Danny rolled his eyes, but smiled at her anyway.

"So. Any other ideas?"


He had never felt this embarrassed before. Okay, no, that was a lie. But he still felt pretty embarrassed. He bet he looked about as red as a tomato. Wally sure was.

"Um."

"So," Dick began. "You enjoyed it, huh?"

If possible, the blood spread even farther into his best friend's cheeks.

"Uh, yeah?" He still wasn't really looking at him. "Didn't like how you left afterwards as much though," he admitted.

Dick sighed. He had pretty much dumped Wally after it had happened. Wally hadn't said anything about it, hadn't texted him to ask why he left or pressed him to tell any other way. And Dick appreciated that. He had been trying to keep it from Bruce and Barbara and Danny - he'd felt as though everyone could see it, which, of course, was not true - and a constant reminder would not have helped the matter. He had been unsure about it - still was, if he was being honest - and hadn't wanted to have to deal with it right away.

"Yeah. Sorry about that," he apologized. Then, "I... kinda liked it, too?"

There was a long moment of silence stretching between them until they both couldn't hold it any longer.

"Can we do it again?" Wally said while Dick blurted out, "I like you."

They both stared at each other. Dick felt like laughing but he held himself back. lol

"I mean, I don't just like you, I- well I- So- um, I really like you, like, a lot and I liked the kiss and yes I would like to do it again," he rushed, wondering which one of the two was the speedster here.

He loved how Wally's face lit up like a christmas tree the moment he finished and he hated that he had to disappoint him right away.

"But," he added before Wally could do or say anything. "Not now."

Wally almost pouted.

"Why not?" he asked innocently.

"Cameras," Dick said.

"Oh."

"Yep."

The whole situation seemed incredibly awkward.

"Um."

"So."

"We should probably get back to the others," Dick suggested. "I haven't told you everything yet."

Wally frowned but nodded and they started making their way to the others.

"What exactly is he doing here again?" Wally required, motioning towards Danny. "Uh, no offense."

Danny waved him off.

"None taken."

Barbara grinned at Wally.

"Oh, you're gonna love this," she promised, snickering.

Dick rolled his eyes but couldn't hide an excited smile. He put an arm around his twin and explained.

"Turns out Danny's my long lost brother and now he's living with us," he summed up.

"Yeah, funny," Wally replied. When no one laughed with him or said anything else, he awkwardly stopped. "Are you... serious?"

"Yep," Barbara confirmed.

Wally shook his head in disbelief.

"Woah. That sounds kinda crazy, you know that? You have a brother," he laughed. "That is so cool. How did you find out?"

Dick noticed how Danny's mile tightened and he side-hugged him with the arm that was still around his brother's shoulder.

"It's a long story," he said, which naturally did not actually satisfy Wally's curiosity.

"I have time," he offered.

"Later," Dick said in a way he was sure Wally knew not to argue against.

"Okay," he agreed, probably having sensed that the subject may be an uncomfortable one. He turned to Danny and smiled a friendly smile. "You're a meta, aren't you?"

"Ghost," Danny corrected.

"Half-ghost," Dick clarified when he saw Wally's expression - not that it made his friend believe in them.

"Ghosts don't exist," he replied like he were talking to a young child.

He had of course long known how little Wally believed in things like ghosts or magic. His friend was all about science and finding a logical explanation. Dick heard his brother mumble something under his breath that sounded like "Sounds like Tucker" before he talked in a louder voice.

"They exist. I exist. There's more to ghosts than scary campfire stories, you know."

Wally obviously didn't want to start a fight with the person he just met and found out was his best friend's brother, but he also seemed to struggle to find a way to convince him of his own opinion.

"How do you know?" he asked in the nicest tone he could muster.

"I am one?" Danny reminded.

"But-"

"Jeez, man, just accept it, okay?" Barbara interrupted. "He should know it, his parents were genius scientists in the ghost field. So can we please move on?"

Wally may sometimes talk a lot faster than he thought, but his brain also noticed thinks faster. Just like Dick, he must have caught the past tense in the sentence.

"Uh, y-yeah," Wally agreed.

Danny shook his arm off and used his own arms to hug himself.

"Um," He glanced at Dick awkwardly and forced a smile. "Is there a bathroom here?"

He doubted his brother actually wanted to use the bathroom, but gave him directions anyway. As soon as Danny was gone, Wally spoke up.

"What happened to him? How did you find him?"

Dick sighed and looked at where his brother had disappeared around the corner.

"Bruce said he was kidnapped when he was a baby, that's why neither of us ever knew we had a brother."

"Wow," Wally said. "And what happened after that?"

"A ghost kidnapped him," Barbara summed up, causing Wally's expression to grow frustrated.

"But- Ghosts don't exist. It's impossible!"

"I can't tell you how it works, you'll have to ask Danny, but there's apparently lots of science behind it," Dick assured and Wally huffed.

"Huh. Yeah, I'll ask him about it."

"Anyway," Dick said and roughly told Wally Danny's story – just enough for him to understand while leaving out the uncomfortable, private parts.

"Wow. That's a lot."

Dick nodded and looked at the time, noticing that Danny had been gone for a while already.

"I'll go check on him real quick..." he informed his friends and ran off.


He quietly observed the scene in front of him.

"Stolen? Did anyone see who it was?"

"Indeed. And you have met the thief before."

All the different options were visible to him, but he was certain that this was the one to happen. It was the fastest and easiest way, he knew, but it also carried many risks. Sadly, there too many unknown factors and paths he was not able to foresee and so he could do nothing but watch and hope for the best.

The screen started showing a different scene now, this one from the present time. He sighed, feeling slightly guilty for what the young Daniel had been forced to go through, but he quickly scolded himself for it. He could not get attached. His job did not allow it, or else the whole time stream would be endangered. It was sometimes that he so badly wanted to take pity on a being and alter their fate.

"I miss them so much."

"I know."

"It hurts."

"Yeah. I get how that feels."

"I just want them back..."

But he could not. Not ever.


I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters. Neither do I own Young Justice or any of the DC Universe characters.

I am aware that this update is late. But. It is an update and an update means we're still going. I hope you had fun reading! Please, please, pleeeaaase leave a review!

Did you like it?

What could I do better?

What should Danny's hero name be? I need original ideas that you haven't seen or used before. I will give you credit of course and I will not use any ideas without explicit permission :) (This means that if you comment a name as a guest, you need to leave your name and permission, or I won't be able to use the idea and give you credit.)

(Also, please consider taking a look at my Undertale fanfiction "The Meaning Of Souls". That would be amazing.)

Alec :)