So...hi.

We're here, at the final chapter of Recognized.

[I'm not crying, YOU'RE crying.]

Concluding comments at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

General Notes:

"This is dialogue."

"This is alternative dialogue, meaning whispered or spoken from a distance such as on the phone."

'This is thought.'

This and THIS and *this* are emphasis. The *this* emphasis is more along the lines of the snarky or sarcastic.

[This is digital text, such as notifications on a computer or smartphone.]

I do not own Danny Phantom nor Young Justice.

Ch. 20 originally published: Friday, March 20, 2020

RECOGNIZED

Chapter 20

Identities

13:00, Tuesday, March 27 — Mount Justice

"How much longer are they gonna be?" Dani whined.

The girl and co-clone 37 laid spread-eagle on the training area floor, chests heaving. Superboy, M'gann and Zatanna watched on from the bench.

"Who knows?" Superboy said. "It's not every day we have royalty stop by."

"That's cool and all," 37 panted, "but I think...killing time by…sparring was…a bad idea."

"Alright!" M'gann called from the sidelines. "Who's ready for round two?!" She punched forward two extended fingers for added enthusiasm.

Dani and 37's heads lolled to the side to exchange a fatigued glance.

With matching earnest expressions focused on the protégé before them, Batman and Aquaman each sat on the edges of their seats, leaning forwards in their chairs across the coffee table from the sofa. Their forearms rested on their thighs while their hands clasped between them.

Aqualad, meanwhile, similarly leaned forward from deep within the sofa, but his head hung with his hands grasping his temples. "What I do not understand, my king," the boy emphasized, "is why you felt I should not know my true parentage." He looked up. "Were you afraid I would turn traitorous against the crown? Because I assure you that my loyalties would never be divided!"

"Of course not, Kaldur'ahm," Aquaman assured. "We feared it would be a...distraction, from either your studies or your position as my protégé."

"Surely not!" Aqualad insisted, sitting up straight on the sofa.

"Son, within minutes of finding out, you were easily ambushed and captured by the Light," Aquaman explained. "Had it not been for the heroics of Robin and Danny Fenton, you would have been taken to Byalia and enthralled by Queen Bee."

Aqualad deflated and hung his head once more. "I suppose that is proof enough."

Batman gave the boy a moment to process before advancing the conversation. "The question remains where we go from here."

"What do you mean, Batman?" Aqualad asked.

The caped crusader produced a folder and placed it on the coffee table. "Thanks to communiqués I intercepted between Tucker Foley and another hacker in Toronto, there is internet chatter of a search for covert shelter for an unnamed group arriving in the coming months. Apparently, their intended strategy consists of submarine operations. Apparently this group feels a need for some sort of protection. Enter: your father."

"Yes," Aquaman continued. "Black Manta and his men continue to elude us and the Light. It would appear that the Light searches for a pressure point to make Black Manta *play ball,* as those of you on the surface would say," he directed at Batman before returning his attention to Aqualad. "That pressure point would be you."

The boy roused slightly. "Me?"

"Get Black Manta's son, get Black Manta," Batman explained. "The Light is all about power play. Threaten your life, and Black Manta would likely allow this mysterious group to find shelter with him for the foreseeable future until their plans come to fruition."

"Who is this group of whom you speak?" Aqualad asked.

"That we do not know," Aquaman said. "Recon operations have been unsuccessful thus far."

"So what do we do?" Aqualad asked. "Are—are you sending in the team?"

"No, they would see you coming a million miles away," Batman said. "Though of course, that could be used to our advantage."

"How so?"

Aquaman sighed. "There has been some discussion of...deep cover."

The protégé hesitated. "How deep?"

Much to Dani and 37's relief, the two League members and the protégés' team leader soon came downstairs. Aqualad appeared extremely distracted. All of the teenagers stood to attention as the adults approached. With a quick farewell, Aquaman returned to Atlantis via zeta tube.

"You wanted to speak to us, Mr. Batman?" 37 asked.

"Yes. Just 'Batman' will do," the man said. He motioned for the protégés to sit so only the two clones of Danny Fenton remained. Batman clasped his hands behind his back and announced, "The Justice League has discussed what future you two may have, given the danger of any association with your original or his twin's public identities. You cannot exactly be seen parading around in public, especially you, 37, so-"

"Uh- sorry...sir?" 37 interrupted. "I-it's James."

"What?"

"My name," 37 explained. "James. It's...nicer than a number? Plus, it's still sorta in the family, so…"

Batman didn't react.

The boy's voice died off and he broke eye contact. "It was just a stupid idea; it doesn't matter," 37 mumbled.

"As I was saying, *James* poses a particular threat to the League and Danny's security given his particular visual similarity to my protégé."

James' face brightened.

"Given this scenario and your metahuman capabilities," Batman continued, "we propose to make both of you members of the protégé team for covert surveillance and infiltration purposes. You both have the unique ability to go beyond physical mimicry and actually commandeer your target's person."

"That's a really nice way of putting 'possession,' " Dani muttered.

"That, in addition to your ability to pass through any physical barriers, means you could easily aid in the covert operations with which this team perpetually struggles."

James' jaw dropped. "You mean-?"

"We—we can stay?" Dani finished for him.

"We are offering a home, a 'normal' civilian life and an offer of community in exchange for your assistance on protégé team missions. Since the Fentons are unable to house either or both of you without raising too much suspicion from the community as a whole, you would take up residence here in the cave alongside M'gann and Connor. Both of you would be able to attend school locally while not on assignment."

"That's awesome!" Dani exclaimed.

"But what about me?" James asked. "Wouldn't it be weird since I look so much like Robin and…*public* Robin?" He sighed.. "Damn it, am I gonna have to get plastic surgery?"

"That wouldn't be advantageous, given the fact you can also act as a body double for Danny, Robin and Robin's public persona. Zatanna," Batman said.

The girl came forward and produced a nondescript watch. "This is a little something I've been working on. It's called a glamour charm. Everyone sees and hears you as someone else as long as you're wearing it."

James took the watch from her and put it on. He looked down at his arms. "Is something supposed to happen?"

"Dude, you're blond!" Dani said. "And tan!"

"No I'm not, I'm white as a ghost!" James retorted.

Dani sighed and held up her phone with the front-facing camera active. "Just look."

James looked at the phone screen. Sure enough, the 'him' staring back was blond with brown eyes and an even sun tan. "Whoa…" he said.

"This glamour charm is to be worn at all times outside the cave. Is that understood?" Batman instructed.

"Yes, sir," James assured and removed the watch.

"Excellent. Welcome to the team, Decoys. Your training will begin tomorrow with Black Canary. I saw you two just now after only a few minutes of sparring. …Rest well tonight. You're going to need it."

16:45, Tuesday, March 27 — Amity Park

The doorbell caught Danny by surprise when he was searching for the open bag of chips in the cupboard. Deciding the chips were more important, he took a few extra seconds to find the open Doritos before answering the door. With an incurious glance at a boxed IKEA flat-pack coffee table leaning against the wall, he opened the door, only to find none other than Vlad Masters' personal assistant standing on the doorstep.

"Wallace?!" Danny exclaimed.

"Walter, sir," the redheaded man answered. "Mr. Masters has requested your presence at City Hall."

Danny glared. "So the manipulative jerk summons me as if he's some kind of royalty?" he snapped and shoveled a handful of nacho cheese chips into his mouth.

"Mr. Masters suspected this animosity might be your reaction, in which case he instructed to remind you he has other means of ensuring your presence, of which you are aware, and he hopes that this show of restraint would reassure you of his sincerity."

Danny quirked an eyebrow and finished chewing. "Um…ok? One sec." He tossed the chip bag back in the kitchen cabinet and rinsed off the flavor dust before getting into the back of Vlad's limousine.

Vlad was waiting behind his desk when Danny arrived. He stood and greeted, "Please, Daniel, have a seat."

"I bet this whole room is booby-trapped," Danny said. He gently kicked the head of a bear skin rug with his sneaker and added, "Laser eyes, right?"

"Oh, just zip it and park it, little badger," Vlad snapped and pointed at the chair.

Danny seethed, but he obeyed. Vlad seated himself once the boy had settled in. The two stared at each other in tense silence.

Finally, Vlad attempted conversation first. "I would like to thank you for revealing a security hole at the Axion facility. It will be addressed at the earliest possibility."

"Dude," Danny huffed. "Seriously? That's why you dragged me away from my Doritos?"

"N-no," Vlad admitted.

"Then why am I here, Plasmius? What more can you possibly do to me and my families?"

"Apologize, for one," Vlad replied. "And also clarify…how much your…*family* knows."

"How much Mom knows, you mean," Danny huffed and leaned back in his chair. "I would say don't worry, but I honestly haven't decided yet."

"You wouldn't-"

"I might," Danny threatened. "Mom's really smart, and I can't hide forever just who was doing the baby-swapping and how."

Vlad gulped. "I would request…that you not."

"*I* would request that you fuck off."

"Daniel-"

"No, you know what? Screw you," Danny snapped and sat forward in his chair. "Screw you and your inability to realize I hate that name. Screw you and your disgusting obsession over a married woman. And screw you and your complete lack of care for other people and their lives. You destroyed what could have been for the Graysons and the Fentons. And you didn't even realize that Mom had years of counseling and my birth mom suffered extreme depression, all because you couldn't control yourself and know when to back off."

"Obsession is a very difficult thing to master due to its chemical-"

"Bullshit!" Danny shouted and stood from his chair. "I'm sick of seeing your ugly, uncaring mug all over Amity. Get the hell out of town and get out of our lives. You've done enough. I got Luthor and the Light to get off your case as part of an agreement we made after I got away. Consider that protection a parting gift." He turned to leave.

Vlad rushed to stand and reached out his hand. "Wait, Danie- um, Danny!"

Danny paused but didn't turn his back.

"For what it's worth-" Vlad began, sighed and sat back down. "For what it's worth, I really am sorry for what I did to you, and for everything I've done since re-entering your parents' lives. And, I appreciate what you did for me with regards to Luthor."

Danny leaned his forehead on the door jam and released a deep sigh. After a long moment, he half-turned to face Vlad and said, "And for what it's worth, I don't completely blame you for everything. Jus-…just give us some space, alright? We've got a lot to figure out."

"I promise."

Danny left.

"This is ridiculous!" Jack's exclamation greeted Danny as he entered the door.

"What's ridiculous?" Danny asked.

Jack looked up from where he was assembling the new coffee table, meant to replace the one that had been destroyed during Danny's escape. He wordlessly returned his attention to the table before sighing and saying, "Vladdy just resigned as mayor."

Danny's jaw dropped. "What?!" he shouted and rushed to sit on the sofa between Jazz and Maddie.

"Ssh ssh, he's talking," Maddie said and increased the volume of the live press conference on TV.

"With my great number of responsibilities both here at City Hall and in the boardrooms of my many companies, I find my loyalties divided," Vlad was saying on-screen. "I could not do this fine city such a disservice as to not wholly dedicate myself to the tasks at hand. I will always hold a love for Amity Park deep within my heart, and I could not be more grateful that one of my most important holdings is Axion Labs. So while you have not seen the last of my around Amity, I am stepping back slightly from the public eye for the time being. I will now take a few questions."

The reporters on scene exploded with shouted questions until he called on one.

"Tricia Takanawa, Quahog 5 News," she said. "I am standing here wondering whether you will consider running for public office at a future date?"

"Who's to say?" Vlad replied and pointed to a man a few seats down.

"Clark Kent, Daily Planet," he said. "What made you come to this realization after almost a year in office?"

Vlad thought for a moment. "I realized I was neglecting not just the city but also some people close to me. Yes?" He called on another reporter in the back.

"Cat Grant, GBN," she said. "Does this have anything to do with your corporate jet's recent clandestine trip to London preceding what has been called the 'Leadenhall Fiasco' by the world's press?"

"Completely unrelated. No more questions." Vlad stepped back from the microphones and, with a final wave, disappeared back inside City Hall.

Danny marveled at how quickly Vlad had acted upon his promise.

"Amity Park without Vlad?" Jack mused. "It's almost unthinkable."

"Oh, I could think it alright," Danny muttered to Jazz. "You know, a small part of me feels bad for him."

"Why?" Jazz asked, bewildered.

Danny shrugged. "Ruled by his own obsession, cut off from the only people he sort of cares about, haunted by the crappy stuff he's done in the past…it's just kind of sad."

Jazz offered a sympathetic smile. "Who knows what the future will bring?"

Danny didn't miss the suspicious squint his mother sent his way.

07:45, Monday, April 3 — Casper High School, Amity Park

[PREPARE FOR TROUBLE, AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!]

Danny chuckled at the magazine headline plastered above a posed photo of the two brothers in identical navy blue suits. Since his very public reappearance, the media had had a field day learning about the long-lost Grayson. A member of high society with a previously unknown twin brother, being kidnapped in tandem with said brother, was bound to be a sensation.

Danny shut and rolled the magazine as he mounted the steps of his school for the first time in two weeks. The week following his escape from the clutches of the Light was tied up in paperwork and confusion as the boys' cover story gradually diffused. The establishment of Danny's relation to Dick Grayson sent the world into a tizzy, no corner of it more so than the halls of Casper High.

Danny tried to slip into school unnoticed. It was not too difficult at first since everyone was grouped around copies of the same magazine detailing Danny's ordeal. He made it all the way to his locker before people started to notice his return.

"Hey, Fenturd's back!" Dash's voice rang out over the early morning hubbub.

All eyes fell on him, and welcome-back's and congratulations began bombarding the boy as he tried to just put his stuff in his locker.

"Oh my god you're not dead!" / "Um, no? I just ran away…" / "You were kidnapped!"

"Are you rich now?" / "No?" / "Wait, so...Bruce Wayne didn't adopt you?" / "...No?" / "Lame."

"So you guys were really separated at birth?" / "Yeah. There was a problem with the nurses or something." / "That's some seriously messed-up General Hospital/Days of Our Lives crap."

"Get out of my way! Official best friend coming through!" Sam shouted. She stumbled out of the crowd of high schoolers and straight into Danny's arms. "Good morning, Mr. Grayson."

"Oh, god," Danny drawled with a roll of his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" Sam asked as the crowd gradually began to lose interest in the boy.

"It's kind of weird, actually. You know, knowing. What the hell even is my life anymore?"

"It's a crazy one, that's for sure."

Danny looked around. "How long until they lose interest in me, do you think?"

"I dunno. Keep a low profile and they'll forget you were ever important," Sam said with a teasing smile.

"Ha-ha," Danny mocked. He sighed. "If only they knew…how much weirder this world is than they think, or how crazy my life is."

"The people that care about you know. Isn't that enough?"

"Yeah, I guess it is," Danny said and shut his locker. He scoffed. "From Luthor's lunacy to Lancer's lectures. Such is the life of a superhero."

The pair strolled down the hallway together in comfortable silence.

"So it wasn't clone programming that made you go in the portal?" Sam finally prodded.

Danny sputtered a laugh. "What?!"

"Tucker had some interesting theories," Sam explained with a fond chuckle. "So if not, what was it then?"

Danny shrugged. "I dunno, I just saw you standing there and thought—" He trailed off.

Sam stopped walking. "Thought…what?"

Danny halted as well, but with his hands shoved into his pockets and eyes shyly looking away, he shrugged. "God, I don't know why I'm saying this now; I guess with everything that happened I'm tired of secrets and stuff." He gulped. "I saw you and thought about how everyone always said what a wimp I was, how weak and afraid I was, and I suddenly realized I didn't want you to think that."

"M-" Sam's voice croaked, so she cleared her throat and whispered, "Why me?"

Danny took a deep breath and turned to face her with squared shoulders and a determined expression. Leaning in close so he could keep his voice lower, he admitted, "Because I think I lo-"

"WHO WANTS A STARBUCKS!"

Danny and Sam jolted apart at the sound of Tucker's voice. The Pan-African-clothed teen collected himself after pushing through the crowded hallway. He removed a to-go cup of coffee from a travel tray and shoved it into Sam's hands before doing the same for Danny.

"What did I miss, you guys?" Tucker asked, sipping from his own cup.

"N-nothing,notathing,doesn'tmatter," Danny sputtered and zoomed away.

Sam grit her teeth. "Nothing at all, techno geek," she growled and barely stopped herself from crushing her cup as she followed after Danny.

15:30, Friday, April 6 — Amity Park

For what felt like the first time in a decade, Danny whistled as he walked home from school. The craziness of March had passed, leaving everybody to settle into a *new* norm. Sure, Danny and the Fentons weren't family, but they were family. They loved each other, and that defines a family far greater than genetic code.

Plus, he had a new brother in the world, someone with whom he could relate, someone to drag into crazy schemes, and get dragged into crazy schemes by.

…It made sense in Danny's mind, at least.

Dick was a new reality. Robin was a new adventure. He was sure to involve Danny in future exploits. And some access to the Wayne family account?

Well…who was *he* to complain?

Danny rounded the corner to his house and passively took in all the neighbors enjoying their normal daily lives on such a fine Saturday morning. They were so cheerful, so…oblivious to the horrors hiding in the shadows; it was almost endearing how naïve the public was. But Danny knew better. He had seen the ugliness; he had endured and conquered it.

Danny heard voices on the other side of the front door as he fumbled with his house keys. Everyone in the house was now fully aware of his ability to pass through the door as if it weren't there. Nevertheless, he had appearances to keep up for the sake of the neighbors. As far as they knew, he'd simply run away from home for a few days because of a small existential crisis typical of teenagerdom.

"Oh, Dick, you have to see this one," Danny's mother was saying as he entered. Maddie and Dick looked up from their position on the sofa. "Oh, hello, Danny! I was just showing your brother some old family photo albums."

Dick's grin was…unsettling.

"Yeah?" Danny said. "Which, uh—which ones?"

"Oh, this and that," Maddie answered. Now her grin was unsettling. "I was just showing him Halloween during your 8th grade."

"Oh." Then Danny remembered a small detail. "OH. No, no, no you're not!" he rushed, practically leaping across the coffee table to rip the book from her hands.

But, Maddie resisted and shoved him away. "Oh, come on, Danny, be a good sport."

"Yeah, Danny, you shouldn't be embarrassed," Dick assured with a bubble of laughter. He held up a photo of Danny from the album. "You have no idea how flattering it is that you were already a fan of mine!"

"I wasn't!" Danny insisted, but Dick merely snickered. "Sam was Batman and Tucker was Mr. Freeze, so it was only natural that I completed the Dynamic…Duo. Oh, shut up." He stormed into the kitchen to get a soda with Maddie and Dick's roaring laughter behind him. "I'm going to burn that book," Danny threatened as he re-entered.

"Feel free; I've already scanned everything," Maddie parried without looking up. "By the way, I know it was you that morning, Dick. In Danny's room, the day after the charity ball."

"You do?" Dick asked.

"What, you think just because you look so alike doesn't mean I can't tell which one of you I raised? Besides, the muscles were all wrong. I could tell they were real that morning and not fake like the old Halloween costume. When Danny wore the costume, the muscles were aaaallllll fake." She darted her eyes up momentarily to make sure the jab had landed.

"Kill me," Danny whined and buried his face in his hands.

"Hey, Danny, don't worry! I work out a lot more than you did. It's only natural that I'm much more toned and strong and just overall more impressive than you."

"What are you doing here anyway?" Danny demanded. "Besides embarrassing and insulting me?"

"Here to collect you, actually. There's something I want to give you, but you have to come with me."

"GREAT! Let's go." Danny jumped up.

Maddie looked up from her album with a disparaged expression. "But he hasn't seen the caped Batman pajamas yet!"

"NNNNOOOOOWWW!" Danny ordered and dragged his snickering twin from the house. "Alright, where are we going? Where's your bike?"

"We don't need the bike; it's not that far. C'mon." Dick led the way, heading towards town.

The boys walked in peaceful silence for a minute or two, simply taking in the beauty of the spring day. For once, Amity Park was peaceful, and Danny reveled in it.

"Oh, by the way, we're organizing the memorial for next weekend," Dick said.

"Memorial?" Danny asked.

"For other me," Dick explained.

"Oh." Danny sighed. " Poor guy never had a chance. I really bonded with him, too. Well, it was sort of with you, but you-you didn't get his-your memories from those few days. I thought I'd lost you when they-" Danny's breath hitched and he looked away.

Dick's face twisted with concern. "Seeing loved ones die is hard for everyone, Danny. But, it's just part of the job. You deal."

"Huh," Danny huffed with a small smile. "That's what other-you said, too."

Dick returned the smile.

"I don't remember anyone mentioning 'love,' though…" Danny joked.

"Dick."

"Jimothy."

"That is not my name," Dick moaned.

Danny snickered.

"Was other-me cool?" Dick asked.

"Eh, as cool as any version of you could hope to be," Danny quipped with a gentle jab of his elbow into Dick's side. "The time I spent with him is part of why I kept going through all the craziness."

"Project Nightwing, coming in clutch," Dick said.

"Yeah. Too bad such a cool name had to come to such a tragic end."

" 'Nightwing,' " Dick mused. "It has a nice ring to it."

"What are you thinking about a name-change?" Danny asked. "It would be pretty weird for Batman not to have a Robin…"

"I dunno," his brother answered. "I just think it's neat."

The boys reached an alley—the exact alley in which Danny had fought Technus for the first time, he noted. Everything was virtually the same, apart from a decrepit, old-fashioned phone booth which hadn't been there before.

"What's this?" Danny asked.

"The first of a new generation of modified zeta tube stations," Dick answered with a Vanna White-like sweep of his arm. "Since you and I have identical DNA, we added updated software and scanners to detect eDNA signatures as well, so now it can tell that it's you and not me."

"Wait…you want me traveling around in the zeta tubes?"

"Well, yeah," Dick said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're part of the family now."

Danny swallowed a small lump. "Oh. S-so it's just this new one and maybe the one at the cave?"

"It's the whole network, Danny. Interplanetary, so you can go wherever you want or need."

"W-why would I need to do that?"

Dick smiled. "Hop in and you'll see."

Danny gave him one last look before carefully entering the phone booth.

"Recognized: Phantom B-00."

Danny rolled his eyes. "B-zero-zero? 'Boo?!' Are you kidding m-"

"-e?"

Danny found himself in the training bay of Mount Justice. Aqualad, Artemis, M'gann and Superboy were playing holographic doubles' ping pong as Zatanna watched from the sidelines. Dani and 37 were both collapsed and panting on the floor after a strenuous training session.

"Recognized: Robin B-01."

Aqualad, Artemis, M'gann and Superboy were playing holographic doubles' ping pong as Zatanna, Dani and a blond boy watched from the sidelines. Everyone stopped what they were doing upon seeing the Grayson twins back in the mountain.

Danny's eyes fell upon his longest-lasting clone and walked over to her. "Hey, Dani-with-an-I, how's living at the cave?" He extended a fist to bump.

"Eh," she said and returned the fistbump, "it'll be home soon enough. Training is killer, but it will be awesome to go to an actual school next week."

"So, uh, where's 37?" Danny asked, visually searching the room for his most recent clone. "I haven't seen him since I heard he was okay…"

"He's around," Dani said with a sparkle in her eye. "Have you met the other new team member?" She gestured to the blond boy still sitting on the bench.

"Hey, man," the boy said, and he stood. He held his hand up to clasp with Danny and pulled him into a quick bro-hug. "Nice to meet you. I'm James."

Danny squinted his eyes. "...James," he repeated.

"Yeah," the other boy rasped with a nod.

Danny, though, could tell the other boy—and Zatanna behind him—were both trying to keep a straight face. "What aren't you saying?"

The blond smiled. "I feel like it's *time* we told him," James said, holding up his wristwatch.

"Oh, god," Artemis moaned.

James undid the clasp and removed the watch. With a soft flash of light, he transformed back into other-Danny. "And I really am going by James now," he added.

Danny's jaw dropped. "Holy crap!" he exclaimed and pulled James into a true hug. He released him after a few seconds and asked, "What the heck just happened?!"

"It's a glamour charm," Zatanna explained.

"Yeah," M'gann added, "it will allow him to come to Happy Harbor High with Connor, Dani and me without drawing any more suspicion to you and Dick."

"That's awesome," Danny intoned.

"Yeah. No more solitary confinement for this guy," James said. "I can go be my own me. Even though I'm...y'know...you."

"Sweet," Danny said. "So...Jazz told me what happened...with Dad…"

James offered a pained smile. "I mean, we kinda dropped a bomb on him. Hey, even *Superman* freaked when he first met Connor."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Dad's still weird around me too. At least you're not living with him and dealing with it every day."

James cringed. "How's that?"

Danny tried to hide a hesitation. "Oh, fine, fine," he assured with a nod. "Dinner's usually a little awkward, but…"

James nodded.

Danny took in a breath and opened his expression, turning to Dick standing beside him. "So, you said you all had something for me?" Danny asked.

"Aqualad does," Dick said with a knowing smile.

The Atlantean reached into his pocket and stepped forward. "Daniel James Fenton a.k.a. Danny Phantom, you have shown exemplary dedication, intuition, capability and spirit while assisting this team with a mission in addition to your outward respect for the Justice League and its role in protecting this world.

"On the request and recommendation of Batman and Robin, and as team leader, I officially invite you to join the Justice League's elite team of protégés, with all the diplomatic and political stipulations and benefits which that membership mandates. Do you accept?" He held out an identification card with Danny's civilian name and photo on it.

Danny wordlessly took the nondescript ID card from Aqualad and gaped. With a subtle swipe of his thumb, the name and image changed to that of his Phantom persona. He looked back up to Aqualad's confident smile and noticed everyone else sharing the same encouraging, beaming expressions behind him.

"Um…yeah, sure, I guess?"

"YES!" Dick cheered and crushed Danny in an immediate hug.

"Not exactly the show of enthusiasm we were hoping for, but I guess we'll take it," Artemis jabbed with a smile as she draped an arm over each of the Graysons' shoulders in a double side-hug.

M'gann was next to join the hug, followed by Zatanna and even Aqualad. Superboy wrapped his arms around the whole group and lifted them all off the ground, eliciting giggles from the girls.

Once the group hug broke up, Danny went back to staring at the card. "This is incredible, you guys."

"We should also add that it grants you immunity from the Guys in White," Aqualad added. "As you surface dwellers would say, they 'just kind of suck.' "

Danny snickered giddily. "Wow, I—I don't know what to say," he said. A fond smile warmed his face, and he looked up to the group gathered in the training area. "Thank you. For everything."

"Recognized: Kid Flash B-03."

Everyone turned to see the zeta tube powering up while a familiar redheaded figure materialized in a tensed position. As soon as the machine released its grip on the teen, he tripped over his own feet in his haste to escape it. He scrambled backwards across the floor, crabbing on all-fours until he was a good distance away. The assembled team members watched on as he looked around, panting laboriously, until locking onto Danny. "Fenton!" he shouted.

Danny immediately realized that this was not Wally but, in fact… "Wes Weston?! The hell are you doing here?!"

Wes shakily stood and gripped his messenger bag to his chest, knees knocking together in terror. "What kind of Stargate shit was *that?!*"

"Hey! Watch your mouth! Don't you realize whose presence you're in?!" Danny hissed, giving a furtive glance to his new teammates.

"I don't care if a resurrected Nelson FUCKING Mandela were here! All I know is I followed you into some alley using some ghost tracking tech I borrowed from your parents, and all of a sudden I'm being teleported like some 'Beam me up, Scottie' crap?! Tell me, Fenton: What," Wes asked, "the FUCK," he emphasized, "was THAT?!" he screamed, gesturing wildly behind him in the general direction of the zeta tubes.

Before anyone could speak, the computer activated once more.

"Recognized: Kid Flash B-03."

Everyone turned to the tubes when a much calmer Wally emerged. "Hey, guys, what did I miss?" he asked, casually strolling from the tube and ending up next to the cave's visitor.

Wes saw the resemblance immediately; everyone did. Red hair, vibrant green eyes, lanky build... Wes' eyes had widened immediately upon Wally's exit from the zeta tube, and his jaw had slackened. However, by this point in time, he had dropped his jaw to his mouth's widest aperture in shock and horror.

Danny's brow furrowed. He thought back to when Wes had first transferred into Casper High a couple years beforehand, and how the boy had immediately become a nuisance with his obsession with Danny, the spitting image of the boy doubling as Robin. Danny sent a sidelong glance towards Robin upon remembering what Wes' father Walter did for work: personal assistant to Vladimir Masters.

Robin's emotions hid behind a crumbling mask of indifference. He thought back to a simpler time, when a trio of protégés decided to fight against their restrictions and prove they were real players in the Justice League's superpowered game. They did so only to end up imprisoned in Cadmus, the infamous facility ever associated with cloning prominent and superpowered members of society.

Wally appraised his doppelgänger with a confused expression on his face before finally declaring, "You seem really familiar…"

Wes looked at Wally. "Wh-who are you again?" the bewildered basketball star asked.

Danny and Dick took in and released a simultaneous deep breath, their twin brains unable to verbalize any words in their collective vocabulary.

['Curb Your Enthusiasm' theme plays]

Directed by

ROBERT B. WEIDE

Executive Producer

LARRY DAVID

The final Easter Eggs/references in Recognized:

- The Curb Your Enthusiasm closing punchline: because of that video/meme trend that was circulating recently.

- "Who's ready for round two?!": This is not just M'gann's omnipresent excitement; it's also the line that Diego the saber-toothed tiger says after the group survives the ice slides in Ice Age (2002).

- The IKEA coffee table: replacing the one Danny shattered when Jack shot him back in chapter 7 right as he was running away

- Tricia Takanawa, Quahog 5 News: the lovable reporter from Family Guy

- "PREPARE FOR TROUBLE, AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!": I think I'm overcompensating for the lack of Pokemon in my childhood, because I seem to reference it in like every story I write lol

- The Halloween costume: I'm sure you all remember that plot point back when Robin was investigating Danny's room back in chapter 6?

- Jimothy: one final reference to the love of my life, The Office (season 6 episode 3)

- "I just think it's neat": Dick channeling his inner Marg Simpson (*holding a potato* "I just think they're neat." Because memes.)

- The Wes thing: Oh. my. GOD. I have been waiting since BEFORE chapter 1 for this twist ending. And you have no idea how hard it has been to keep that a secret even from my beta readers. But, some of you may remember the first time Danny visited the cave in ch. 1, and he gave Kid Flash one last once-over before leaving with Robin in the zeta tube. That was actually because there was something familiar about Kid Flash that he couldn't quite place, and all the other times Danny met Kid Flash/Wally again throughout the story, he always had context and, therefore, no reason to question it. Plus, you might remember mentions of a Kid Flash clone in chapter 12 that was allegedly destroyed... That's all I'll say on the matter ;) But anyway, I'm SO happy I can FINALLY publish this scene, which is actually one of the first parts of the story I drafted nearly 2 years ago now.

Well, guys and gals, we're here, at the end. Thank you all for sticking through with me and waiting patiently as I had to update around my masters degree schedule. Writing this story has been such a growing experience with me. It helped me face my anxiety of committing to big projects because I have trouble finishing things well.

I absolutely could not have done it without the wonderful input of my beta readers, all of whom helped massively overall but provided unique input as well: RosyThorn (FFn) for conceptualization, initial crossover-universe-building and publishing; DPTTRocks (FFn), for attention to fine detail, characterization and grammar; LetTheChaosEnsue (FFn) for storyline finessing, combat scene blocking consultation and general feedback; and whats-up-everybody (Tumblr) for plot development, harassment to write a sequel (lol we'll see) and control of overall tone and feeling. All of this culminated in the 125,556-word story which you have just finished reading. (That's an accurate word count of the story only, excluding author's notes.)

And of course, I cannot close this story without one final thank you to you, my lovely readers. I am completely blown away by the response I have had to this fic; at the time of publishing this chapter, Recognized can boast 90,352 views, 401 comments, 708 favorites and 968 followers on FanFictionNet alone, with an additional 7203 hits, 121 comments, 537 kudos and 161 bookmarks on ArchiveofOurOwn. That is just...staggering.

All those email alerts and engaging conversations with readers were so fulfilling for me and gave me something to look forward to every time I published an update. You all were the reason I kept publishing despite the craziness of my *real* life, despite the two-to-three-hours-per-night's sleep which I averaged for a few weeks at a time; you all helped me stick with writing this story as an outlet or escape from the stress of a master's degree.

Not only that; sometimes, your comments helped me find plot holes or details I forgot to address, and occasionally you even gave me a couple ideas of how to improve coming scenes! (Removing the bullet mid-air, for example.) The interactions I had with you were all invaluable, and I will never forget the experience, the journey of writing this story with your feedback, reactions and input.

But don't take this as a final note or a letter of resignation from the fanfiction community. No, this is a thank you as I sit back in my chair, binge-watch Schitt's Creek and sip a large glass of wine before taking on another project.

...Which I may have already thought about.

... ...And world-built.

... ... ...And outlined.

... ... ... ...And began drafting.

... ... ... ... ...Crap.

My inbox is always open, and I would love to hear your final closing thoughts on and reactions to this story.

For the last time on Recognized, this is hiimian signing out.