Hi folks, I really appreciate your support but unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning this book, hell no, I just need few weeks to collect my thoughts. I've been spending too much time on my phone lately and I really need to spend some more time with my family. During this time, I'll write chapters, but I won't post them. Sorry.

Hope you aren't too mad about this. Love you all.

~~~~~~

'NASA, 264' who would put those words as a lottery number? Danny was always a curious person and it didn't let his sleep. There must have been something, something he missed. NASA was a US space organization. When Danny was smaller, he always dreamed that he would be an astronaut, flying for NASA. What was the number for? Map coordinates? A date?

The thought didn't get off of Danny's mind for a long time. It was around 11 PM, the Waynes were on a patrol and he should have been in bed. The halfa got up from his bed to stretch his back and legs a little. As he walked around his bedroom, he got a crazy idea.

There was a NASA book, around 300 pages long, lying on his shelf. What if it was a book and it's page? Danny examines the shelf and nothing was out of order. He took his NASA book from the shelf and turned it in his hands. The book had a small gap between its pages, one that shouldn't be there. When Danny opened the his book, it was page 264. An envelope was stuck between two pages, being nicely sealed with a stamp. He carefully opened the list and looked at it. A simple white paper with black ink.

Greetings Daniel Fenton,

or should we call you Phantom? It is our pleasure to deliver you this message. It would be a great honor if a powerful being such as you joined our forces.

We apologize for the secrecy but we couldn't let Batman know. If you share this information with them, we'll know and it won't be pretty.

If you decide to become a part of the league, just tell your friend, Ryan White.

Join us or forever regret your decision.

~The League of Shadows

What shocked Danny the most was the fact that Ryan was a part of this. He wasn't too concerned about his identity being spilled, or the fact that they knew everything about him. The halfa felt betrayed. Was he being used by Ryan the whole time? Was he just a figure in his game? Now it made sense why Damian didn't like him. He remembered him from his assassin days.

"Hmm... ruling the world sounds nice. Of course, after I burn it down." The ghost mused.

"Is it weird when I think that you are the only one telling me the truth these days?" Danny asked saddened. The duo talked together more since today and suddenly, Danny had the urge to share his problems with Dan. It was a forced relationship but Dan was still with him, listening to him.

"Why don't you join them then?"

"I can't betray them! I... I... I don't know." Danny sobbed into his pillow. Since Jason wasn't around much, he grew attached to his pillow. He was constantly under so much pressure coming from school, the Waynes, Dan and many more that he needed emotional support which was his pillow.

"If Jazzy was here." The halfa whispered and cried into his pillow until he fell asleep from exhaustion. Luckily, it was Friday so he didn't need to wake up early for school the following day. Danny woke up to sunlight, something he hasn't done in a long time. He wasn't too eager to face his family right now, so he stayed in his room.

There was nothing to do. Every activity he thought of was soon threw away due to his laziness. A paper and a pen were laying in front of him, waiting for him to get an idea. His first idea was to draw something but he didn't get any inspiration. Writing a poem wasn't his thing.

"I always wanted to write a song." Danny murmured and fiddled with the pen.

Here I am, 12 AM
Sunken deep into my bed
Kept alive...

Those words were written down before he even realized it. Words were appearing in his mind like a prewritten text, as if it had been hiding somewhere deep down for the whole time.

...by the light of the moon
Close my eyes, but my mind's got its own plan tonight
And it keeps rubbing salt in the wound
I know it's too late
As night turns to day
Now there's no escaping the ghost!

Soon, Danny was out of words. It was like writing about his own life in metaphors. There was no way his brothers or anyone would see his text. He folded the paper as many times as possible and hid it in his clean laundry. No one should look through his laundry.

"Danny, come down for breakfast!" A member of his family called for him.

"I don't want to." Danny shouted back and laid his head on the table. The footsteps outside of his door quieted down. Soon, Jason was standing in his doors, watching him.

"Danny, what's wrong with you?" Jason asked worriedly and walked towards his younger brother. He put a hand on Danny's small shoulder to comfort him but the halfa moved out of his range.

"Is it Dan again?" The vigilante asked sympathetically. He knew about Danny's struggles and wanted to help him.

"No, not this time." He sighed and walked towards his window. The sun that woke him up hid behind dark clouds. The trees outside threw scary shades on the ground, making it appear as if dead people were rising.

"Then tell me, please. I want to help you."

"You can't help some things, Jason. They are inevitable as my future." Danny sighed and leaned his forehead against the glass. "Just let it be, I will work it out."

"Danny, listen to me. I know you don't want to share but I'm the only one who knows you, the only one who can really help." Jason tried to turn Danny so he could look into his eyes but he wasn't able to do so. With Danny's newfound strength, he was able to stay in his place.

"Let it be Jason." The halfa's patience was slowly running out. Why couldn't they let him be? For once?

"No." The vigilante stood his ground. 'Danny will break or he will be really pissed' Jason thought as he was watching his brother. His breaths became deeper, a sign of suppressed anger.

"Get out!" The halfa shouted and turned face to face with Jason. His eyes flashed bloody red, full of anger and hatred for a second. Surprised Jason walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. This wasn't his Danny, something really bad was happening to him.

As soon as Jason entered the dining hall, everyone turned their heads towards him. They must have heard Danny's shouting and were curious about it.

"What did you fuck up this time Todd?" Damian asked accusingly.

"Damian, language." Bruce warmed his son and returned his attention to Jason.

"I don't know. I told him to come to eat and he said no. When I entered he didn't look like himself. He looked angry and regretful." Jason summed up the whole situation.

"He's been acting weird since he got the letter yesterday." Tim thought out loud. He was concerned for his twin because he has never heard him shout at Jason. They had a unique relationship, an unbreakable bond.

"It wasn't anything special. It was an advertisement."

"How do you know this? Did you go through his stuff?" Tim accused him, his brotherly instincts kicking in.

"No, it laid opened on his bed." Jason defended himself. He would never go through Danny's stuff. If Danny believed him enough to tell him about Dan, Jason didn't see a reason to hide anything else.

"I'll bring him some food." Tim offered and grabbed a plate full of pancakes. He waited few seconds in front of Danny's room, listening. An old habit you catch when you work with Batman.

"Danny, I brought you some food." Tim said and slowly opened the doors to the room. He was met with a horrifying sight, the room was completely trashed and Danny was quietly mumbling something, rocking back and forth in the corner of his room.

"Be quiet.... no..... I don't know.... let me be.... just give me some time.... please..." Danny didn't seem to notice Tim's arrival. He was caught in a conversation with Dan. The younger vigilante loudly approached the boy,!not to scare him. He crouched in front of the trembling boy and put a hand on his knee.

"Shh Danny, I'm here." Tim whispered. He instinctively jumped back when Danny's head shot up, irises red. In a blink of an eye, his irises were back to their sky blue color.

'Ughhh, you really need some sleep Drake.' Tim thought. He hasn't slept for three nights now and he was hallucinating.

"Tim..." Danny sobbed into his hands. He really didn't know why he was crying but at the same time, he couldn't stop it. Tim didn't say anything, he just sat next to Danny and hugged him tightly. From experience, a physical contact was often better than some empty words like "it's okay, don't cry, I know how you feel, etc.".

"Please tell me, what's wrong." Tim whispered to the sobbing boy.

"I... I can't... tell you."

"It's ok, I know you will share it someday. We just need to wait." His twin reassured him. Danny was so thankful that he didn't press him. He wasn't sure if he could fight Dan one more time today. Their mental fights were always so tiring.

"Do you want me to go?" Tim asked quietly.

"No." Danny replied even quieter.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"Yes." That simple word melted Tim's heart. He has never experienced such feeling, he has never comforted someone who was so fragile. The trust they built up was something special.

"I'm so sorry Timmy." Danny whispered. He didn't know why he was apologizing but he had the need to do so.

"There's nothing to apologize for." His twin brother reassured him. Danny wanted to contradict, but he stayed quiet.

"Just a little while..." the ghost said, making no sense. Did Danny overhear the rest of it?

"...and you'll break like bones. Then I can take over my rightful place as the ruler of this world." The human half was in such bad mental condition right now, that he couldn't comprehend what he said. His mind was slowly drifting away, forcing him into unconsciousness.

"Sleep well, little bird." Tim whispered and moved Danny into his bed. The poor boy seemed so broken, so lost... and he was only 14. He was definitely hiding something, something that nobody knew about and it was slowly killing him.

Tim quietly made his way out of Danny's room, back to the dining room. The rest of his family was still sitting there, waiting for them. When only one of them showed up, it couldn't be good.

"He seemed so broken." Tim mumbled, answering the unspoken question. Jason looked like he was going to cry. Nobody blamed him for it. No one wanted to see someone so close to you broken. Jason stormed out of the room, probably heading to the gym to let out some steam.

Danny was struggling and he couldn't help him! The vigilante was so angry with himself, with the whole world for hurting the innocent kid. If the moron Masters still lived, he would hunt him down, torture him, heal him and then torture him again to make him pay for what he did.

.......

"Tim, run the analysis again please. Just to be sure." Bruce ordered his son who was sitting by the huge computer. They have recently found out a place with an abnormal ectosignacure. It was an abandoned mansion in the woodland, far from any civilization. A great hiding spot for a murderer.

"Everything fits, it is the place." Tim informed after the results came. They had to check it out first before they attempt to catch the ghost again.

"We need to find information first. A covert mission." Bruce said, looking at the screen from behind Tim.

"The team can do it." Dick cheered and spun in his chair. "They didn't have any missions since we fought Phantom for the first time."

"When I said covert, I mean stealth covert." Bruce frowned. The team always found a way to blow something up or get caught during 'covert' missions. This was also too dangerous for some impulsive teens. Phantom wasn't an easy opponent.

Jason stood aside, watching his family forming a plan. The ectosignature, it wasn't Dan. Danny mentioned that Masters had a secret lab in the woods, where he nearly killed Danny when he sent wild ghost animals after him.

"I can stay with Danny at home. You guys can leave." Jason suggested. He really didn't want to go through an abandoned building. He would much rather stay here and try to make Danny talk.

"We aren't planning on leaving..." Bruce started but he was cut off by his second oldest son.

"Yet, Bruce, you aren't leaving yet. I know you'll chase after him."

"Bruce, we need backup if anything bad happens. Please, let the team go as a backup." Nightwing pleaded. There was a staring contest between him and Bruce. The whole cave quieted down, waiting for the outcome.

"They may come, BUT if they interfere with the mission when they shouldn't, or blow something up, I will make sure that no missions will be delivered to them. Ever again. They have to understand the importance of this mission." Batman threatened, letting everyone know that he meant it.

"Fine, I'll inform them." Nightwing said and ran into the Zeta tubes.

"The mission starts tomorrow, be here at 5 AM." Bruce informed.

"You have a plan already?" Jason asked confused.

"I always have a plan." Bruce said with a smirk.

"Yes we know, because you are Batman." The boys all said in unison.

~TheWhiteKnights