October 10

The flight to Happy Harbor was...an interesting one.

Before they left, Alfred had given a note with questions for Frostbite. After some experimentation to make sure it wouldn't come off Cujo's collar when he shifted sizes, they sent the pup off to go look for the Chieftain. Danny even made sure to give Cujo a little ice statue of Frostbite so he would for sure find the right Yeti.

On their short flight over, Dick explained how the mind link works. And more importantly, how to not accidentally talk in it. It took Danny a second to wrap his head around, especially since the only experience he had with the feeling of the mind link, it had been the team talking about him during the attempted breakout. He didn't miss the added issue that apparently, M'gann can't tell them apart mentally so chances are he will be accidentally included if he gets close enough.

Hence, the explanation how to not mess up.

They parked the jet between the trees on top of the mountain. It's hidden well enough that it won't be easily spotted and they also don't need to make up an excuse as to why Dick had flown over instead of using the Zeta.

When they entered the hangar door, which was a hidden panel that opened up inward, Dick made sure to check around before he dragged Danny over to a big red egg looking thing. "This," he gestured to the egg, "is Bioship." Dick stood proudly, sunglasses hiding the twinkle Danny was certain was sparkling in his eyes. Like he was showing off a prized possession.

"That's a giant egg."

Dick smiled wildly, like he had hoped Danny would say that. "That's what we said too." He laughed, placing a hand on the egg. "Nah, she's just sleeping. I like talking to her between missions or during flight practice. She's a good listener." Danny watched in surprise and glee as the egg morphed into a big ship. Danny dropped his invisibility and floated up be at what he figured would be eye level.

"Woah." He breathed as a small appendage reached out towards him. He held out his hand for Bioship to feel. A small chill ran down his spine at the contact, letting Bioship shake his hand softly before she retracted the appendage again. Danny felt giddy all over but had to hold it in as he quietly floated back down towards his brother.

Dick, too, was holding onto an appendage. Softly petting it as he talked. "Bioship, this is my brother. Danny, Bioship. He's not really a part of the team yet but I figured it would be better if I introduced you to him first." Dick winked towards Danny.

The a smaller one split off from the one Dick was holding and reached for Danny again. Holding it similarly to Dick, Danny pet it too. "A pleasure to meet you, Bioship. You're really beautiful."

Dick chuckled. "Don't worry about him, he's just a giant space nerd and you're the first non-earth being he got to meet." The appendage reached out a little higher, ruffling both of their hair before shrinking down again. "Say, would you mind keeping this between us? Danny's just visiting for now and he's not really supposed to be here. Wouldn't want M'gann to get in trouble for knowing about him, you know."

Bioship reached up a final time to pat their heads before she morphed back into her sleeping form. Hopefully that meant she agreed to keep it a secret.

"Don't worry about her," Dick added as he started walking away. "She can only really talk with M'gann. Bioship, as in the species, can only talk telepathically with other telepaths. It's why they have a symbiotic relation with the Martians."

They fell into a comfortable silence as Dick led him around the base. Danny quickly noticed that, even though he was staying invisible, Dick always seemed to have a general feel of where in the room he was. It was oddly comforting to know Dick had a sixth sense for him.

What was less comforting was that the resident mutant wolf also seemed to have a sixth sense for him. The moment they entered the lounge, the big hound was up and growling at Danny. Luckily for them, Danny was floating just off to Dick's side so for the others it just looked like it was growling at the boy wonder.

"Wolf, down, boy." Connor commanded, trying to calm down his furry friend. His friends were all staring now, staring at Dick and not directly at Danny so at least he knew he was still invisible.

Dick rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle. "Aha, I've been staying at a friend's place. Guess Wolf is not a fan of cats, huh." Dick reached out a hand to Wolf, not too close but just close enough that his sent would carry over to the canine's sensitive nose. It took a moment but Wolf eventually calmed down, looking rather unimpressed that nobody else could tell it was a lie.

Dick had slightly expected something like this to happen so he made sure to wear Danny's hoodie from the day before so Wolf would see him as a friendly.

Danny had just enough time to float up and out of the way as Wally sped into the room, arm in a cast. "Oh, hey Rob. When did you get here, I didn't hear the Zeta."

Dick shrugged awkwardly, tilting his head just enough to send a glance in Danny's direction. "Not that long ago, must have just not heard it."

Wally stared, sipping his drink obnoxiously long. "Selina's?" Dick nodded, his hand finding it's way back over to his neck. Wally hummed softly before finally shrugging. "Oh well, better go suit up. Canary should be here any minute." He glanced over Dick's civvies, probably judging the amount of cat hair that was still attached to the fabric. No amount of lint rollers or Danny trying to turn him intangible worked so it was just permanent decoration until the next wash.

Dick excused himself quickly and lead the way towards his room. Making sure he stood enough to the side so Danny could see his code, Dick entered, waiting for the door to close before letting out a sigh. "That was close. I wasn't sure if Wolf would react but I guess we have our answer."

Danny turned around as Dick got changed, noting the barrenness of the room outside of a few duffels with spare gear and spare clothes. Probably emergency go-bags Batman made him pack. "Well, he is a dog. They're kind of known to be sensitive to the paranormal. You should have seen how often entire neighborhoods got woken up in the middle of the night just because a ghost decided to come cause trouble at ass o'clock." He laughed somewhat fondly at the memory now.

"Oh wow, I thought that was just a myth or something."

"No, it's legit. Kids, dogs, cats and those sensitive to the paranormal as a whole will probably notice me. Usually not perfect ecto-location but in a general sense just know something is off." Danny could hear the last few clicks of Robin's suit as he attached his cape and belt.

"Are you ready to see what real combat practice looks like?"

Sometimes Danny wonders if his brother knew what will happen after making a cocky statement. While Danny was definitely ready to simply float up in a corner so Wolf would ignore him, Robin, however, seemed to be struggling a little. Danny could tell, of course, that he was showing off more than taking it as a serious practice. A mistake that made him kiss the floor as Artemis got the upper hand for a third time now.

Danny had to stifle a laugh, cringing slightly as Wolf's head shot up right to where he was floating. After a moment of silence, the canine's ears flattened again and he went back to his nap. At least Wally seemed more interested in his pineapple juice than anything else. The injured speedster really seemed to relish in the special treatment he was getting from Captain Marvel.

"Good work everyone." Black Canary addressed the team. "In fact, it has been a very productive week." Danny wasn't sure how true that statement was as he knew for a fact Robin had gotten in trouble with Batman for missing not only patrols but also his training here.

"Yeah, for everybody except Kid Malingerer." At least Artemis shared the sentiment, just for another person.

Wally choked on his juice, indignantly waving his cast around to try and elicit some sympathy. "Hey, arm broken in combat against the Injustice League here." How a broken arm is supposed to prevent him from running, Danny didn't understand. But this wasn't his argument to win.

Black Canary chuckled a little, pulling attention back on her before another argument could break out. "Heh, I've really enjoyed being your, uh, den mother this week." Whatever else she wanted to say was cut off by the Zeta AI announcing the arrival of a new person. Danny didn't recognize the name, but what he did know was the annoying pressure in the back of his head when a strong sorcerer was near.

Recognized Zatara 1 1

The source of Danny's growing headache stepped out of the portal. Without as much as a greeting, he opened a panel and tapped around on it before the Zeta started up again.

Access granted

Zatanna Zatara A 0 3

Authorization

Zatara 1 1

Oh how amazing, there's two of them. Danny nearly cursed as the moment the girl, Zatanna, fully materialized, she looked up straight to where he was floating. As if he hadn't had to deal with being spotted enough today.

"Zatanna, this is the team." Mr. Zatara spoke, a noticeable Italian accent coming through as he spoke. "Team, my daughter, Zatanna." By some miracle the man hadn't noticed Zatanna staring off at a random light fixture up at the ceiling. Robin, however, had noticed and immediately cut off M'gann's introduction. Probably in hopes of pulling her focus off of Danny, but seeing the Robin instantly embarrass himself in front of a girl made Danny wonder if he had other reasons.

"Hi, I'm-"

"Robin!" Robin had sprinted from the back of the group all the way to the front, just so he could give the most awkward wave Danny had ever witnessed. He really had to bite down on his lip to not burst out laughing. "Ahem, I mean, I'm Robin." He tried to salvage that disaster of an introduction, straightening out again as he introduced the others. "She's M'Gann, uh, and that's Wally, Artemis, Kaldur and Conner."

Kaldur nodded in greeting, stepping forward slightly. "Welcome to the Cave." Danny rolled his eyes slightly. How original of a name. Totally not like that wasn't already claimed by Batman years ago. But, he relented, superheroes weren't the best at naming things. Either it was extremely on the nose or it followed a theme like the plethora of bat named things or every super-something in existence.

"Um, thanks." Zatanna spoke softly, looking away slightly before Robin decided to open his mouth again to stutter through his sentence with impeccable determination to just keep embarrassing himself. Really, Danny should figure out how to get into the security here so he can get a copy of the tape for later. This was prime blackmail material and he wanted it yesterday.

"So, y-y-y, are you joining the team?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Mr. Zatara cut in, looking very displeased at Robin. Perhaps the man didn't like his only daughter being flirted with right under his nose. "This is strictly a visit." He turned to address Black Canary, having the decency to take his top hat off. "Though I am sorry we missed the training. It's something from which Zatanna could benefit."

Whatever they discussed after, Danny couldn't pay attention to as a conversation buzzed to life inside his brain.

"Do you get the impression...we're still on probation with Zatara?" M'gann asked a little unsure.

"Not just Zatara." Connor replied, crossing his arms with a telepathically audible huff. "Why's Marvel still hanging around?"

"Because," Wally supplied, "we like having him around."

Artemis immediately cut in, rolling her eyes at the speedster. "You like having him around because he wait's on you hand and foot."

"And your point is?"

Danny was watching this mess with a birds eye view. He was slowly getting the feeling they might use the mind link just to trash talk whoever they don't want overhearing with how this was going. If that was the case, however, they might want to work on being less obvious with their body language as Danny wasn't the only one starting to notice something.

"It almost makes one nostalgic for Red Tornado's tenure as our supervisor." Kaldur spoke calmly. He seemed the most levelheaded out of everybody so far. He can't really judge Robin as his brother hadn't spoken yet. Hopefully it'll stay that way just in case Danny would mess up and they'd all realize the voice didn't come from the boy in front of them but the one hiding up above.

"Yeah," Robin scoffed, "at least he trusted us." Well so far for that.

"If you ignore the fact we shouldn't have trusted him." Connor growled angrily, gesturing wildly as he went on. Something Zatanna had also clearly picked up on as she started to be able to tell something was definitely going on. "He was a traitor! That machine nearly got M'-" Connor paused for a second, tripping over the slip of the brain. "All of us killed!"

Danny had to give him credit, that was a whole lot smoother than Robin earlier. Unfortunately for all of them, however, no amount of telepathic smoothness could save them from Zatanna's watchful eye. "Are you guys having a psychic conversation? Because I can't decide if that's cool or really rude." She half chuckled the last part, seemingly not sure if it was even her place to speak up.

An awkward silence fell over the room, a battle of will between the team and the adults. Superboy was the first to crack under the intense stare from Black Canary. "All right, fine. We were talking about Tornado. It's been weeks since his attack and the League hasn't told us anything."

Canary didn't seem to like his tone, glaring slightly as she addressed their concerns. "The League is searching for Tornado as well as the other androids that invaded the cave and their creator, T.O. Morrow." She paused slightly to glance over at Robin, something there went unspoken before she continued. "Batman's made tracking them down our highest priority."

Robin stepped forward, probably justifiably feeling spoken to as the only, currently recognized, protégé under Batman. The chance Robin had been keeping tabs on League business without permission was about as high as Danny's adrenaline spiked every time Zatanna glanced his way. "But you've found none of the above."

His argument didn't do much as Canary immediately shot down any further attempts to discuss it. "Not yet, but Tornado is Justice League. The team is not to pursue this." Her tone was final, tensions rising in the air as neither she nor the team liked the topic.

Danny stared as Zatanna calmly walked over to Wolf, glancing between him and the canine as if she knew Wolf would have reacted to him. Only raising a questioning eyebrow and staying silent, she sat down and leaned against the mutant. Wolf looked up at the pressure, seeing Zatanna stare at Wolf before sending a soft nod in Danny's direction. Wolf immediately snapped up to where Danny was still hiding invisibly, before flattening his ears again and laying back down. That seemed to be enough confirmation for Zatanna as she smirked up at him.

"Why don't you all take Zatanna on a, uh, tour of the um cave?" Mr. Zatara suddenly spoke up, looking around confusedly to where his daughter had snuck off to. Zatanna did her best to give him an innocent smile, so far keeping Danny's presence a secret. Who knows how long that will last for however.

Before anybody could counter the idea of a tour, Captain Marvel flew back inside, carrying a hot plate of nachos. "Ah. You're giving a tour? Cool."

The team all shared a look, no need for a mind link to know where they were going with this. "Actually," Connor spoke as he walked up to Captain Marvel at the same time Wolf did. "I was hoping you'd take Wolf outside. He needs the exercise We'll join you in a few." He added a small shrug at the end, lying his way into ditching the Leaguer.

Captain Marvel, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic to be asked for help. "Sure, sure, I can do that! Come on, Wolf." And so, with the excitement of a 10 year old child, he ran off with Wolf following that plate of nachos closely.

Apparently those were intended for Wally as he solemnly cries out for his snack before Connor grabbed the front of his shirt to drag him along with the rest as they left. Danny chose to follow them too, absolutely disliking how it brought him in closer quarters with Zatanna as the girl seemed rather entertained at his presence. Sneakily she fell to the back of the group, acting like she was looking around while in reality, she was just tracking where Danny was flying. Not one to like being indirectly stared at, Danny went fully intangible and flew up more to the front. He could hear her whisper something but he didn't pay attention. He was more focused on not colliding with the others as he flew to be next to Robin.

With utter care to not make him jump, Danny let just his pinky become tangible again as he hooked it around Robin's. An old habit from their circus days but it still gave them both comfort.

Too bad comfort was hard to find as Zatanna, now in a different outfit, had also ran up to walk on the other side of his brother. It's almost like she is taunting him. "When did you- How did you..." Robin let his question trail off, noticing he won't get an answer out of the smirking girl.

"We're not really taking a tour, are we?" She asked, boredom and reluctance clear in her tone. The rest of the team paused, gathering around in a group. Danny stayed behind Robin, only slightly annoyed he had to let go.

Connor was the first to turn as he answered with half a growl. "No, we're hunting down that robot." He glanced over to Kaldur, waiting for their leader to speak his mind on it as they didn't actually agree to do anything.

"Yes. We are."

"Oh wow, out loud and everything." Zatanna commented sarcastically. She probably wasn't going to let them live down the conversation fiasco from earlier for a while.

"What about the new girl?" Artemis sounded unsure, not too pleased they were discussing breaking direct orders in front of somebody they only just met. Danny could share the sentiment but they hadn't actually met him yet so that just made it so much worse.

"I'm sure she won't tell." Robin comforted Artemis, sounding pretty confident for a boy who really shouldn't be with the first impression he gave earlier.

Zatanna smiled at them both but Danny could tell she was slightly looking over Robin's head as she looked his way. If this wasn't a clear sign she was just taunting him, he didn't know what else to make of it. "I can't tell," she finally answered, "not if you kidnap me."

Danny let his shoulders sag in defeat. So far for just coming over to watch the training. Artemis was a whole lot happier with her reply however. "Oh, she's gonna fit in great."

They all started walking towards the hangar until Robin walked off to the side. "Actually, I have to grab something from my room. I'll meet you guys at Bioship in 5." He didn't give them any time to react as he already started speed walking his way back to his room. Danny floated happily in front and opened the door for his brother.

The moment the door shut, Danny reappeared on the visible plain, arms crossed and totally not amused by the current state of affairs. "I'm getting kidnapped too, aren't I?"

Robin cackled as he grabbed one of his emergency go-bags. "See, it's like you're part of the team already." He cooed, rummaging through the bag to make sure it had everything he wanted as Danny went off about little miss creepy.

"You know she knows, right?"

"Who?"

"Zatanna! She instantly clocked me and has done nothing but make sure I know she knows!" Danny threw up his hands in frustration, very thankful the rooms were superhearing sound proofed. He actually felt like he was going to lose his mind. "Of course the one time I join you here, not one but two Homo Magi show up! And now we're going on an illegal mission with a stow away ghost and a runaway sorcerer! That is just begging for issues!"

Dick smiled softly as he placed a steadying hand on Danny's shoulders, softly pulling him back down. "Danny, don't worry. Zatanna seems really chill. I doubt she'll do anything. She's probably just having some fun."

"Just some fun? You don't get it! Homo Magi don't like ghosts! They absolutely hate our undead guts! Ghosts are damn near immune to most spells and Homo Magi can't ever turn into ghosts. It's like, some really old beef they've had with ghosts and now I'll be stuck with one! On an illegal mission! If she tells her dad-"

"Danny! Breathe, man. Take a deep breath." Robin placed a hand on Danny's cheek, dragging Danny's hand over to his chest. "Tell me 5 things you can see."

"Dick, I'm not doing this-"

"Just try."

"Fine." Danny looked around the room, some things seemed more blurry than they were a few seconds ago. "You, your bed, that very empty closet, dresser, bag."

Dick smiled, moving his hand from Danny's cheek back to his shoulder. Rubbing soft circles on his shoulder he gave the next prompt. "4 things you can touch."

Danny let out an annoyed huff but didn't argue back this time. "You," he made a point to press his cheek onto his brother's hand before continuing. "The floor, my hoodie and my hair."

"See, already half way. Now 3 things you can hear."

"Do I have to?" Danny groaned, letting his head fall back as he softly landed on the floor. He honestly doesn't even know just how high he unintentionally floated up earlier.

"The faster you say the things, the faster it's over." Robin sing-songed, clearly enjoying this more than he should.

"There's this very annoying voice telling me to do things." Robin softly punched Danny's shoulder before letting him continue. "The static in the tv, your heartbeat."

"Huh, never really noticed the static. Anyway, 2 things you can smell."

"I swear, fine, fine, coconut bodywash and Alfred's laundry detergent." Danny was playfully glaring at this point, beyond done with the calming exercise. It wasn't even that bad and clearly he was doing better. But if his brother insisted than so it shall be.

"One thing you can taste."

"Static."

"Static isn't a flavor!"

"It so is!"

"Fine, fine. You win." Dick hugged Danny tightly, making sure he actually felt Danny's muscles relax before he let go. "How do you even know about the Homo Magi stuff?"

Danny stared back blankly with a small shrug. "I did pay a little attention when Frostbite explained stuff."

"Well," Dick picked up the backpack and swung it over his shoulder, already heading towards the door. "Are you ready for your first kidnapping?"