CW: discusison of character death, somewhat vague description of character death, depiction of bad mental health, soft suicidal ideation (connor, one single line near the end)

October 23

Dick stilled the moment the light flickered on. Shards of the now broken mirror and Phantom's mask laid scattered on the ground. Thankfully there was no blood on them so at the very least, Danny hadn't taken his gloves off. The toilet seat looked like it nearly got ripped off, but the distinct smell of bile still lingering said enough. That didn't help the ever growing dread pooling in his stomach.

"Danny?" He called out softly, cautious to not speak too loudly. Not because anybody might hear them, but rather Danny not looking like he could handle any loud noises at the moment.

Danny, no longer in his ghost form, sat in the bathtub. Completely curled up, there was only a small green glow coming out that indicated Cujo was still stuck to his chest. The water of the overhead shower was turned on, the opened door creating a draft that pushed the freezing air in Dick's direction.

No longer needing to put on an act, he let the shudder run down his spine as goosebumps formed on the exposed skin of his arms. Nevertheless, he walked a few steps further into the room, creeping closer to the bathtub. Danny didn't even look up once, but he knew well enough that he was still following Dick's every movement.

"Can I sit next to you?" He asked slowly, careful to not step on any of the broken glass on the ground. He didn't get much of an answer, just a shaky hum that betrayed the tears already shed. Inching closer, he climbed over the ledge and sat down next to his soaked brother. Just as he thought, the water was absolutely freezing. It was a miracle the water wasn't turning to ice the moment it touched Danny with the unintentional display of his powers earlier. By now, Dick couldn't even tell if it was cold because of the water, or because of Danny.

Letting the water hit his face for a bit, he slowly let the water ease up the glue around his eyes so he could take off his mask as well. It felt a whole lot better than just blatantly ripping it off. Pulling his knees to his chest, Dick let his head rest on them as he looked over to his brother.

Letting the silence take over them, only the sounds of the shower and the occasional sniff bounced against the walls. He didn't want to push Danny in any way, it never really worked all too well but clearly in more recent times it's gotten worse. He'd only just gotten Danny back, both in his life and on the hero scene again. One wrong move here and he might find a better, more hidden hole to crawl into and never come out of.

After a few stressful moments of slowly losing feeling from the cold water, his efforts finally paid off. Shifting to untangle his arm, Danny poked out his hand. Dick reached over, gingerly weaving their fingers together and giving Danny a soft squeeze. Danny slowly pulled his hand closer to his chest again, pulling Dick with him. Scooting over, Dick let Danny lean in so they were shoulder to shoulder.

Cujo poked his butt out from the side, backing up ever so slightly so he could tiptoe a leg into Dick's lap as well. Unsurprisingly, the tiny hellhound provided much needed warmth as he laid sprawled across them. It helped Dick deal with the freezing downpour just as much as the cold of the water helped Danny.

"Why do they hate clones?" Danny's voice cracked and broke halfway the sentence, only a whisper of the sound remaining. Saying it out loud seemed to bring back even more bad...whatever he was dealing with as he curled closer into Dick's side.

"They don't." Dick tried to reassure. But clearly, Danny's brain had a different opinion on it.

"Just a clone." He spat out, shaking slightly as a sob nearly broke off the rest. "A botched mistake that crawled out of the test tube."

Well, yeah. Dick couldn't argue against that. The team really had been welcoming of Conner's clone status. Nobody really even thought much about it until they were discovering new limitations to his powers. Or those awkward glances when Superman was mentioned. But other than that, he was just another person. He was Conner, their friend.

"She wasn't a mistake."

Tears flowed freely from his eyes again as Danny leaned over to press his head into Dick's chest. Clutching Cujo tightly to himself, Danny sobbed once more as Dick sat perplexed. Even without really understanding what or who he was talking about, Dick held Danny. Turning slightly, he angled himself to better hold onto the sobbing mess his brother turned into. The heavy vibrations of sadness wrecked his body. Much too pointy bones sticking between Dick's ribs, but he didn't care.

Sure, Danny cried rather easily. Crying is healthy, it helps to regulate emotions after all. A quick little cry here and there and he'd feel better again. This wasn't one of those times. This was way worse, near bordering the night of their parents death. That was the first time Dick had seen Danny break down that badly and until today, he hadn't again. Danny had been Dick's rock in juvi and after they got separated. Now he finally had the chance to repay that kindness.

And anybody that made him cry like this again will have to face his wrath.

He doesn't know how long it took, but eventually Danny started to calm down again. His tear reserves temporarily drying up again as he struggled to get control of his breathing again. Right, he did have to breathe now. Phantom doesn't need to breathe, Danny does.

Dick didn't say a word, didn't do anything except hold Danny and hum old songs their mami used to sing when they were sad. It helped, if only just a bit. Danny slowly uncurled himself and repositioned into a less broken mess of a position. Wiping at his eyes, Danny finally looked up with puffy eyes. The moment he actually looked at Dick however, tears immediately started forming again.

Dick gently pushed his head back down, forcing Danny to take a moment again before he broke down. A few choked down sobs later, a moderately concerned Cujo finally popped his head out of the cuddle containment. Danny sat back up again, head coming to rest on Dick's shoulder as he refrained from looking up again.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dick nudged softly. He'd be lying if he didn't say he was curious. Not much could break his big brother's resolve. Clearly Wally and Conner's words hit somewhere they shouldn't have. He couldn't help, or get the appropriate help, if he didn't know what it was.

Danny took a shaking breath, trembling softly until Dick pressed his cheek into soaked locks. "She-I-we, I guess..." Danny stumbled over his words, letting his brain spill out without thinking it over too much. "There was this old creeper. He had always been obsessed with the Fentons and after he found out about me being...well, me."

Neon green glowed in his hand, a small ecto-ball forming as it did. Before he could get too distracted, he squeezed his hand shut again and let the ecto dispel into the air. "He wanted me to become his heir. Probably thought he could pull a Bruce and get more positive publicity or whatever as well as a kid that was special in that unique undead flavor." He snorted humorously as Dick calmly hummed along as Danny told the story.

"After Amity...I was already in the prison when a little girl found me. She...wasn't fully matured yet like Conner is. She looked younger than us but not by a lot. Clearly that fruit loop couldn't just take no as an answer. He tried making more of me but failed every time. After the Fentons di-passed, he gave up on his efforts and released them all. As it turns out, creating clones of the undead isn't all that easy. She was the only one of them who made it out."

His voice trembled again, a sob threatening to cut him off once more. "I...I wasn't even there for a month yet. I couldn't just leave and face that man without playing right into the scenario I was trying to prevent from happening." He trailed the waterdrops cascading down his arms.

Pulling off his glove, the icy touch helped keep him grounded. "She was never truly alive. She was made to be half ghost from the start, but that's exactly what was wrong. Her DNA wasn't stable. Creating a perfect scientific impossibility took more than just copying over some samples." The inconspicuous scars on his arm held a faint glow to them as Cujo nuzzled his snout into it.

"I couldn't get her the help she needed back then. I hadn't even met Frostbite yet. If I did, maybe he could have stopped her cells from destabilizing. Stopped her from-" The burn was on his mind again, phantom pains coming back along with the memories that haunted him for months. Images flashed in his brain as he remembered that night.

He pulled Cujo back to his chest, tiny head just under his so the overpowering smell of wet dog would assault his nose. He traced the bat logo on Cujo's collar to keep his hands occupied. "Her form wasn't stable either. There was nothing I could do for her as she started-" A gag cut him off this time. All his attempted distractions failing as he remembered the feeling of his little clone. So scared and so so helpless as she melted down into corrupted ecto right in his hands.

Danny shot up from his position, making it to the toilet just in time as the warm, vile lemony flavor of stomach acid filled his throat. He didn't need to spell out what happened for Dick to get the picture. If he had been talking like Danny was, he was sure he'd be joining in on repainting the inside of the toilet bowl with his stomach content.

They had a baby sister, just like mami always wanted. And Danny had to watch, no, feel her die because of some monster. The same monster responsible for that horrible alternate future Danny had been running from this entire time. He didn't even dare move a muscle, choking down the rising bile as Danny struggled to keep his appearance stable. Any time he switched back to Phantom, he could feel waves of pain and this horrifying warm and sticky substance on his hands.

He knew it wasn't on purpose, Danny couldn't help it. Frostbite said those things might happen when there was a lot of ambient ecto and their natural connection to the other. He had no doubt having two ghosts around and both of their power flare-ups earlier was making this any less difficult.

His resolve shattered the moment Danny whispered out between sobs as he curled up between mirror shards. "She looked just like us, like you. I-I couldn't save her. She deserved to live too." Now the mirror had made way too much sense. Shakingly, he got up. Careful to not slip, he let Cujo guide him out of the bathtub and across from Danny.

They had a baby sister, his brain kept looping.

That was such a wild thought. If anybody told him even a month ago he'd be sitting on the bathroom floor of his Mount Justice room, not only with his now-half dead brother but also mourning the once-half dead now fully dead and gone clone baby sister he never got to meet? Yeah, one way ticket to Arkham right there. Somehow, someway, the craziness that was their lives never stopped. He could say the same for himself, being a co-founder of a whole ass hero team.

But none of that compared to the horrors Danny had to face alone.

That was how Selina found them ancients knows how long after they left. Dick had lost track of time way before ending up on the floor and he highly doubted Danny knew either. Selina didn't question them, however. Simply opening her arms and letting her drippy boys soak up the heat from her hugs. Going Bat mode with the door still open, she softly lifted Dick's head up to look at the cut on his cheek. It hadn't bled much, especially after Danny iced it over so she didn't expect it to leave a mark for long.

She hummed softly, letting them calm down before even daring to bring up getting them both dried off. With a bit of ghostly assistance, that wasn't too big of an issue. A little floating over the tub here and a hint of intangibility there and they were all nice and dry again. Not quite as presentable as before but a little bit of water and putting their masks back on should do enough.

After some cryotherapy from Danny's freezing hands to get their puffy eyes back to normal, Selina silently reminded Danny to transform back. One lightshow later, she guided them towards the therapy room. Not because she had to, they both knew the layout more than her. No, this was simply a comfort thing. The mindlink was down and neither had noticed when it went offline but chances are that M'gann was sleeping now. No word of Conner being back yet so that left 2 team members that didn't like them and one painfully forced neutral party.

Yeah, maybe it was for the better the link was down.

"We'll be down in the first conference room if you need us." Selina reassured the two before nudging them inside. Neither missed the small glare she sent Dinah's way. Stealing a glance at the other, the pair walked inside to the two armchairs provided. They were likely still left behind from Selina and Bruce's chat with the heroine before.

As if he was kicking an empty can, Phantom pushed the two chairs together. Doing whatever he could to both burn some energy and freak out his new teacher, he walked through the chairs only to slowly float up just enough so he could comfortably spin around and plop down upside down. Halfway hanging off the armchair, his back cracked unexpectedly. Melting into the sudden joint release, he swung his legs over the back.

Robin simply chose to sit down like a regular human, Cujo comfortably in his lap and eying Phantom in a rather unimpressed manner. Dinah awkwardly cleared her throat. Clearly the woman wasn't the most comfortable with either their current arrangement or whatever Selina and Bruce talked about earlier.

"Before we begin, I'd like to formally introduce myself. I'm Black Canary. But so long as we're in here, feel free to just call me Dinah." The blonde introduced herself to Phantom who looked anything but impressed. "Is there any name besides Phantom you'd like to be called?"

Purposely using a clawed finger, he poked around his ear and made no effort to even look in her direction. "Oh, look at you trying to respect deadnames. That's more than I expected to be quite frank." Using the trolling of people to burry any residual feelings, Phantom couldn't be any more sarcastic if he wanted. It's not like he'd tell them his name anyway. Not until they at the very least proved they were worthy of such precious information.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't aware-"

"Relax Dinah. It's a ghost thing." Robin reassured her, toothy grin matching his brother's. Sure, they weren't really in the mood for much but at least they could have some entertainment until they could go home and push their lovely bathtub chat in the back of their minds. "A ghost's name is something important just like the other meaning of it. Most of them chose a new name after forming and they call that new name their dead name because well yeah it's their chosen name in death."

"It was fun to watch you squirm though."

"Riiiiiiiiight." Dinah hesitated a bit, cringing slightly at how forced it sounded. It sounded like they were still trying to mess with her. The worst part was that she had no idea if they were serious or not. "Well," She cleared her throat, trying to get back on track. "I'm sure you're aware of why our first session is together rather than individual like the others." She started, eye slightly twitching at the bored yawn Phantom forced out.

"Somebody pissed off somebody, nobody trusts teach other, this is just a safety thing. Yada yada yada." Phantom mocked with a yapping gesture. Did she really think they wouldn't know why the power duo rolled up for the first time ever right before their session? Come now, they were Bats. No secrets kept unless they're for a good reason. "Get to the point already, Dinah." He purred out her name in a sickly sweet tone, toothy grin bordering on inhuman as it proudly displayed pointed canines. Not a single letter gone without sarcastic intent.

"Alright then." Dinah straightened out. "As you may have noticed, the League ordered a communication black out and put up quite some boundaries-" Phantom snorted, eliciting a grin from Robin as well. Trying to not let the interruption faze her, she continued, "Until we had a better view on your and Dick's situation."

"Robin."

"I'm sorry?" Dinah blinked confusedly.

Robin stared at her, face so stoic it could rival Batman's. But she had known this kid since he was still running around in pixie boots. She could easily pick up on the subtle fidgeting. "You want to talk boundaries, we're talking boundaries." The coldness of his tone betrayed his annoyance. It was a practiced pitch, one Batman often used to remain collected in high tension situations.

One day at a time, this boy was really proving DNA did not matter when it came to emulating ones parents. Doing nothing more than making a mental note of it, she figured there really was no use trying to wiggle around it. "One of the main concerns was why neither Robin nor Batman ever informed us of your...existence."

Robin openly rolled his eyes, lifting Cujo up to sit sideways on his chair. With his back now facing Phantom, he leaned over their shared armrests as his legs dangled off the other side. "Oh geez, I don't know. Maybe because there was no existing precedent for how something like this would be treated? Clark really handled the whole secret clone thing phenomenally, I must say." He propped his head up with a fist, knuckles cracking as he pressed his jawbone into it a bit too hard. "Or maybe because neither of us wanted to advertise something so personal that would rock everybody's perception of life after death."

"We already know about ghosts, the JLD has been working with Deadman-"

"Who isn't even a real ghost." Phantom cut her off once more with an openly annoyed scoff. The temperature dropped slightly before he folded his arms behind his head for some added support. "He isn't a true citizen of the Infinite Realms and falls outside of the perview of our laws. His creation was wholly magical, there isn't a drop of ecto in his system." He stated obnoxiously, as if he was speaking to an actual idiot. Which, everything considered, wasn't too far off. "Why else do you think Mr. Zatara willingly works with him?"

The blasé attitude was really not what she expected. It was like a blast from the past to Robin's early days. So young, so smart, yet so so angry at the world. And really, who could blame any of them. Nothing had gone quite as smoothly as anybody had thought. And no matter how much seniority Robin held over half of the hero community, he was still a child. A child stuck in an adults world and forced to grow up too fast.

Phantom, for all intent and purpose, seemed to be dragging Robin back out of that mindset even just a little. It had been quite a while since she had last seen Robin, not Dick but actually Robin, just have fun and act his age. There had been concerns about him becoming a mini-Batman. Devoid of emotions and pushing people away for the sake of the missions. To some, the simulation proved he was still going down that path.

To others, herself included, the exact opposite.

Even now, in their own way, the two boys in front of her were constantly bouncing off the other. Absolutely mastering the skill of deflection and just vague enough answers that the question was answered without revealing the info she was actually after. They had been going at it for at least 20 minutes before their antics were interrupted by a disgruntled looking clone barging in.

She was about to send Conner away, when the two gremlins before her grew identical smirks. Elated to see the clone again they both wandered over. "Conner! Glad to see you again!" Robin gleefully teased, already setting their escape in motion.

Phantom drifted closer as well, practically hanging over him but not quite touching the bigger teen. "Perfect timing, buddy. She's all yours." The soft touch of Phantom's hand on Conner's shoulder lingered for just a moment. Comfort washed over him as he felt the softest of nudges towards the blonde heroine as the two youngsters disappeared through the door.

Conner stood confused for a moment, slowly blinking the surprise and annoyance away. Taking a moment to compose himself, he walked back over to the chair he had hurriedly abandoned earlier in the day.

Dinah allowed silence to take over the room once again. Unlike before, there was no tension or awkwardness to the silence. Though she didn't particularly agree with Phantom's actions earlier, it did seem to have the desired effect she was after herself.

"You won't tell anybody, right?"

"Nothing leaves this room." She reassured him. Worry prickled up as she watched his shoulders sag in resignation. All the previous anger drained from him as he finally let go of the burden he had been carrying.

"Here's the ugly truth. I wasn't devastated." He started, hunched forward and avoiding contact as he mumbled on. "Even with Superman, Tornado, you...The whole League dead. Even though I didn't save Wolf. Watched Artemis and Kaldur die, abandoned M'gann." He paused, the weight of his words slowly lifting off his heart as he finally admitted the horrible feelings he had been hiding for so long.

"I felt...At peace."

Dinah forcibly stilled her muscles. Forcing a composed look so she wouldn't scare Conner into silence once more. It was quite a heavy hitting confession to process, much less experience.

"See," He continued on, not even noticing the shock that slipped through. "From the first moment I opened my eyes in that Cadmus pod, there has been only one thing I've wanted, and feared." He took a shaking breath, staring down at his hands. "To know what it is to be Superman. And now I know, so I was...happy." His voice cracked, shame written all over his face as he finally braved to look up.

"Everyone I care about, dead or traumatized. And I'm happy." His hands balled up again, nails nearly digging into his skin as the upset started to turn into frustration once more. "And then that brat had to show up, try to take over. Tried to kick me out of the one thing I was good at. What I was made for."

The shameful look morphed into a glare, but not one directed at her. "I was doing good. Finally able to protect a city I was supposed to protect. And he just...Just tried to cast me aside like I wasn't good enough. As if he could be the better new Superman because Robin already became the new Batman." He growled out, fists slightly trembling as he continued his rant.

"Wally got to be the new Flash, M'gann the new Manhunter. Hell, even Kaldur got to feel what it's like to be the new Aquaman for a moment. So why did he have to come in like he's better than me." Conner growled out, punching the armrest hard enough even the reinforced structure of the chair cracked. "What makes him so special?!"

"Conner-"

For the N'th time that day, she yet again got cut off. "Why is it that Phantom gets accepted like it's nothing, have not only Robin but also Batman and apparently also Catwoman rally behind him like he's some messiah." Tears threatened to bubble over as his voice started to shake the longer he talked. "Added onto the team like it was an afterthought without even asking any of us first."

All the anger, all the hurt he had been dragging along for more than just a week. Everything was finally spilling out into the open.

"Superman won't even look at me." He snarled but he was losing the bite in his tone. "What makes him so special that a spoiled kid like Robin and everybody around him just rolls with it?"

Conner looked away again, curling in on himself as his voice was barely loud enough for Dinah to hear. His voice quivered so much she was surprised any noise made it out in the first place. "Do I have to die too for Superman to care?"

Dinah made the mistake of looking directly at those teary cobalt eyes. Her heart broke at seeing somebody as strong willed as Conner reduced to just another hurt kid. He couldn't see it himself, that much was clear, but he did carry on more than just the happiness of getting to be Superman. Pain and hurt he couldn't quite yet identify on his own.

She leaned forward, hand hovering over his knee. Waiting for any kind of sign at all, she finally let her hand connect as she looked at him with care. "Robin isn't Superman, Conner. He has seen and been through enough to know blood ties don't make a family. How you treat each other does." She combed through every single wrinkle of her brain, trying to come up with a way to reassure the dejected clone that no drastic measures would need to be taken.

"Sometimes, all it takes to find where we belong is to surround ourselves with the people we want to emulate." She gave a reassuring squeeze to his knee before straightening out again, mindful to ignore the soft sniff coming from Conner.

"Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen." He grunted, looking away to hide the soft blush as he continued to sniffle and hide the treacherous tears. "The only person who can stand being around me is M'gann and that's probably just because she reads my mind." He knew that wasn't true. He knew that, truly, but right now? Right now it felt like the link the two of them had was all he had. The closest thing to a family and belonging somewhere he could imagine.

"You'll never know if you don't give it a shot." Dinah let silence wash over them once more, leaving the lost boy to sort through his thoughts.