November 4

"No like honestly. What even is it with that?"

"It's like he's too good to wear civvies like the rest of us plebs and Robin just follows his lead."

"Clearly the kid can wear civvies, he did it before in there."

"Tt, it's like he's thinking he's better than us by always being prepared for a fight. Like give me a break. Work-life balance where?!"

"Maybe he's just not comfortable?" M'gann tried to supply but was immediately waved off by her teammates as they kept going.

"Pfff," Wally scoffed, scarfing down more cookies she had made for everybody. "The Robin I know would never let anything dumb like peer pressure from one kid affect him."

This wasn't how she expected her day to go. They were all doing rotations with Dinah again and actually staying back to hang out a little afterwards. Everything seemed fine until it was finally Phantom and Robin's turn. Not that they themselves were the main event. Batman and Catwoman personally escorted the two to there and they've been in there with Dinah for two whole hours already.

"Phantom is not just a kid, however." Kaldur countered, pensively leaning against the counter as he kept a respectful distance from the mess Wally was making. "Robin has made it more than clear that Phantom is his kin."

None of her teammates liked it. Artemis the least of all as she seemed to both want to crawl in a hole and disappear while simultaneously fight the desire to notch an arrow at the reformed villain. Though she didn't miss the glares her Earthling sister had sent Batman as well. Artemis' mind felt off ever since Phantom was brought into the team, but the odd feeling spiked even more any time their two boys were near Batman.

Catwoman was a whole separate walking disaster M'gann would rather not get too close to. If only just so she wouldn't have to find out why Artemis dislikes the woman so much.

"Would make it a whole lot easier on us all if those two little shits didn't sound identical over the mindlink." Artemis complained as she sipped her own hot cocoa.

Kaldur looked pensive, choosing to neither drink nor eat as he wasn't a fan of the overly sweet concoction his friends were devouring. "It is rather unfortunate that Phantom's telepathic voice lacks the vocal echo his audible counterpart has." Taking a respectful nibble of his own small plate of cookies, he looked neither pleased or discontented at the little drama hour everybody was having.

"As if that isn't just a load of bull too." Wally argued back, not wanting to give up on whatever he still had raging in his brain. "If he really was a clone, how come the League didn't know about anything? We had our eyes on Cadmus for months before AND after we found SB. No way a Robin clone of all things just went under the radar like that. Not when we all watched Rob blow up the DNA samples." He mumbled the final bits as even his mental state was being overwhelmed by the amount of cookies rage-stuffed into his mouth.

M'gann tensed slightly. None of the boys liked talking about what exactly happened during the mission that led to them rescuing Conner. Sure, she knew the basics of the unsanctioned mission, as if that was anything surprising, but actual details? Nothing beyond random tidbits that slipped out at moments like these.

If their DNA had been stolen, even if destroyed, maybe the idea that enough residue survived to create Phantom wouldn't be too off. After all, Conner was rescued when he was a mere 16 weeks old. Who knows what data was already stored before the explosives went off. Or more worryingly, who got their hands on said data.

It would somewhat explain why they found him collared to all hell in Belle Rêve.

And if that really is where Phantom came from, could there be others of Wally and Kaldur too? The League's reaction to Phantom's sudden appearance was starting to make more and more sense to her, unfortunately.

Conner, for his part, looked so far beyond uncomfortable it didn't even feel like an accurate description. Choosing to stare at the broken bits of cookie in his chocolate milk, he watched it bobble around every time Wally moved too erratically. The soggy treat being on the receiving end of a failed attempt at gaining heat vision.

Was this normal friend behavior for Earthlings? M'gann wasn't quite sure. On Mars, everybody would know such things. If there were issues with one another, surely it wouldn't be discussed behind that person's back either. It wasn't that she enjoyed it, but it also just didn't feel like her place to speak up about.

She didn't understand the issue of the 'civvies' as Wally had put it. She, too, was essentially always combat prepared as her outfit was just a simple thought away from morphing into her Miss Martian suit.

Though she struggled at first too, ever since Phantom helped clear up that ectoplasm issue, she has had no problem differentiating the two when speaking. It was likely it was due to her being the only telepath in the team, but she was starting to pick up on some mild speech pattern differences between the two. But she was rather sure none of her teammates would appreciate the advice on how to tell the two apart given their current topics.

Still, this seemed to be the norm as Wally, Artemis, an occasional comment from Conner and even Kaldur divulged more in their gossiping.

Artemis leaned forward to grab a handful of cookies before Wally's mess of crumbles could contaminate that side of the tray. "I heard Arrow say he isn't even a clone." She supplied venomously while avoiding eye contact with Conner as the resident clone's head shot up. The odd tone when she said her mentor's name, or rather alias, went ignored as they all focused in on the interesting new info she had been given.

Looking over to Wally for support, Artemis accepted the offered cookie before continuing under the pressure of the clone's death stare. "Wonder Woman told him she found records, like cave paintings and some old tapestries or some old shit like that, and the person depicted on it is like near identical to Phantom."

Kaldur didn't look quite as convinced as the others. "But then why would he look and sound so identical to Robin? That cannot be mere coincidence. Perhaps there is a better explanation that we have yet to be given?" Artemis and Conner looked ready to accept that as a fact. Neither having quite settled where on the spectrum of Phantom theories they'd choose to make their bed.

Wally on the other hand, had other thoughts that were fighting to escape his brain.

"So, what?" The poor cookie in Wally's hand got crushed to dust as his chair slid to the other side of the kitchen. "The kid's not even a kid?" At Artemis' helpless shrug, his frustrations grew even more. "I bet you that's why Dinah freaked out the other day. If she knows he's lying and the entire League knows he's dangerous, why is he even here? Why do we allow him to be around Robin and on missions?!"

"We do not know the cause of these occurrences in time, my friend." Kaldur tried to reason, his less than relaxed stance betraying how he was preparing for Wally to lash out further. "A clone or not, thousands of years old or not, he is part of our team." Before Wally could rage further, Kaldur quickly added, "He is on our team, whether we like it to be so or not. It is best not to get too worked up on it before we get more answers and clarifications."

"Canary did mention something about Zatara coming over for just that tomorrow." M'gann finally spoke again, clearly having been forgotten about by her teammates as they looked at her in surprise. "Perhaps that is why Batman and Catwoman are here too, you know? Discussing how to say what." She trailed off as she could actively see their facial expressions change.

Wally's darkened expression shifted to something she couldn't quite read.

Artemis looked even more conflicted at the mention of the two mentors.

Kaldur just looked grateful to not be the only one trying to diffuse the mess they had found themselves in.

Conner...Conner just looked like he wasn't even in the link at all. Completely ignoring everything going on, his eyes were nearly glazed over as he was so lost in thought the clone didn't even react to Wally's chair making that awful noise earlier. M'gann knew that just like Artemis, his mind had been feeling off, more clouded, ever since Phantom joined the team. Though it did seem like his talks with Canary were helping, she wasn't sure how she could help her boyfriend beyond showing that she was there for him.

That was, after all, the correct Earth custom to follow.

She wasn't quite sure what to do when Wally just picked up where he left off before. Instigating another round of 'top 10 reasons we don't like Phantom', he seemed like he could go on for ages ranting about his dislikes about the boy.

He zeroed in on Phantom's consistent power use next. Mainly just complaining about the constant levitating the boy did, completely ignoring M'gann herself also flew around and used her telepathy whenever most convenient. Or even the fact they were all talking via her telepathic mind link at the very moment.

Feeling like she wasn't up for any more of it, she turned off her side of the link. Wanting to just roam the place she called home, she walked through the old hide out's hallways with no clear destination in mind.

Was Phantom really this bad of an influence that it validated so many complaints against him?

She understood that what happened wasn't an enjoyable experience for anybody, and most certainly a horrible first impression to a fellow hero. But, at least in her eyes, he was still just that. A fellow hero. And from what she understood, he wasn't being treated as such, even when he helped them in there.

Sure, being suspended from missions wasn't fun. But that didn't mean they couldn't still hang out just as people. She quite enjoyed this supposed "bad influence" Phantom had on Robin. He seemed...calmer in a sense. Like a long standing pressure had been lifted off his shoulder any time the young bird was near the ghost.

And that was another thing she couldn't wrap her head around. As far as she had understood, it was taboo to speak ill of the dead. So why was everybody being so rude and speculating about all aspects of him?

As if her mind had felt the call, she soon found herself in all too familiar halls. Rounding the corner that led to the designated therapy room, she stilled. Sitting on the floor right by the door was Phantom. She wasn't even aware he wasn't in there with the others, not present in the mind link either. Seeing him there was more than just a small surprise however. She could feel the intense tension from the therapy room seep out, fighting the urge to connect to the minds inside just to get an understanding of what was going on.

Why Phantom was sitting outside, how long he had been there and how long he'll remain. But all of that soon went out the proverbial window as she actually had a closer look at the young hero before her.

Feeling her throat close up, she stared at the zoned out boy. Or rather, so locked in he hadn't even noticed her arrival yet. Phantom sat relatively comfortable, legs crossed as he had one older looking laptop floating over one knee. On his other knee rested his glove, projecting a screen for him to type on at about the same height as the floating laptop.

That wasn't what was making bile creep up. She had seen and done stranger things herself when attempting to multitask projects.

No, it was the fact that for the first time ever, she had a full view of his ungloved hand. Rather, the electric green scarring that snaked its way up to almost his elbow.

Phantom pains from those horrid memories, being in there and feeling Phantom's pain as if it was her own flooded her mind once more. He scratched at his arm, not noticing his audience in the slightest, leaving red marks along the green. She couldn't help but rub her palm as she stared at the boy's scars. The action itself bringing her back to all the times she couldn't sleep from the intense pain in her arm. She hadn't thought about it too much but seeing as the majority of the scarring originated from his hand, she was rather sure of what exactly she was looking at. What she had felt back then.

What certain people were fighting tooth and nail to deny.

No matter what the team thought, what anybody tried to convince her of, the view before her solidified what she had believed before. This boy, this child, truly had passed, and nobody was there to save him from such a horrible fate.

"Phantom?" She failed to keep her voice steady, wincing slightly but feeling relieved when the boy didn't react. Looking closer, she only now noticed the odd bulge from under his hood. The distinct form of a headset letting her know he likely didn't hear her due to music or the like.

Swallowing hard and acting like she just arrived, she floated up once more. Moving just slightly so she wouldn't look like she had been standing still the entire time, she sent a soft mental nudge to Phantom as she inched her approach.

The reaction was instantaneous. Phantom's head snapped towards her, a wave of panic and unease flowing off of him as he nonchalantly leaned back, effectively and smoothly hiding his exposed arm behind his cape. The laptop that had been floating over his leg came tumbling down, landing on the boy's knee before clattering on the tiles below. Wincing at the impact, Phantom still plastered on a smile as he greeted his teammate. "Hiya, M'gann." Behind his casual posture, she could practically swim in the intense nervousness rolling off of him.

M'gann tried to follow along with the act, floating back down so she wouldn't be towering over him too much. "Hey," she praised herself for keeping her tone steady this time, "how come you're sitting out here?" She asked casually, it being the first question coming to mind.

Phantom shrugged, looking like he was about to make some sort of gesture before locking his arm back in place and shifting his weight onto it. "Eh, all they're doing is arguing anyway. Could use my time in a better way than sitting there listening to how the League doesn't trust me." Though he sounded as blasé as physically possible, M'gann could see right through the act. Hurt of such nature was never easy to hide, especially not to a telepath like her.

"Oh." Was all she managed. Not quite sure how to continue from there as awkwardness flooded the space. Not noticing her own movement, she only noticed she started rubbing her palm once more after Phantom stared at her with what she could only imagine to be cloudy eyes, unease rising from his person.

"You saw them, didn't you?" He asked rhetorically, for once not putting on an act as he let his discomfort be heard. He leaned forward, folding his shoulders in such a way it made the fabric of his cape slide in front of him. Hidden from view, one didn't need x-ray vision to know Phantom was cradling his forever injured arm.

"What happened?" She found herself hearing her own voice, hating how for just a split second, Phantom looked like the hurt child he was trying not to be.

Shrugging away the slip up, he grabbed the glove from his knee with his covered arm. "It's just an old injury." He stated as if it meant nothing. Trying to not look up at the Martian as he felt her gaze burn into him, he shook out the old cooling pads. "It's just being a bit annoying again, no biggie." He forced a smile as he pulled the fabric over his ever so sensitive skin. Not even smoothly, he fought to school his expression as his arm slowly slipped into the fabric.

M'gann didn't believe a single part of his attempted dismissal. Clearly it wasn't just the topic of the discussion that made him leave if he felt the need to take off the glove. Something he surely wouldn't have done in front of Canary. "Is it because of the training the other day? Why you wouldn't use your powers?" She pushed a little further, not quite sure when the next time would be that she could get to talk to the boy one on one without anybody objecting to it.

"Nah, just one of those days again. Really, it's nothing." Phantom shrugged again as if it was a defense mechanism. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he picked up the fallen laptop again. Attempting to tap away at the keys once more, he failed to focus as M'gann kept lingering about. Feeling her eyes on him, he had to fight the urge to just turn invisible so he could find peace. If only that would work when the telepath could still talk to him if he'd do so.

M'gann fiddled with her belt, trying to give her hands something else to do than rub at her palm. "I could get some pain medication for you if you want? Or an ice pa-"

"Just drop it already!" Phantom snapped at her, a physical wave of cold extending from him as he glared up at the Martian. Though, seeing her genuine surprise, he did feel bad. Closing his eyes and looking away, he took a deep breath. Exhaling with an addition of some snowflakes, he straightened up. "I-Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you. But please just leave it be." He reiterated before looking back at the laptop, not even faking going back to work.

Before M'gann could even utter a reply, Cujo came popping through the door. The little hound nuzzled his way into Phantom's lap as he started trying to drag Phantom out of his own head. Barely a few seconds later, the door opened up.

"-trying to help others! What kind of mentor are you to not see that?!"

"They are children before heroes, Selina! Disobeying direct objectives, even in a training setting-"

Robin wandered out, closing the door behind him as he locked eyes with M'gann. "What's going on here?" He didn't sound accusatory, didn't sound upset. He didn't sound like much of anything really. But the cold stare he gave to his supposed friend reminded the girl of all the times Batman was not amused by their results on a mission.

Saving her from the silent scrutiny, Phantom picked himself up, handing the laptop over to Robin. "Nothing." He grunted out as he shifted Cujo into his right arm. "Let's just go home." Moving to stand next to Robin, he made his arm invisible in order to lock his pinkie with Robin's.

Feeling the pressure around his finger, Robin knew it was time to leave. "Good, because I'm pretty sure we left Nanaki and Shiro alone for long enough they're probably plotting to burn the house down for some attention." Making sure he wouldn't accidentally hurt Phantom by putting pressure on his hand in any way, he made a cautionary move before leading the way to the hangar. In no way, shape or form was he going to allow his brother to zeta home, not with his mind and arm being a clear mess.

It would be a lie to say it wasn't for his own sake either. Today had been quite messy. Cujo leaving suddenly was the escape he had been looking for in order to leave as well. And if the preparation discussions went this badly, he feared what tomorrow's training session with Zatara attending would bring.

Sending a message to Alfred before taking off, the three of them started their relaxing flight back to Gotham.

scene ref: c51