As soon as the door fell shut behind him Danny let out a breath he had not noticed he had been holding. He allowed himself a moment to gather his thoughts, leaning against the dark wood. Four words were repeated in his head, over and over, like a mantra that was supposed to keep away the images he involuntarily made up about their death. Whenever they would try to invade his thoughts – which was quite often – he would speak those words in his mind. I am not alone. It was all he could do to keep himself somewhat together. He was just a twelve-year-old that had been orphaned. It was no surprise he felt as though he had been left alone on this earth, er, in this world. Worlds? Dimensions? Nevermind.

After briefly closing his eyes and taking another deep breath he pushed himself away from the door and ventured deeper in the gigantic bedroom, his bedroom. Stopping in front the window he could not help but think back when he first woke up in Vlad's castle, finding out he was on the ghost zone and first learning about his powers. It felt like an eternity since then - an eternity he had lived most of in that same place – but the memories seemed so clear to him right then that it was as though it had been yesterday. But now was different from then. This time he was with people that were actually willing to do something in order to be able to call themselves his "family".

Danny found himself honestly enjoying the view of the beautiful garden surrounding the manor and the tall buildings of Gotham City rising up in the distance. He could definitely get used to that. Turning away from the window, Danny walked over to the bed that was positioned at the middle of the left wall. It was big enough for at least three of him to sleep in comfortably with still more than enough space to move. Danny eyed the clothes that had been placed in top of it. They were not exactly what he would usually wear but he decided they were not bad either. Taking the boundle with him, he made his way to the bathroom. Once inside, he quickly stripped away his old clothes, only now fully realizing just how messy they really were. Well, he thought, sleeping next to an old dumpster in some random alley does that. As he was about to just put on the ones Dick had lent him, his gaze fell onto the shower cabin to his right. Taking a quick shower would not hurt, right? And so he stepped inside, happy to be able to clean himself. When he was done he felt like he had not only washed away the grime and dirt on his body, but also part of what had happened. It felt good to say the last. He quickly put on the pair of casual jeans and the shirt that were not his, noticing that they did in fact fit him rather well. Then, remembering the last time he had actually used a toothbrush had been a couple of days back, he grabbed the one from the sink and did that too. Then, finally satisfied, he left the bathroom, placing his old clothes at the foot of his bed and walking over to the phone that stood on a commode. He hesitated only for a short second before grabbing it and dialing the number of Tucker Foley. It took a moment for the other to pick up, a moment that seemed agonizingly long to Danny. Then, finally, a voice came from the speaker.

"Hello?"

The voice sounded vary, unsure who had called him. It was only now occurring to Danny that Tucker did not know the number of Wayne manor, but the thought only grazed his mind as he was far too happy to hear his best friends voice again.

"Tuck, it's me, Danny."

He could make out a weird choking noise from Tucker, who apparently had not been expecting Danny to have been the one who called him. Tucker coughed once, then answered, his tone showing happiness and disbelief.

"D-Danny? It's really you?"

Danny chuckled lightly, tears of joy slowly gathering in his blue eyes.

"The one and only."

Now Tucker laughed, too. It was a laugh that sounded relieved and somehow hysterical to Danny.

"Oh my god. I thought I'd never see you again! I mean, uh, hear your voice again..."

This made Danny laugh another time. Then he started explaining what had happened, leaving out the ghostly parts and simply telling Tucker that he had been kidnapped by some guy he did not know, who was the same person that had caused the explosion at Fenton Works. Then he asked about Sam and how Tucker and her had been doing without him. Tucker sighed unhappily.

"Well I guess you can imagine. Thinking your best friend died is not exactly the best thing to bond over. I mean, sure, Sam and I are great friends, but the reason we became friends in the first place are you, man. And then Sam started having dreams about you and she began to claim you were still alive, which I now know is true, but anyways-"

"Actually, Tuck, I think I should really call Sam as well."

There was a pause on Tucker's side of the line.

"Yeah, you're right. You should."

"I'll call you later, or tomorrow maybe, okay?" Danny suggested

"You better do. We need to make out a time for me to visit. Or you could come... to Amity..."

"Uh, yeah. We will. I'll call Sam now. Bye, Tuck."

"Bye Danny. And don't you dare disappear on me until tomorrow!"

Danny sighed heavily as he hung up. It had been hard telling Tucker everything, or most of it, anyway. He had even left out a few details as to not make it worse, like the fact that he was now living with Bruce Wayne of all people. Tucker would have probably wanted to come over at that instant had he found out about that tiny detail. Danny dialed Sam's number before he could change his mind about it. Besides, she had the right to know he was okay. Judging from what Tucker had let slip, she had not taken it too well hearing Danny was being presumed dead. The talk went pretty similar to the one he had had with Tucker, just with a bit more I knew you were alive and What took you so long? He felt a little bit better afterwards, but with the realization that he still had a most likely incredibly awkward conversation with his brother - it still felt weird knowing he had one - the nervousness came back almost full force. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to brace himself as he made his way out into the hallway, stopping in front of the door that lead to Dick's room. He lifted one hand to knock, and after a second of hesitation, bumped his knuckles on the wood. Danny was startled when the door opened. I didn't even hear him walking to the door, he thought.

"Come in," Dick simply said, his smile appearing slightly strained.

Danny nodded and followed him into the room.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

The shouting got louder and louder. The guards standing at the large double doors were starting to exchange concerned looks. The atmosphere was tense as everyone waited for something to happen. Straining his ears, Skulker managed to make out some of what was being said.

"Please, my king-"

The terrified voice was interrupted with harsh coldness.

"You told me you had a lead! You told me you knew where he was!"

"We did, but-"

"You had one job. Apparently, you and your men are not fit to work for your king."

"No, your highness, we-"

"You are dismissed. However, your actions shall have consequences."

Several loud shouts of protest reached through the doors until a couple of guards escorted the specter into the hallway and away from the throne room. Skulker entered shortly after to a furiously pacing Plasmius. He did not bother with the formalities as he approached the ghost king.

"Vlad."

Said person immediately stopped in their tracks and turned around. The angry expression on his face faded to an exhausted one.

"Skulker. Please tell me you bring good news!"

Skulker sighed and shook his head, faking sympathy.

"Nothing on the boy, I am afraid."

The hopeful glint in Plasmius' eyes disappeared instantly. Seeing this, Skulker quickly continued.

"But during our search we came across something interesting."

The other ghost visibly perked up at this, so Skulker went on, knowing that if Vlad found out he was part of the rebellion, everything would be lost.

"Our ecto-radiation sensors picked up a foreign energy signature. The power levels were above average."

Plasmius seemed to think for a moment, processing the new information.

"What are you thinking, Vlad?" Skulker wondered aloud, half afraid of what the answer was going to be.

"I am thinking," Vlad said, his lips slowly twisting into a smirk. "That someone shall be paid a little visit. And if it turns out they tried to hide what is mine, well, they're going to wish they hadn't."

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

To make things easier, they had started off with a simple game of questions. They asked each other thing like What's your favourite colour? or What are your hobbies? until they ran out of easy questions. That's when their one sentence answers turned to long winded explanations and descriptions. After a while, the awkward tension between them lifted and they talked more freely. The more they learned about each other, the more they could believe they were actually brothers.

"So... you got a best friend?" came Dick's next question.

"Two, actually. Their names are Sam and Tucker. Tuck and I know each other since we were four. Then I met Sam in fourth grade when she transferred to our school," Danny replied. "What about you?"

"His name is Wally. He's two years older than me, but he's really cool. And then there's Barbara. She's a pretty close friend, too."

"You need to introduce us sometime."

"Definitely. And we should invite your friends, as well."

The thought of introducing Dick to Sam and Tucker made Danny feel much better about his current situation. It reminded him that he still had that part of his old life and that he could combine it with his new one. The two had spent quite some time talking about their friends and different funny or interesting stories they had lived with them. Danny had told Dick how Sam had started with being a goth as an act of rebellion towards her parents half a year ago and about Tucker's odd obsession with technology and maths.

"He gives them each names and talks to them as if they were actual living beings. It's kinda weird, but funny, too."

Dick laughed.

"You know, I'm really into technology and maths, too. I even won a couple of mathematics competitions in school and stuff."

Danny openly gaped at him.

"You're serious?"

"Yeah."

Dick had appeared a little embarrassed, probably due to Danny's incredulous expression, but that had been soon forgotten when Danny had told him how awesome that sounded. He had been even more astounded once Dick had revealed that he was a hacker, too, and a pretty good one at that. After that they had come to talk about their preferred future careers.

"I've always wanted to become an astronaut when I'm older," Danny said with an almost dreamy expression on his face. "Dad and I always used to climb up onto our roof at night to watch the stars and he would point out some constellations he knew. After a while I became so interested that it was soon me who would know all the names and information about them. Dad would then say that I was born to reach the stars..."

Danny knew that had he not stopped there he would have easily broken down in tears right there. The knowledge that he would never be able to gaze stars with his dad again hurt way too much.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, hoping to change the subject away from his family.

Dick frowned a little, seeming to ponder the question for a moment before he answered.

"I'm not sure yet. Well, a few years I ago I still thought I was going to stay with the circus and become a trapeze artist, like mom and dad. But now... I've been thinking of becoming a police officer."

So much about changing the subject to something other than family. They had only briefly grazed the subject of Dick's parents – Danny's birthparents – before. As curious as Danny was about them, he just could not quite bring himself to talk about them. To him they were complete strangers. But if he got closer to Dick they would get closer to him, as well. He just needed some time.

"A police officer? Why?"

"The idea of saving lives just seems really awesome to me, I guess," Dick explained with a half grin that made Danny wonder if he had said some kind of inside joke he did not know about.

"When I look at it like that, it does sound pretty awesome."

The rest of the evening had went on like this and both boys had gotten to know each other better. One time Alfred had checked in on them and brought them something to eat, but other then that they had spent the whole time with just each other. When Bruce finally came in to wish them both good night, he was met with a sight that warmed his heart to the core. Dick and Danny were both sprawled across Dick's bed, sleeping soundly.

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° °

I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters. Neither do I own Young Justice or any of the DC Universe characters.

Hey guys! First of all, I would like to thank you all for the wonderful comments and the overall positive response to this story! You are the best readers!

Thanks for reading!

FaHa :)