Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Danny had been in a lot of sticky situations in his nearly two years as Phantom. It was almost like every day was a new and crazier adventure as whatever shenanigan of the hour decided to screw him over.

One such ‘adventure’ is him getting hunted down for sport by a bunch of men in black wannabes who could never take a hint. Again.

It should have been a normal problem, one he’s dealt with more times than Danny could count. Just fly around, shoot an ectoblast or two to distract the agents, and after maybe a couple hours of chase he would find a suitable corner to transform and get away scot-free from the persistent annoyance that was the GIW.

Except he couldn’t do that this time.

Because the normal, everyday, and most importantly not a ghost Danny Fenton, was now confirmed to be the town's very own ghost hero thanks to a stupid stupid mistake.

A mistake that could very well have spelled the end of not only Danny Fenton, but the entire Fenton family.

And it was all Danny’s fault.

For months now, after the admittedly rocky event of Danny telling his parents the truth (and them accepting him with open arms instead of harsh burns or broken hearts all with the reasoning being that he was their son. He was their son whom they loved with all their heart, of course they would accept him. They had all ended up crying for what felt like hours after that), they had been doing their best to support him and keep him safe.

They had backed out of giving any outright support to the GIW but knew cutting themselves out of ghost hunting completely would set off all kinds of red flags to the organization. They continued to make ectoplasm technology, and even the occasional weapon that they would sell to the GIW though they would always be weaker than the last or outright faulty, but slowed their ghost hunting to an almost complete stop. Now they would only go out to ‘hunt’ ghosts when the GIW was already after them and help whatever poor soul was being chased get out safely.

It was all working out so well, his family was safe and whole and they all knew-

So of course it would fall apart the second Danny got too comfortable.

The GIW had caught on, or suspected, or just plain got tired of all their tech literally blowing up in their faces, and they had come for the Fentons. They had come with weapons blasting and zero regard for all the highly volatile experiments, chemicals, and ectoplasm leaving Danny with the decision to help protect protect PROTECT save his family or keep his secret safe.

It was a no-brainer what he would choose. But even then, he wasn’t fast enough.

He tried, he tried so hard but then the explosion and the fire and the shouting and restraints and their bodies-

So he ran. Like the coward he was, he ran.

Flying through town with tears falling down his face he racked his brain for what he could possibly do. Some kind of plan a plan they had gone over this he was supposed to know what to do what does he do-

He found himself at the edge of town, his only thoughts being to get away as he panted for air he didn’t need with aching lungs he didn’t have, and he paused.

Turning back he could see he was on a hill, one that overlooked the town (he caught a glimpse of the tower of smoke in the distance and jerked his head away). There was a forest past the hill that he could go through, a way to keep running away, but there was also a building.

The observatory.

“We don’t know what they will do next,” Jazz warned, “They’re getting desperate, they will try something.”

“And that’s why we have the plans,” Danny continued. When he was only met with his parent's still down-turned expressions he tried again in a lighter tone, “It’s not something definite. It’s only just in case. For a worse case scenario. You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

His dad’s frown deepened as he looked at the small go bag he had found still held tightly in his grip, as if the bag itself was a reminder of the danger Danny was in. Because that’s exactly what it was, wasn’t it? A tangible, real sign that Danny had been in danger for nearly two years under his roof and neither of them had noticed.

While his dad stewed in his thoughts, his mom took a deep breathe before speaking herself, “I understand.” Her voice was shaky, a glimmer of tears in the corner of her eyes as she contemplated the same implications his dad was.

His dad glanced at her at the sound of her voice and his frown eased ever so slightly. He leaned closer to her, letting his arm brush her side in a show of his love and support that visibly helped strengthen her resolve.

She turned and let her head rest against his shoulder for a moment, a thanks for his presence, before she turned to her children with a hard look in her eye strong enough to break diamond and she went to work.

“What other plans do you have.”

Speeding across the distance toward the observatory Danny phased through the wall, not even caring if there were people to see him as he flew through wall after wall until he reached it.

Not many people were around seeing how it was the middle of the day, so the area around the giant telescope was completely barren. He had no delusion that his presence hadn't been noticed, be it from security cameras or any passerby who had seen his mad dash through the area, so he had to make this fast.

The GIW would be here soon.

But by the time they did, Danny would be long gone.

With the help of his parents, Danny now had even more bags and emergency stashes throughout the city. Even some ideas on where to go after the fact instead of a nebulous ‘anywhere but Amity’ plan like he, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam had come up with. Their priority was just to get Danny away from whatever threat made him leave, but his parents wanted him to have somewhere safe he could stay.

Most places were ones where the famous members of the Justice League were known to hang around. Sure there was an argument to be made to avoid these places like the plague on the off chance the heroes try to catch Danny with the GIW, but that chance was a pretty low one.

With all the ignored emergency calls to the Justice League, it was pretty obvious they didn’t believe in ghosts. It was more likely they would scoff and ignore the claims before ever going on a wild goose chase after some ‘ghost’.

If nothing else the surprise presence of a mostly unknown organization showing up in their city would cause the hero of the city to ask questions or otherwise stall the GIW in their hypothetical search for Danny. That alone was reason enough to mark down a few of their cities in the list of where Danny should go.

There was Central City with the Flash seeing how it was just a hop skip and a jump across the border in Missouri. Then there were Gotham and Metropolis, New Jersey and New York respectively, and while those are a farther fly distance wise they were also two confirmed cities with heroes. Gotham was looking the most favorable simply because even in a backwater and somewhat internet-and-social-media-blackout-area like Amity everyone knew how sceptical and more importantly territorial the big bad Bat was when it came to his town.

The point was, Danny now had a better idea of where he could go… after. If there ever was an after, that is. This was all just- just a what if scenario. A worst case scenario! What were the chances he would ever even need to leave anyway?

Rushing to the wall on the right of the telescope Danny’s eyes skipped around the smooth white tiles of the wall. At the desk that displayed the big model of the solar system, he floated to the small orb of Mars forever stationary like the rest of the planets that sat here. From there he went straight up and stopped where the dome part of the observatory started to curve inward.  

Two tiles down and four to the left. Something that was ingrained into his brain just like all the other steps and directions for these plans. Two tiles down and four to the left.

As he got closer and closer to the tile that held hidden this specific go bag he could feel his chest tighten and hands start to shake. He shook off the feeling, eyes never leaving the tile that held his ticket to safety.

He couldn’t panic, he had to focus. He needed to grab this bag if he was going to go through with the stupid, harebrained plan he had settled on.

It was a joke, a complete joke of a plan that he had spouted when the table had felt too serious and he wanted his parents to smile. To remember what life was like not just when there were no secrets between them, but when there were no bruises or burns either. They had apologized and Danny understood, he understood even before they had known about him, he would never hold it against them.

But even when his ‘suggestion’ brought a small smile to his sister and a full belly laugh from his dad, his mom sat still. His dad continued that stupid train of thought, continued to up the ante until it got to the point where Danny had to tone him down with a laugh. It was impossible anyway, just a funny idea.

A funny idea that made his mom go quiet with thought. One that led to an abundance of testing and gadgets made for this specific plan in mind. No other go bag could work with this, no other tech could even work there.

Danny jerked to a stop with his arm halfway stuck into the wall where he knew lay the small disk and sturdy metal bag covered in white metal and blue-green tubes that carried his own personal touch of ectoplasm he had freely given for this experiment.

If he grabbed this, then it would be real. It would all be real. He would need to leave the second he strapped on the bag and got all the equipment settled. He would need to leave before the GIW make their way to his location and find him, leaving the past who knows how long of running away for not. He would need to leave, period.

He didn’t know if he could ever come back. They never made it that far into the plan.

They never made a plan for what would happen if there was no one to come back to.

No- stop- stop it! He couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t let himself think like that. He didn’t know- he couldn’t confirm if they were really-

He just saw them lying there, each lying motionless in their own small puddles of blood with burns littering their skin.

But he didn’t know.

He couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not.

The sound of alarms blaring in the distance jerked him back into motion and out of his thoughts. Steeling his resolve he grabbed the bag and small disk from the small space behind the wall and yanked them out before flying up and out of the building through the roof. Quickly shrugging on the bag he held the disk in his hand, looking down at it with a feeling he couldn’t quite describe.

On one hand he was about to fulfill the dream he’s had for as long as he can remember. On the other… he has no idea what would come after. No idea if he would come back.

Taking in what could possibly be his last breath of fresh air, he settled the disk in the middle of his chest right above the logo Sam had made all that time ago. Squeezing the sides he then twisted it and felt as the streamlined mechanical suit washed over him, connecting seamlessly with the bag against his back.

As the pieces all fell into place, Danny looked up at the clear blue sky until his target was found. It wasn’t technically necessary, even if there was a storm ahead and the sky was covered in nothing but grey clouds, he would still know where it was. He had a space core after all.

When the metal finally reached his face, covering up to his nose and keeping his ever-flowing hair and neon green eyes untouched, and settled across the rest of his skin, Danny took of to his destination.

The moon.

Chapter Text

The everpresent beeping in the background continued on its monotonous performance as the screen in front of him showed the same old information it always had. There weren’t any surprise meteors or invading alien armadas in route to annihilate the planet but there was apparently a recent minor solar flare that popped up earlier that morning and oh look the moon today was a waning gibbous down on Earth.

He has to suppress a groan and settle for rolling his head back to look up at the only relatively less interesting ceiling. He swore the screens hadn’t changed once the entire time he had his eyes on it. Granted his eyes were on it for only a couple of seconds, but he was a speedster, a couple seconds felt like hours. Literally.

God Barry hated watch duty. And this wasn’t even normal watch duty, it was space data watch duty! He might just keel over and die of boredom.

Please, whatever higher thing that’s out there, he pleads out into the universe that he is forced to watch numbers about, let something interesting happen to free me from this purgatory of data and slow monotony.

As if hearing his plea the harsh swoosh of the metal doors rang in the room and Barry tilted his head to see his partner in this drawl personal hell of his enter. Sitting up he sends a wave that was probably more of a blur of motion to Cyborg who gives a slight smile in response before settling in his chair to the left of Barry at the other batch of screens.

“Anything happen while I was gone?” The other hero asks as if anything ever happens when Barry is on watch duty.

“Nothin’ to report Captain,” Barry says before leaning back fully in his chair, giving into the urge to groan and push the chair to spin slowly.

Victor hums, “Well I’ve got something-”

Like that Barry is at the other man's side, the chair left spinning on its own behind him as he stares with wide excited eyes and bounces on the balls of his feet.

“WhatisitdidImisssomethingIdidn’tseeanythingweremyprayersansweredcanweleavenowcanweleavecanIgo-

There’s a bag of chips in front of his face. Barry stops talking and squints at the bag, recognizing it as a bag of the best chips. Tilting to the side he now squints suspiciously at the man who was holding said bag of the best chips that weren’t in any of the WatchTowers vending machines specifically because they were Barry’s favorite and therefore always out of stock because of how fast he went through them.

“Like I was saying,” Victor reiterates, “I’ve got something that I think can make your suffering just that much more bearable. If only a little.”

Huffing out a breath to get across his feelings of unjust at his shattered sense of hope he takes the bag with a quick thanks and no short amount of excitement before zipping back to his seat.

He forces himself not to eat the contents of the bag too quickly, but Barry never was one to go slow so in no time at all he’s back to his lounge/pout on the chair, albeit now with an empty crumpled chip bag in hand.

He hears a huff of laughter from Victor and glares at the other man before moving that glare back up at the ceiling, cursing the beings above who had answered his plea in only the most technical of terms. 

Letting out a long sigh Barry let his head roll forward and got back to his mandatory session of boredom. Tilting his heel back and forth on the floor to sway his chair back and forth he lets his eyes scan over the same batch of screens he had been half paying attention to for- a quick glance to another screen- nearly forty minutes now. 

He resists the urge to slam his head into the table.

Whatever, he was fine. Fine he tells you! He just needed to keep this up for a little over three hours and then he would be done and out of there before he knew it.

Keep being positive Barry. It’s the only way you can get through this.

Just gotta keep an eye out for anything weird. He’s done this before, he can do it again. Just gotta keep looking at the same old numbers on the same old screen that indicated the same old moon with its same old heartbeat-

Wait- record scratch- freeze frame- freaking pause- The moon has a what now.

Suddenly a lot more aware than he was a split second ago, Barry straightens in his seat and takes stock of the information before him.

First of all, no, the moon did not have a heartbeat. There were no hidden blood and organs inside the celestial body (oh that just sounds all kinds of creepy and wrong moving on-). Instead, there was a heartbeat on the moon that the scanners only just took notice of.

Barry’s eyes flicked across the screen as he took in all the scattered parts of information with a new level of seriousness. There were no signs of an incoming ship or even a lone being flying their way through the vacuum of space, so how did this heartbeat just suddenly appear? Even rewinding the readings to see if he missed anything in the minute he wasn’t looking didn’t shed any new light on the mystery of the sudden sign of life.

Sure there was teleportation or all kinds of cloaking technology that could attempt to hide any incoming presence, but this setup was Bat Approved, Barry’s sure this thing could detect if a smidge of space dust had moved even if it was a hundred thousand miles away on the moon. There should have been something to give away how there was suddenly someone just there.

“What am I looking for Flash,” At the sound of his name Barry turns his attention to Victor who was now standing near his side of the observation deck, eyes darting around to try and find whatever had Barry tapping around the screen at super-speed, “Something’s got you spooked. What is it.”

Swiping away all the useless logs of information that did nothing to answer his questions Barry pointed at one of the screens in front of him and to the new sign of life that it displayed.

“Looks like we got a visitor.” He says tapping at the reading, “Only problem? Don’t know how they got here,” Barry watches as Victor takes in the information with slowly growing eyes before the man shoves his way to stand in front of the first terminal on Barry’s side.

“Keep an eye on my side,” He grunts out, “I’ll take a look at this.”

With a slight huff Barry moved over to the left half of the observation deck and scanned the screens there, but in contrast to his bored staring like before he watched the screen with a new buzz of nervous energy. He couldn’t help but steal a glance back at Victor every few seconds as the man worked, his foot going a mile a minute tapping against the floor. 

The other hero had been watching over everything Earth-side, what heroes were where, who needed help, as well as general data reading on the planet much like what Barry was looking at from his side. It made sense why Victor hadn’t noticed the heartbeat, but now that he knew he was pretty much commandeering Barry’s job in search of what exactly could have happened to bring this being to their backyard.

But now it was Barry’s job to make sure nothing crazy happened down on earth in the meantime, especially with that weird power spike that popped up a few hours ago. They still didn’t know much about it other than it happened somewhere in the middle of the US, somewhere that was far too close to Central City for Barry’s comfort, and that other than the initial burst and a few slight fluctuations right after the energy had remained constant.

And now there’s suddenly someone out there on the moon hours later? Sounds suspiciously like someone is trying to box in on the Watchtower for some kind of attack.

In what was probably his hundredth glance over to the other side of the room Barry was met with the serious scowl of Victor as the man came to a similar conclusion to Barry.

“Go get anyone you can who can check out the reading in person,” He ordered before looking back at the screen, “I’ll stay and keep looking but we have a definite location here, somewhere we can send someone to check out.”

“Got it,” Barry said with a nod before zipping off, rushing through the Watchtower with a few people in mind. Sure there were plenty of people who could fly and hold their own against the mysterious person if they were a threat, but most of them would need a suit or time to prepare. Time that they didn’t have.

If this being was able to suddenly appear like they did on the moon, there’s no telling where they could go. In a matter of seconds they could lose the signal and the being could disappear and reappear on Mars, or Earth, or maybe even on the Watchtower itself.

Barry needed someone who could drop everything and go find whoever this was, and based on who he remembered was stationed here today he had just the idea who.

Skidding into the room Barry looks up and meets eyes with one Hal Jordan, Green Lantern, and all the while he can’t help but think well at least I’m not bored anymore… I don’t know if that’s a good thing.

⭐-⭐=🌖=⭐-⭐

Hal was not amused. In fact, he was kind of annoyed. Upset if you will. He was only on the Watchtower for half an hour as a quick in and out to check in and now he found himself racing through space to find the morron who thought it was a good idea to teleport themselves to the moon.

Or at least he thinks it’s teleportation. They didn’t know how the being got to the moon which was the most confusing and nerve-racking part of all this. Didn’t help that everyone was at least a little on edge because of that power surge earlier. But still, Hal’s bet was on teleportation.

Now he just needed to find the source of the heartbeat. At least then they could get some answers.

But when Hal closed in on the location and caught sight of what had to be the source of the surprise heartbeat in the distance, his questions were nowhere near answered.

This guy… were they sleeping? There was a vaguely humanoid shape, a long torso with two arms and two legs, just… lying there and looking dead to the world, on the moon.

Granted they were in some kind of space suit, though it was like no space suit Hal had seen with it being so slick and simple as his own green lantern suit construct if it wasn’t for the occasional blue-green tube or wire that ran across it. That retracted some of the strangeness of seeing such a simple and normal action taking place in the middle of space, but still.

Who took a nap in the middle of nowhere on the fucking moon?!

Hal quickly worked to close the distance and as he did his comm went off, but instead of Cyborg’s voice reaching his ear this one was much gruffer and definitely more snippy.

“Lantern, report.” Oh goodie, looked like the big bad Bat had come to join the party. Yay.

Sighing with a barely suppressed roll of his eyes he pressed the comm, “Target sighted, approaching now. Looks to be a resting or sleeping humanoid figure. They appear to be wearing some kind of equipment, some kind of space suit with a green glass-like substance surrounding their head, so it’s unlikely they can easily traverse space. Should be a simple retrieval.”

His response came in a grunt in his ear and again Hal had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. He’s been doing this shit for years now, and before that he was a fighter pilot for even longer, people need to stop acting like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Hal was about twenty or thirty feet away from the target when the being jerked and then moved.

In a flash of movement that would put Supes to shame the being was up and now another ten feet away from Hal. They were in a tense fighting stance as their feet dragged across the ground from their momentum thanks to the sheer speed they had been going in their immediate attempts to not only get away from Hal, but to keep distance away from the threat. 

Because with that harsh bright green glare that felt like it was staring straight into his soul and a fighting stance so tight and ready to spring at any second Hal was under no assumption that they thought he was here for anything less than a fight.

“Woah woah hey there.” Hal tries in an effort to diffuse the situation before it can devolve into a fight. He was here to check on the surprise visitor, peacefully if possible. Not everyone who goes to Earth is there for a fight. Especially ones who show up and proceed to take a nap on the planet's moon, “I am a member of the Green Lantern Corps as well as a member of the Justice League, the latter of which protects the planet of this moon you’re on.”

“You’re… with the Justice League?” They say in a confused and almost skeptical-sounding voice. Hal isn’t surprised about their knowledge of the Justice League, while the members do usually stick around Earth there have been a number of space adventures to spread the name around… though the more Hal looks at the being the less he thinks that they are some kind of alien.

“Yes, and I’m only checking on the disturbance we saw on our scanners.” He says casually, but when the being’s aggressive stance doesn’t let up an inch he considers the alternative outcome of this encounter, “ Unless, of course, you are a threat we need to keep watch of.

Their stance finally eased with their arms falling to their sides though their eyes never left Hal’s face, and with the fall of their immediate aggression Hal was now staring at someone who could easily pass for a normal human. Or at least based on what he could see he was. Yes their eyes were an unnaturally bright green but with their short black hair and general facial structure, plus their easily humanoid shape, Hal could see it.

Then there was a bright flash of pure white and Hal jerked his head back with an arm covering his eyes at the bright flash of light, and when he looked back he realized his initial assumption was so wrong it wasn’t even funny.

The green-tinted glass that had surrounded their head was gone now and without it Hal could see their now bright white hair flowing in a nonexistent wind, not to mention it looked like their eyes were now glowing even brighter as their glare returned with reinvigorated fervor. Their feet were no longer connected with the ground in that tense stance either and instead, they were floating up and off the ground by a few inches.

So much for being unable to easily traverse through space. Or being human.

Hal’s comm crackled harshly in his ear and he couldn’t help the slight flinch at the sudden and grating noise that was worryingly absent of any voices. He tapped at it a few times but never took his eyes off the being, now possibly alien, who for now was just floating there.

He watched as their glare lightened somewhat and they tilted their head slightly, as if in thought.

Then they raised their hand, causing Hal to tense ready for an attack and therefore completely unprepared for when they proceeded to flip him off and then slowly sink into the ground.

He stared at the spot on the ground where the most-definitely-an-alien had disappeared with a slack jaw, his gaping only being interrupted when the comm in his ear stopped its constant static and an annoyed and insistent voice met his ear.

“Green Lantern, report. What is the situation.”

And there was Batman again. Sounding pissed as all hell and Hal kissed the rest of his afternoon (and possibly his life because oh dear god the Bat was mad ) goodbye.

“Target has escaped,” He finally made himself respond, “Shapeshifter of some kind, able to float and… uh, disappear into the ground. Don’t think the alien likes the Justice League all that much. Just a hunch though.”

The only response was a growl and Hal was simultaneously praying for safety and rethinking all his life choices as he turned and headed back to the Watchtower for the inevitable meeting that this whole situation would cause.

Chapter Text

The entire flight to the moon was… well honestly it was a blur. A blur of nothing but darkness as the cool comfort of space wrapped around his body and a sense of completeness he couldn’t even begin to describe came over him. It was as if the inky abyss of space was hugging him and welcoming him into its embrace.

The feeling only grew as his flight went on for what had to be hours until the small orb in the distance had grown so much that his entire field of view was nothing but a monochromatic rainbow of grays and Danny found himself nearly careening into the moon.

If it wasn’t for the fact he had made it a point to be intangible and invisible the entire flight from his sheer paranoia, even if it was settled somewhat thanks to the embrace of space, at being found then he had no doubt he would have left a brand new crater to the moon’s surface and gained a few more bruses.

Instead, he had simply flown through the ground and the sudden lack of that comforting everpresent hug as he flew surrounded by the stars and planets all an unfathomable distance away snapped him out the that trance.

Flying back up (or just back? Back down? Ancients gravity was already an iffy concept on Earth thanks to his ghost form and now it was on a whole new level) to the surface he scanned the area and just… stopped.

His eyes had landed on the giant planet in the distance, his planet. Earth in all its life-giving glory. The brilliant greens, rich blues, and strokes of white all took his breath away as he simply stared for he didn’t know how long.

And then it all came crashing down as it… clicked.

He was on the moon. But instead of feeling beyond elated and brimming with excitement like the moment would have otherwise warranted, he felt hollow.

Because he was on the moon. He was alone.

And he didn’t know what to do.

This was a joke suggestion that his mom (don’t think about her don’t think about them just stop thinking about it ) had taken too seriously. When she said she wanted to expand on that plan he jumped at the idea of being able to go to the moon, never caring about how it would be the result of him having to leave.

Which meant yes, he was on the moon, he had accomplished his dream, he was in space, but he was also completely and devastatingly alone.

He cried after that. Cried and cried and screamed and broke until finally his limbs were weak and his core couldn’t keep up with the constant use of his intangibility even despite his raging emotions and therefore his spiking paranoia, his body nearly giving out on him as he settled on the ground with closed eyes that he couldn’t bring himself to open again.

Lying there with shaking breaths he pressed the button near his collar that activated the helmet, a precaution his mom (who was gone they were gone THEY WERE GONE ) had insisted on and made him promise to always use if they were going to go through with this plan. It was in case he ever needed to transform since no one wanted to take chances when it came to how Danny Fenton would react to being in the void of space.

She had made him promise to activate the helmet if he ever felt weak or needed to heal or even fall asleep out there. He still had a habit of transforming in his sleep, so she had insisted, and he promised.

And since he had promised, he did as he was told after realizing his incoming crash (It was the least he could do now that… now that they were gone…), even if he didn’t really care all that much if something bad did happen.

But then, oh then, Danny was woken up in the worst way possible as he felt something in the- not air, but in the void that was space around him and he shot up with such an adrenaline rush he swore he was shaking as he turned around to see fucking green-

He swears if some absolute asshole ghost had followed him all the way here just to screw with him Danny was gonna lose his shit.

But then the guy went on to introduce himself as a Green Lantern, a member of the Justice League who was just here to check something out, and Danny didn’t know how to feel.

They had detected a disturbance? But… if they could track him on the moon, why couldn’t they track the ecto-signatures that absolutely littered Amity Park down on Earth? Sure Danny was stronger than the average ghost but he was still just one guy, one person in comparison to the literal thousands of at least slightly ecto-contaminated residents of his town, his home.

At the same time, Danny had recognized the name Green Lantern. Just like how most of the town was vaguely aware of the JL as a whole, though most had brushed off any care or hope when it came to the group of heroes when their cries for help went ignored for so long, the big names still popped up every now and then. Green Lanter being one of them.

So Danny, after needing a moment to chew on who had found him (he had just woken up ok? His brain was not at full capacity), decided he was absolutely done with this entire situation.

A decision he doubled down on hard when the guy went on to accuse Danny of being a threat when all he was doing was having one hell of a breakdown followed by a nice depression nap. That was just rude, he wasn’t hurting anybody out here.

After noticing he had transformed (crying yourself to sleep with heaving sobs that make you feel like your lungs are collapsing will do that to a guy) Danny changed back into his Phantom form and dismissed the helmet, floating up and prepared to fly the hell out of there.

But then, a nice, sweet, beautifully vindictive but non-threatening thought came to mind and he couldn’t help the smirk that grew on his lips under the metal covering his face as he raised a hand and gave the fucker the bird before sinking underground and beelining it to anywhere that wasn’t here.

He got a laugh out of the whole situation as he flew underground for a while before going invisible and emerging above the surface to continue his flight. Now that he knew he wasn’t being chased and was flying above the rough planes and craters of the moon, Danny couldn’t contain his wonder.

The stars he knew and loved were so much more clear, clearer than they’ve ever been down on Earth with no clouds or even atmosphere to hinder them. His eyes were practically glued to the sight above him as he continued to fly with no destination in mind. Just going until he felt like stopping, or until he felt like crying.

Time went along like that for a while. He would flip back and forth between loving the beauty before him and being excited about the idea that he was here on the moon, and watching the emptiness that was space blankly as tears rolled down his cheek because he was here, on the moon, and alone.

At some point he had fallen asleep again, but before he did he again pressed the button at his collar and felt as the absence of everything was replaced with a rush of air. He then laid down on the comforting coolness of the moons surface and slept.

That pattern of crying and wonder and sleep continued onto the next day. He doesn’t know how he knows it's been a day, especially since using the sun's position to tell didn’t exactly work here, but he’s sure a full twenty-four hours had passed before he was once again interrupted from his thoughts by an unwanted visitor.

It was a little after he had woken up from another crying-induced power nap and transformed back into his Phantom form to fly around more when Danny again felt something stirring against the constant emptiness that was supposed to surround him. He quickly spun around and when he found himself face to face with Superman of all people he couldn’t help how he floated there gaping at the hero for a good minute.

Taking his wide eyes shock in strides the hero spoke first with a nod, “Hello there, my name is Kal-El from the planet Krypton. I reside here, however, on the planet Earth, and work with the Justice League to protect that planet. You’ve met one of my coworkers a little while ago.”

Shaken out of his immediate shock Danny can’t help but snort, “Yeah, sure, we’ve met.”

Superman (he's talking to Superman ) takes his snark better than he thought and smiles, even chuckling before speaking again, “Yes I’ve heard that your first encounter with one of Earth’s heroes went…”

“It was certainly interesting.” Came another voice and Danny immediately jumped back and away from the sudden shift in the void of space just a few feet away and at his left.

He turned to face at the second interruption to Danny’s alone time, one that got way too close for comfort before he noticed them, and met eyes with oh my Ancients was that Martian Manhunter!?

Now star-struck as well as shocked Danny was rooted in place, or well, he would have been if it wasn’t for how he was perpetually floating above ground, but the point still stands.

Because this was Martian Manhunter! A bonafide actual alien from Earth’s sister planet. Sure Krypton and its resident alien were cool and all but Mars was so much more tangible with its constant presence in his sky. This was someone who even after the constant disappointment of unanswered calls Danny couldn’t find himself to hate. Dislike sure, as soon as he got over the initial giddiness that was meeting an alien he’s an alien- Danny would have no desire to continue the conversation.

Honestly that same star-struck feeling, though notably less than what he felt about the Martian, was what kept Danny from giving Superman the finger like he did with Green Lantern before immediately bolting.

“You are a hard one to find when you do not wish to be found,” Spoke Martian Manhunter holy shit, “But now that we have found you we wish to only have a moment of your time.”

“For uh- for what?” Danny can’t help but stutter when the awestruck feeling sticks around instead of being something he can shake off as he responds.

The Martian (!!!) smiled and let out a soft huff of what could be a laugh but Superman was the one to speak next.

“We wanted to welcome you to Earth.” Said the Kryptonian, which- what? “While it’s not often we get new visitors, especially ones that settle with only visiting the planet’s moon, we make it a point to at least reach out a helping hand if possible to any newcomers.”

Newcomers? Visitors? What the hell were these two talking about-

And just like that, it hit him. They thought Danny wasn’t from Earth. They thought Danny was an alien like them. They thought Danny wasn’t human.

Get back here you ectoplasmic scum!

Such an oddity, a rarity, of course I would hunt for your pelt ghost child. What good hunter wouldn’t?

Can’t wait to get my hands on that thing. Just imagine what we could find from such a specimen!

Huh. Well then. Cool alien heroes or not, they can all go fuck themselves for all Danny cares.

With a half-feral snarl Danny feels himself… loosen. His grip on his form slipping ever so slightly through his fingers as his newfound anger stirs in his gut.

“I don’t give a damn about your welcome or helping hand, why should I?” His voice was laced with the static of ghost speak and he watched the two heroes faces change into ones of shock as Danny makes his displeasure known, “You never helped us, never helped me! Never even acknowledged we existed! And now look at what’s happened! Everything I care about is gone and you think I want your fucking help?!”

The two heroes only answered with wide eyes full of emotion that Danny didn’t care to understand. Eyes full of sadness and something suspiciously close to regret that he refused to acknowledge for the sole fact that he wanted to be angry.

So when he felt a push of emotion coming from the Martian, one that whispered soft apologetic words and a rush of comfort, Danny snapped his head over to the invading feeling with the harshest glare he could muster.

“I don’t care if you think you understand! Or if you think you have any idea of what I’m going through! You have no right to do that, to come to me thinking you can help now when none of you came when I- when we really needed it.

With that final growl Danny turned around and flew. His anger fueling his speed as he went off like a shot away from the two ‘heroes’ all while being reminded of exactly why he was here in the first place.

The next time he stopped he cried nearly as hard as he did that first day he came to the moon.

When his cries settled Danny had laid there for what felt like hours, his emotions still swirling in him but unable to do anything more than let the occasional tear fall as he looked up in the sky.

Only to be interrupted yet again.

This time it was just Martian Manhunter, the alien apologizing vocally instead of invading Danny’s emotions with his own and trying to reassure Danny he truely just wanted to talk.

Danny didn’t care for it though, so he ran.

Another handful of mindless hours of flying later, though they were now filled with a pressing anxiety of the JL taking a weird demented interest in him as a new ‘alien’, and Danny was found again.

It was the Green Lantern again. Danny didn’t even let the guy open his mouth before flipping him off and going invisible and bolting in the opposite direction.

The next time he was found was much like the first in the sense he was fast asleep until disturbed by the feeling of someone closing in. A lady who introduced herself as Wonder Woman had found him this time. She reminded Danny of Pandora in a way that crushed him and this time when Danny flew off it was with tears in his eyes.

And then it happened again. And again. And again.

This went on for fucking days where Danny would fly for miles and miles at breakneck speed just to get as far away as possible from whatever hero had found him, only to be found again either mere hours later or an entire day. The latter of which had Danny finally feeling safe enough to rest for just a moment, just a minute of shut-eye, only for a hero to pop right back up and wake him and start the constant race all over again.

Danny doesn’t think he’s had more than three hours of sleep in days- Ancients it’s like he’s back in freshman year all over again. Seriously, what was with these heroes and not letting him take a damn nap!?

And all the while there was that horrible back and forth of emotions; flipping between crying hysterics and lonely days surrounded by that weird feeling of completeness that helped as much as it hurt, to a strangled sense of calm as if his bigger emotions were shoved in a box somewhere as he looked up into the stars, and then mix in the hours of flying off and away from various members of the Justice League? All of that, led Danny to here.

Here being him lying face down in the moon rock ground as he screamed next to the boots of one Captain Marvel, or at least that’s what the guy had said his name was before Danny face-planted.

So Danny was, in short, having the Worst Fucking Time™ and he just… couldn’t anymore.

Couldn’t make himself run, couldn’t put up a fight, couldn’t do much else than what he was doing.

Which was making his suffering known to anyone in a fifty-foot radius of his location as he just… accepted it. He was gonna have to talk to the supes and all that if nothing else than to get some Ancients damned sleep. 

Though not without his fair share of complaining, see him screaming into the not-dirt of the moon.

He felt Captain Marvel move closer, the shifting in the nothing around him giving him a warning before he felt a soft pat on the middle of his back, “If it makes you feel any better dude, we don’t mean any harm.”

Danny just screamed again. The sound was met with another soft pat.

After a good few minutes of… that, Danny went silent. Then with a sigh that felt like it held the weight of every single one of his worldly troubles, he pushed himself over to lay on his back and look up and to the side at the new hero who was here to try to talk to him for some Ancient knows reason.

He didn’t actually have to look up though, just to his right as the hero was sitting criss-cross on the ground next to him, and when Danny met his eyes he was surprised to see a look of… understanding in them.

Closing his eyes so he didn’t have to see that stupid stupid sympathy that infuriated Danny to no end, he let his head roll on the ground and away from the hero. But even with his head faced away he refused to open his eyes and see the bullshit he was about to invite to his after-life.

“Alright, I give, I’ll accept your welcome card or whatever if it means you’ll leave me alone.”

Chapter Text

As soon as Hal stepped foot onto the Watchtower’s hangar he was met with the sight of what looked like a very displeased Batman marching straight towards him.

“Lantern. Report,” Was the vigilante's snippy greeting and Hal just wasn’t having it.

He had already been up and working all day before Barry had come dashing in and handing him the task of investigating the sudden appearance of some strange visitor when all Hal was supposed to be doing was reporting in, checking in on some things, and then going home. 

But nooo, he had to check the reading, and he had graciously accepted the task thinking it would be a small thing and then he would be done. And what did he get for that? Some strange shapeshifter giving him the finger and now a pissy Batman on his case for, what, doing his job?

“Don’t know what else to tell yah Bats,” Hal said with a barely controlled sneer, “Made brief contact, as you know since you were listening in the whole time, but the alien didn’t seem to appreciate my company and so they left.”

Hal watched with a bit of morbid satisfaction as the Bat’s lips pressed into a deep frown and the white lenses narrowed down at him. Sure, getting under Batsy’s skin and forcing that permanent scowl into an annoyed frown always made Hal’s day, but Hal would admit he had… a healthy respect (fear. Complete pants-shitting fear) of the vigilante so there was always a voice in the back of his head ringing warning bells and singing his fast approaching doom.

That voice was easily buried under his overall annoyance at the moment.

“I’ll give an in-detail report and all that before I go alright,” Hal finally gives after letting Batman stew in his annoyance for a minute, “Write down their appearance- well, appearances I guess, as well as a list of possible abilities or tech. The usual stuff.”

Meeting eyes with the white of Batman’s infamous cowl he waited for the vigilante to finally be satisfied and get out of Hal’s way so he could get said report over and done with and finally head home and sleep. But when, again, the vigilante did nothing but glare harder Hal couldn’t help the annoyance that made him wave his hands in frustration.

“Look Batsy I don’t know what else you want from me but-” Hal complained but he was swiftly cut off as Batman finally opened his mouth and spoke in a voice that was nothing less than an enraged growl.

“What I want is to know why when you were speaking to them, right after you threatened them, their heartbeat flatlined!”

And boy did that get Hal to shut the hell up.

“There was some kind of power fluctuation that messed with the comms, but the readings still showed that there was something there- that there was a body there.” Batman moved and all of a sudden it was like the shadows themselves were swallowing Hal as the Dark Knight loomed over him with the only reprieve in the darkness being The Batman’s narrowed white eyes and lower face that showed the man's furious scowl, “So yes Hal Jordan, I want you to explain why, by all accounts, it looks like after making contact you shut off your comm, murdered someone, and then came back here acting like nothing happened.”

Hal stood there shocked for a good minute as he comprehended the exact situation he was in. Sure hearing that the alien he had just been talking to had apparently flatlined yet was still well enough to not only get away, but insult Hal in the process, was definitely something. But that was an interesting something, not a dangerous something.

The dangerous something was the fact that Hal now knew he wasn’t just standing under the harsh glare of an annoyed Batman, it was the harsh glare of a furious Batman.

He needed to clear this up fucking yesterday.

His back straightened as his mind cannonballed itself into military mode in the effort to give the best and most detailed situation report in his goddamned career, “Initial contact with the target showed they were sleeping or at least resting before noticing my presence where they reacted by jumping away before facing me in a combative stance. Attempts to calm the target appeared to work after Introducing myself as both a member of the Lantern Corps and Justice League, the latter of which they seemed to recognize. Their stance had eased before a bright flash of light appeared, assumedly the power fluctuation that caused my comm to malfunction, and their appearance changed though by how much I’m unsure since their suit covered all their body and most of their face. Their helmet was gone and they had begun floating above the ground insinuating some kind of flight capabilities along with their shapeshifting. After that the target escaped by sinking through the ground, soon after communications opened again and I briefly reported in before heading back to base.”

Batman’s glare hadn’t let up the entire time Hal spoke or afterward as Hal stubbornly met eyes with the unmoving white dots in the sea of darkness. This stare-off continued and Hal’s sure the only reason he was able to keep it up for so long was the fact he was speaking the complete and utter truth.

He doesn’t know why the alien’s heartbeat had disappeared despite their body and mind still appearing in working order as they easily flipped him off and fled, but he knows for a fact it wasn’t because Hal had done something to them, that Hal had killed them like what Batman was accusing.

Honestly, Hal doesn't even blame the Bat for the accusation. If he were in the vigilante’s position, an ally no matter how trusted or known making contact only for communications to be disrupted and the target’s heartbeat flatlining just mere moments later? Suspicious as all hell.

That’s why he continues to stand there, tall and sure in himself that he was telling the truth as Batman continued to glare down at him.

Then the vigilante's expression changes. That near snarl on his lips eased back to his ever-present frown as he stepped back.

“Meeting hall, thirty minutes. Be there.” The Batman growled before turning and disappearing from the hangar.

The sigh that wheezed its way out of Hal’s lungs was one of nothing but pure relief.

⭐-⭐=🌗=⭐-⭐

The Watchtower feels still. Quiet even, despite there being nearly a hundred different heroes on board at any given time. Even the artificial air moving through the vents is less grating than normal. It’s as if the space station itself is waiting with tense anticipation.

None of this did any favors when it came to Clark's own anxieties.

The emotion was like lead in his stomach, pulling him down and down closer to dread the longer the silence persisted. It's been there ever since the meeting where it was decided he and J’onn would be put on standby to meet with their surprise visitor on the moon whenever their scanners (hopefully) picked up their heartbeat again.

Even hours, almost an entire day later, the feeling never abated. Never lessened.

It didn’t quite grow either, something Clark was infinitely grateful for. He doesn’t know how he would have made it this long if the feeling turned to true paranoia, he’d probably be a flighty, twitching mess as he looked for anything to get his mind off it.

No, the feeling was something that picked at the back of his mind, ultimately harmless but did prompt unwanted ‘what ifs’ on the mystery alien’s origins. 

What if they weren’t as non-hostile as they appeared? Their first interaction with a JL member was a negative (and pretty funny) one, not an aggressive one, so there was hope on that front for a peaceful interaction.

What if they were just passing by? All this anxious waiting would be for not then, but they had decided as a team that if there was no sign of them after forty-eight hours then they would deem the alien gone and until then they would wait as if their reappearance was an inevitability rather than chance.

What if their appearance here was more alike to J’onn or even his own than they would like? What if they were running to some kind of salvation? What if they were running from something?

That last question was the one that made Clark's fears all the worse, the one that turned that light picking into a harsh grating as if it were a kryptonite-tipped ice pick jamming into his brain. It also happened to be the one left with zero evidence against it, with no option for reassurance to drive it back other than Clark’s stubborn upbeat attitude as he refused to let the idea drag him down.

Though he couldn’t say the same for his comrades in waiting. There was no doubt that J’onn was having similar anxieties as Clark’s own, worried for their visitor’s safety and caginess when it came to meeting Hal before leaving at the first sign of a threat when the Green Lantern threatened them. Bruce however…

Batman was always one to prepare for the worst. Be it in helping defend someone from the worst, or to prepare for that someone to be the worst that needed to be protected against.

Clark’s sure that duality and stubborn need to brood about the worst-case scenario is why the man had stayed aboard the Watchtower alongside Clark and J’onn despite his presence not being entirely needed, his eyes on the screens before him that despite his constant vigilance hadn’t changed once in the over twenty-four hours they’ve been here.

Until now at least.

A shrill beeping rang through the observation deck and not even a split second later Clark was at Bruce’s side as the man furiously tapped at the screen to pinpoint the location.

“Is it him?” Clark can’t help but ask. He sees J’onn float up on the vigilante's other side, the martian’s eyes scanning the screen in an attempt to find the answer to Clark’s question before Bruce.

An attempt in futility as a second later all the surrounding screens change from displaying the same old moon data into a plethora of new and specified information.

Some screens showed sectioned-off maps of the moon, others a new facet of data presumably about the specific area in question, and in the middle of it all was a thin rectangle with a line that every second or so would jump and mark a single disturbance in the line before smoothing out again.

The heartbeat. 

A… slow heartbeat.

A very concerningly slow heartbeat.

Clark knows heartbeats, the constant thump thump he hears from those around him and all across the world playing in the background makes him painfully aware of it. He knows how fast or slow they beat, and can recognize better than most what exactly is too fast or too slow a heartbeat, what it meant.

And that right there on the monitor, was the heartbeat of someone dying.

As if reading his mind Bruce places a strong commanding hand against Clark’s shoulder. It doesn’t physically restrain him, Clark could easily brush off the hand and be out of the watchtower and on his way to the moon in a matter of seconds like he wished to, but it makes him stop.

“Calm down.” Bruce’s gruff voice says in a near whisper, a calming yet commanding presence all at once, and Clark takes a deep breath before locking eyes with the white of Batman’s cowl, “These readings are similar to how they were the last time we picked up their heartbeat. Remember, they aren’t human, their biology could be different in a number of ways. Just because it’s concerning when compared to a human’s average heartbeat doesn’t mean it’s concerning when compared to their own species.”

“This is true,” J’onn speaks up next, stepping back from Bruce’s side and more into Clark’s line of sight, “While Martians are an adaptive species our baseline is still very much different compared to humans. And even Kryptonians such as yourself have a slightly faster heart rate than the average human. Our visitor here just so happens to be on the other side of that spectrum.”

Clark finds himself nodding slowly, “Ok yeah, that- that makes sense.” He takes another deep breath, “So they are ok? You said that the readings are similar, is their heart going faster or s-slower than last time.”

Bruce doesn’t nod, just looks back at the readings and answers without looking back at Clark, “There is a slight difference. Like before their heartbeat is slower than a human's while staying steady with no apparent changes, only a few milliseconds less between individual heartbeats than last contact.”

Clark takes the information with another nod as J’onn comes to stand at his side. Bruce takes another second to scan his eyes across the screens before turning around to face the two aliens proper, his lips pressed into the almost constant frown he wears with the cowl and Clark can’t help but think how reading off the data allowed Bruce to cleanly slip into Batman as the vigilante gets ready to send the two off.

“Remember the plan,” Yup there it is, the classic Batman growl, “You two are to make contact and identify their purpose in coming here. Follow the coordinates given and approach with caution, but make it known you are there with ultimately friendly intentions. Martian Manhunter, you are to make a mental link between the three of you to bypass any language barriers and allow for proper communications to be made.”

J’onn nodded though the Martian already knew this information, it was one of the main reasons he was called to be on standby after all. While the handy tool of the green lantern ring would have made communication easy, it being an intergalactic communicator and translator all in one, Hal had already blown his shot at this and it was J’onn and Clark’s job to fix it.

The other reason for J’onn being picked was the same one that had Clark staying along as well. The fact that they are both alien, just like their visitor. Clark, while having lived on Earth all his life, was still not quite from this planet. Not to mention that Kal-El, as the population of Earth knew him, was supposedly another visitor just like J’onn or their visitor. The idea was to give them something to connect or relate to, someone who understood coming to a new planet.

And in the worst-case scenario, someone who was forced to leave their own.

“Last time their heartbeat disappeared shortly after making contact,” Bruce continues, “At the same time comms were interrupted with interference so be aware that contact between the Watchtower is likely to disconnect. Based on Hal’s report this interference was caused by their transformation, one that was punctuated with a bright white light and resulted in a changed appearance as their helmet disappeared and their previously short black hair turned white. No other visual differences were noted as, save for the upper half of their head, their body was covered by a space suit of some kind.”

This time both Clark and J’onn nodded at the end of Bruce’s reminder of the situation. They didn’t have any visual medium as to what they looked like so Hal’s report was all they were going off of, and a reminder never hurt.

White suit with blue-green wiring along it, with glowing green eyes and either black or white hair with the latter of the two appearances having no helmet.

Bruce grunts at their acknowledgment before turning around, effectively dismissing them as he focuses back on the screens that held what little information on their visitor they had.

With the comm already in his ear Clark is ready to go, just as he had been the entire wait until now, so he wastes no time zipping through the halls of the Watchtower and to the hangar. In a matter of seconds he’s out in open space and bee-lining it to the astral body, though not too fast as to not lose J’onn who was flying by his side.

The flight lasted a while, the moon was well over two hundred thousand miles away after all so even at his top speed it would have taken Clark a little under an hour, but after an hour of straight flight he heard Bruce bark out directions as he lead the two in the directions of the coordinates that would lead them to the heartbeat.

Then the heartbeat disappeared.

A deep rumble came from his comm as Bruce relayed the information. Deciding to just continue in the direction of their visitors last known location they continue on their way, though now the anxious drop in Clark’s gut returned with a vengeance when they made it to the location not ten minutes later and there was no sign of their visitor.

‘We should split up’.  J’onn spoke in Clark’s mind, causing him to turn to the Martian from where he had been fruitlessly looking around in the off chance that their visitor was just around the corner, ‘It has not been that long. They should still be within reach.’

Clark’s eyes widen, ‘Right.’ He responds before waving a hand to the side, ‘I’ll take this side, you take that one. Keep the link up so that we can contact each other if one of us finds them.’

‘When, Superman. Not if.’ J’onn responds before turning away and beginning his search.

Clark blinks, having not even realized his word choice. His worries must be affecting him more than he thought.

‘Right, when, sorry.’ He thinks, both to respond to J’onn and to say to himself.

Because they would find them. And it would be fine. Of course it would.

It would all be fine.

Chapter Text

Victor can’t help how his finger taps anxiously against the desk, no matter how much the constant loud ‘dings’ of metal on metal rings in his ears. He was called up minutes after their visitor’s heartbeat reappeared on the scanners with the hope of being able to locate it again even after the inevitable initial disappearance.

When the reading did eventually disappear just over an hour after being detected Victor had to keep himself from freaking out like he had the last time the sign of life looked as if it had been snuffed out. With the reaffirming information of Hal’s report, Victor was able to shake off the initial shock quickly and get to work trying to figure out why the heartbeat disappeared all while Batman gruffly instructs Superman and Martian Manhunter on what to do next.

His running theory coming into this was that the alien, during their transformation and while in the form of their white-haired and helmetless appearance, released a constant amount of some kind of energy that blocked out any kind of signal. It would explain what exactly messed with communications at least, but that could have also only been because of the initial transformation. Not to mention they were able to get some readings back at the Watchtower on the alien based on the slim-to-none atmospheric readings from the moon’s surface that only seemed to be of note after they knew the alien was already there. 

Like the first time they had detected their visitor, there was a two-degree shift down in temperature in the area compared to the rest of the moon's slim atmosphere. When he first saw that particular reading, Victor brushed aside the information as inconsequential without a second thought. Only to find that, when compared to the rest of their non-existent data, the tiny detail was actually the most important thing on the screen seeing how there was nothing else to look at.

By all accounts this being practically didn’t exist when in their white haired form. They were well and truely invisible to all of the Watchtowers scanners, and this was Bat tech, stuff that could literally detect invisible people!

There were no signs of any kind of unknown energy readings that he could spot, no sign of disturbance either that could point to where exactly their mystery visitor may have gone off to once their heartbeat disappeared and they left Hal yesterday. Nothing stood out enough to be attributed to their alien visitor and the one thing they might have was so inconsequential when compared to the vacuum of space that it left Victor feeling like he was looking for a needle in a pile of slightly shorter needles. 

After ten minutes of nothing, nothing, and more nothing, annoyance was starting to creep in now. Victor had an idea of what to look for based on the data from first contact with the alien and had hoped it would be enough for him to get a leg up on this, but no matter where he looked, he could find no difference in the thin atmosphere of the moon.

Just when Victor's annoyance started to turn into anger at the blatant defeat he was facing, he noticed a faint sound of static.

Pausing from his work on the screen Victor waits and just, listens. Just like everything else on the Watchtower, these comms were state-of-the-art Bat Approved, which meant they kept connection across space and probably time too. Unless someone was smack dab in the middle of the sun itself then the connection would stay fine, and even then the connection would falter because the comm was melting rather than any connection errors.

Which could only mean this static meant something.

When Hal had contacted the visitor, the static had started all at once right when the being transformed causing them all, Victor included, to believe that the power surge from the transformation had caused the interference. That in and of itself was a pretty big feat, see crazy Bat tech standards, but this? This steadily growing static that was slowly taking over Superman’s comm specifically? This was looking more and more like the visitor's white-haired form itself was the cause of the interference.

Victor quickly jumps on the comm before the connection peters out completely, “Superman, be on the lookout. It’s just a theory but I have reason to believe you are closing in on the visitor's location.”

There’s no reply from Superman as expected (not everyone here has a universal communicator Hal), so Victor can only hope his message was received. He then contacts Martian Manhunter and tells him to meet back up with Superman in the hopes that this small trail will help the two find their moon visitor.

He hears a grunt not from the comm and he turns to see Batman staring at him, a sight that even after all these years working together makes Victor want to sit up straight in his chair like he’s back in high school under the eye of his coach.

“The static,” The Dark Night grumbles, and Victor quickly nods his head.

“It’s the biggest sign we have, that and I am picking up similar readings in Superman’s area that match up with the readings from when Hal made contact,” Granted those readings are just a slightly colder atmosphere that could be found in about twenty other places along the moon’s surface, but it wasn’t like he was gonna tell Batman that. Victor actually has some self-preservation skills, unlike a certain green lantern.

Batman only nods before turning back to the screens in front of him and Victor can’t help how his shoulders ease now that he’s free of the man’s gaze.

Only for them to hike right back up to his ears when his head rings with harsh and piercing pain.

Distantly he recognises that the comm channel, from both Superman and Martian Manhunter now, had risen to practically ear-piercing levels of volume. Too bad he was too distracted with what felt like hundreds of knives stabbing from every inch of his body reaching up through his nervous system and into his brain.

It was everywhere- it was nowhere- it didn’t exist but it did and it didn’t- it all just hurt and Victor can’t think straight behind the white wall of pain-

And then it’s just, gone.

Well, not completely gone. He still has a splitting headache but it was quickly easing away with each passing second, but Victor was too busy trying to breathe again to really take notice of it.

Looking up (when did he look down?) from where he was sitting on the floor (when did he get on the floor?) he sees Batman kneeling in front of him 

“Cyborg. Cyborg are you all right? Victor can you hear me?” That- that was him. His name. His name coming out of Batman’s mouth.

He’s surprised by the oddity of it more than anything. Sure Victor had never told the man his name, but the man was also Batman and Victor’s pretty sure secret identities were just a suggestion to the man at this point despite his iron-clad refusal to let anyone know his own. No, it’s more the fact that Batman was saying his actual name that made him pause and just, squint at him.

“Are you squinting in pain or confusion?” The man barks and Victor blinks before finally settling back into himself and running a scan through his systems as he answers.

“Bit of both?” He says, forgoing any attempts to get up and instead giving into his new place on the floor. Batman can be as disappointed as he wants (actually no that’s somehow worse than him being mad maybe he should-), Victor’s everything hurt which meant no getting up for him, “Still some lingering effects, but… what was that?”

Batman waits another moment before giving a quick nod, “You weren’t the only thing affected. All the systems concerning our setup and even some beyond were affected by… it. Most likely it was caused by the entity with how it happened shortly after both Superman’s and Manhunter’s locations met up, appearing to have made contact with them.”

Batman gets up and taps something on one of the screens that littered the desk, “We need more information before any proper theories can be made so the rest can wait for when Superman arrives. His location is moving back towards the watchtower but Manhunter’s is still on the moon's surface, presumably still searching for the entity.”

Victor lets out a sigh, “Got it. Do you…” He glances at the screens he can see while also internally scanning the information he has become intimately aware of thanks to the hours spent poring through the data, hesitant to say what he wants to the Batman.

“You’ve been compromised,” Is the vigilantie’s not unkind response, “We don’t know what caused this or how to stop it, keeping you here and connected to this is an unnecessary risk. I’ll keep watch.”

Victor sighs again, this time in relief though not without a tinge of disappointment in himself. He pushes himself up and yanks out the cord from his arm that directly connected him to the Watchtower computers with a bit more force than necessary. All that work trying to find them and all Victor has is some records of cool spots and static ringing in his ears. 

If it wasn’t for the occasional heartbeat the scanners detected, Victor would say that what they were hunting was nothing more than a ghost with how hard they were to track down.

⭐-⭐=🌒=⭐-⭐

Bruce didn’t like this.

If he ever said such words aloud in Clark's presence the man would most definitely laugh in his face and sarcastically ask him what else was new, but Clark wasn’t around. In fact, no one was around as Bruce sat in the observation deck alone, just like he had every other day of the past week.

After the first instance of Cyborg’s… reaction that accompanied the flare of the entity's power, Bruce had appointed himself to stand watch over the readings, only ever leaving the one time Clark and Diana had teamed up to drag him into his quarters to rest on day five. And even then the only reason he complied with their demands was because they had threatened to call Dick (emotional manipulation), Tim (physically stop him from using the system’s computers), and Alfred (even more emotional manipulation).

But now he was back on day seven of keeping watch, almost nine days since they first caught wind of their unusual visitor.

And unusual they were.

They held resentment towards the Justice League, that much was clear with Hal and even Clark's report. At the same time, however, they seemed to hold them in high regard if what J’onn said was true about what the beings' emotions were during his and Clark’s first meeting with them before things went south.  Though after said disastrous second contact, whatever good rapport between the Justice League and their mysterious visitor seemed to have flown out the window as the entity now fled at the sight of any Justice League member.

Though it could also be possible that they are simply fleeing from anyone that approaches, but seeing how this reaction only ever formed after two back-to-back negative interactions with the Justice League, it was fair to say they were avoiding any and all attempts the heroes made in contacting them.

Attempts that were being made every hour of every day as anyone who can brave the void of space is sent off in search of the being with their only guiding light being the traces of static through the comms and the slim but still occasional moments where their heartbeat reaches their sensors.

Ever since Clark gave his report on the entity, on their conversation, on their abilities, Bruce has made finding this mysterious alien a top priority.

They were able to speak and be spoken to in the vacuum of space, seemingly without even realising just how impossible such a feat could be, all while speaking and understanding English without J’onn present to act as translator. Their shapeshifting abilities went beyond simply changing their hair color and creating a strange yet unnoticeable field around their person. Clark had described their appearance as one that had no form, something that started as a young humanoid before growing in size enough to match Clark himself as inklings of darkness seeped from the cracks in their suit and dots of green replaced the stars whenever their form covered the celestial bodies that laid hundreds of thousands of miles behind them. They also had incredible speed, fast enough that in the brief moment it took for both J’onn and Clark to shake off the shock of what had happened, they had all but disappeared from sight leaving J’onn to continue searching with nothing but the static in his ear to guide him as Clark returned to the Wathtower.

Then came J’onn’s report. How he described this being as a fractured mind, a whirlwind of emotion taken form, going from bubbling excitement to rage and pure heartache in a matter of seconds. 

It all painted a dark picture of an unstable, highly volatile and unknown entity prowling across the surface of Earth’s moon with a vengeful hatred towards the Justice League who protected this planet.

(It also painted the picture of someone who, much like J’onn and Clark, had lost everything and was angry at anyone who could have helped but didn’t. But Bruce wasn’t here to think of that kind of what-if, that was Clark’s job. Bruce prepares for the worst possible outcome, as always.)

A rogue alien with unknown origins, unknown motives, unknown abilities, prancing around in their backyard, all while avoiding them at every turn.

Until now.

Today had Hal who was actually being cooperative for once, Marvel who was a recent addition to the roster of people searching the moon with how Diana had backed out of her own rounds of patrol, and Hawkman all flying across the surface of the moon in search of the entity.

None of them were set to return for another two hours, and yet, Marvel was heading back towards the Watchtower right now all while his comm line rang with static.

Bruce quickly pings both Hal and Hawkman to head back before pushing himself up from his perch in the observation deck. He marches through the halls of the Watchtower towards the hangar, similar to how he did over a week ago now when Hal had returned and Bruce’s veins burned hot with rage at the green lantern. 

Based on their current speed, Marvel and their mystery alien won’t arrive for another hour, which meant Bruce needed to get everyone he needed there and ready for the inevitable confrontation that would commence once the entity arrived on the tower.

It didn't feel like enough time. It never did.

There was still no telling if the entity was friend or foe, and Bruce needed all hands on deck in case they wanted to take action on their feelings of resentment towards the Justice League. None of them would aggravate the situation by starting this with harmful intent, but if the alien tried to attack them, Bruce would make sure they were well prepared to respond in kind.

But all of this was preventative, reactionary precautions. There was no forward action Bruce could take to create the most optimal path forward with the entity without risking negative effects. Bruce knows what he’s doing, knows that it’s the best they have, but the sizeable pile of unknowns when it comes to the alien is impossible to ignore when facing the prospect of meeting them face to face.

Bruce still doesn’t even fully know what they look like.

But Bruce also knows himself. Knows Batman. He knows Batman isn’t the right fit for the job like this, one that involves an unknown that they were trying to create friendly or at least neutral relations with, not to mention one that was most likely emotionally compromised based on what J’onn reported. They needed someone to soften Batman’s rigid planning, the ‘invasive’ nature of his precautions, no matter how necessary they may be.

Looking through who was on board the Watchtower that could join him in meeting the alien, Bruce took note that Clark seemed unavailable, something that may well be a blessing in disguise based on how the Kryptonian’s first meeting with them went. J’onn was in a similar situation with the Martian not currently being on the Watchtower, but after a brief back and forth of messages, Bruce knew the Martian would be able to make it there in time to meet the alien. Flash was actually on board and so, after a brief moment of deliberation, Bruce messaged the man a brief rundown of the situation as well as orders to meet in the hangar.

That made three people, four including Marvel, who would be meeting with the alien once they arrived. Crowding them would most likely lead to another negative reaction and based on who all was on the Watchtower, Bruce was confident that this particular group would be enough.

And if it wasn’t? Well, there were all meeting on a satellite full of heroes from across the planet and even some beyond, not to mention the message Bruce had sent to Clark for the man to read once he’s available.

If this alien really did know of the Justice League, then they’d also know better than to try anything on their turf.