His Redemption

Fire and Rain

"Danny, watch out!" Cyborg shouted, alerting Danny to the drone behind him. The half ghost whipped around in the air and blasted it out of the sky. His eyes still glowed green as he slowly floated back to the ground. The other Titans quickly surrounded him, cheering.

"Nice dude!" Beast Boy shouted, a huge grin splitting his face.

"That was the fastest yet, man!" Cyborg congratulated, patting him on the back. Danny rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly.

"Thanks guys." He muttered, a light blush on his cheeks. It had been several months since Danny's identity had been revealed, and things were truly looking up; something Danny had never even dared to dream of. His powers had steadily been returning, a relief on his part. Danny had been training vigorously to return to his past strength, something he had accomplished over a month back. This however, did nothing to keep Danny from training. The biggest change, though, had been Danny himself. His previous personality had returned almost entirely, full of sarcastic comments and dry humor. Though, despite his improvement mentally, that didn't mean he never had any setbacks. For the first couple of months, his panic attacks had increased to near daily, and there were times when he refused to speak for weeks at a time. And, while things were far from perfect, Danny could honestly say he was the happiest he had been since the explosion.

"Good job Danny. Your doing better than ever." Robin said with an approving nod. Danny couldn't help but chuckle at the comment.

"So you approve, oh great boy wonder?" Danny responded sarcastically, a sly smirk on his face. He was rewarded when Robin looked caught off guard for a moment, seeming affronted at the comment. The other Titans, minus Raven, chuckled at the look on Robin's face.

Before Robin could respond, a blaring alarm could be heard throughout the tower. Everyone tensed for a split second, before running (or flying) to the living area. Robin, being the first to arrive, quickly brought up the public camera corresponding to the area being attacked. The screen showed a giant mass of sentient goo attacking the downtown area.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted, causing all of the Titans, and Danny, to spur into action. Each finding their respective way to downtown. When Danny arrived, along with Starfire and Raven, he heard before he saw the massive goo that was Plasmus. Currently, he was destroying a residential building. Moments later, each Titan there ran to the radioactive monster. Starfire shooting her starbolts one after another, and Raven using her magic to throw objects at Plasmus. Danny however, was using his ectoplasmic rays, but knowing they wouldn't do much damage. He was proven correct when Plasmus merely turned his wrath on them over the building. He knew that his ice powers would be the most effective against the thing, but the issue was that Danny couldn't use his icy core. At least, not purposely. He could only ever come into contact with it when he lost all control of his emotions.

"Robin!" Starfire called, distracting Danny for a moment. That second of diversion was enough time for Plasmus to land a blow on Danny, causing him to fly back. He heard the shouts of several of the Titans as he flew back. A blow to the head upon landing caused his vision to cloud, an aching steadily increasing from where he landed. Danny was vaguely aware of shouts and grunts from the battle. Slowly, he stood, blinking several times to clear his vision. When he (eventually) succeeded, he saw a figure standing a several feet behind the debris of the residential building. What was strange was that this figure appeared to be a woman in a long black dress, her skin paler than any living person's should be. When Danny blinked, however, the strange woman was gone. Shaking his head, Danny flew back over to the Titans.

The fight was progressing, and it wasn't looking good. Plasmus had always been difficult to fight, but he currently seemed impossible to defeat. All of the Titans were quickly tiring, but the radioactive mass of sludge was still just as strong as at the start of the fight. Danny, who had been in the air firing blasts at it, felt something cold and wet fall on his face. In a matter of moments, that single drop turned into a downpour. Luckily for the Titans, this moisture weakened Plasmus enough for Raven to wrap several steel beams around it. All of the Titans let out a breath of relief at the end of the battle. All of them were exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to pass out in each of their (dry) beds.

After handing the sleeping form of Plasmus over to the authorities, a group Danny still didn't fully trust, they all piled into the T car, or on their motorbike in Robin's case. And finally, after what felt like years on the road, they arrived back at the Tower. Without a word, each of them trudged over to their bedroom. After a few weeks of staying in the Medic Ward, Danny was given one of the many guest room in the Tower, one he still occupied. However, when he walked into his bedroom, something seemed off. Danny couldn't quite place the feeling, but there seemed to be an...aura surrounding his room. Upon entering, he quickly discovered what it was he was feeling. Danny severely regretted not reverting back to his human form.

~~~~~~~~~Line~Break~~~~~~~~~

All of the Titans were awoken to the sound of familiar screams. Groggily, Robin walked to Danny's room, assuming it was a nightmare. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time. Soon after they discovered his identity, Danny had had nightmares nearly every night. Why this had begun only afterward was anybody's guess. Though, if Robin had been a bit more aware, he might have found it strange that Danny was experiencing such a strong nightmare when he hadn't had one in a couple of months. This unrealized question was quickly answered upon entering Danny's bedroom.

"Hey!" Robin shouted loudly, seeing Danny lying on then floor screaming in agony. The half ghost was surrounded by strange looking roses with purple stems, a red aura seeing to emanate from his body. A pale woman stood over Danny, hands reaching out, clearly planning to grab him in his weakened state. Said woman looked up suddenly, revealing blood red eyes wide with surprise and irritation. Without a word, she waved her hand, a familiar green portal opening at her command. Seeing this, Robin rushed forward, but was too late. The strange woman had already fled, Danny unwillingly with her. The green portal closed, a strange unfamiliar burning scent being left in its wake.

Robin stood there for a moment, shocked at the events that had just taken place. However, it was just for a moment. He quickly regained himself, and ran from the room, shouting for the other Titans to come quickly. In a matter of minutes, each of the Titans was standing in front of Danny's bedroom door, already informed of what took place from Robin. Upon entering, Raven was the first to react. She strode urgently towards the roses littering the floor.

"This isn't good." She said, grabbing one from the ground.

"Raven, what is it?" Robin asked, already tense.

"These are blood blossoms." She responded shortly, receiving confused look from the othe Titans. Seeing this, she elaborated. "Flowers used to ward off ghosts in the 15th Century. According to lure, they would cause spirits great harm if they were close to them. However, they died out centuries ago." She finished, a contemplative look on her face. "Whoever did this planned it very carefully." She said ominously, her next words becoming even more disturbing. "And if she went through so much to get to Danny, I doubt she will let him go very easily."