Touch Of The Past

Chapter 38

"But they already know ghosts," Wally argues, almost upending his bowl of snacks in his frustration, "We'd be better off letting a different pair take point!"

He'd already reiterated this point several times, but we always returned to Danny being on the penetration team.

"Well, we've already ruled out having three people, taking the entire group, omitting Phantom completely, sending Phantom alone and anyone paired with Phantom," I point out drily, repositioning on the increasingly uncomfortable chair.

"Exactly! We should explore options without Phantom!"

"That's what 'omit' means," Artemis comments, snagging some of Wally's food while he's distracted.

"This is like being on missions without M'gann," Zatanna sighs. She's relaxing her head on her hand, leaning on her elbow like she's about to doze off. Or die of boredom.

"You guys have gotten pretty dependent," Jazz notes. "It's only been a couple missions and it's like you can't remember how to use stealth without him."

"It's really easy to rely on someone's ability to simply walk through any security measure," I say dreamily. Oh, what I would do with that ability... "But you guys do know I am a master of stealth myself."

Tucker rolls his eyes, "When you're not giggling from the darkness, that is."

"So we've agreed that Robin should be on the point team." Kaldur stands, trying to get the team's attention focused on the matter at hand. We'd been here too long, trying to figure out how to infiltrate a facility we haven't encountered before. Danny said he can get us there; we just need to get in.

We recounted all security measures we'd seen so far and brainstormed ways to circumvent and disconnect them. Then we got stuck on who would do that. And here we are.

Kaldur continues, "Who should go with him?"

"Jazz and Tucker are untrained for a top security stealth mission," I begin, trying to choose someone that can conceal as easily as myself, "So are Superboy, Kaldur, and Zatanna." I give a brief apologetic look to her. "Sorry." She rolls her eyes, but gestures for me to continue. "Wally's too talkative, and Danny's already out of the question, which leaves M'gann and Artemis."

"What about Danny in human form?" Tucker interjects. "They can't track him then."

"Is Danny highly skilled in stealth?"

He and Jazz give embarrassed coughs and look away.

"Well then. M'gann can camouflage, though it's not perfect, and she can shapeshift without necessarily alerting anyone. Artemis, on the other hand, is highly trained for this type of mission."

"But neither of us can just walk through walls, which we all agree is a very possible barrier," M'gann adds. She rubs her left arm with her right, biting her lip. "Not yet, anyway."

Superboy puts a hand on her shoulder, then looks at us. "Why does it have to be stealth anyway? Why don't we just attack from all different angles at once?"

"That's always your approach, isn't it?" Wally snipes. Superboy glares back.

"I agree with Wally," Zatanna says. "That really hasn't worked in the past."

Artemis doesn't take Wally's side. "Yeah, against the light. But these new enemies are all about brute force."

"Which is why we use stealth. Because they're idiots." And Tucker joins the stealth side.

I sigh. "Guys, let's not devolve into a fight again. They're both ideas that are unlikely to work."

"What if we do both?" Jazz asks, jumping to her feet so she can start moving. I notice she often does that when in deep thought. "We could attack and draw forces to the outside, and then send another force inside! Oh, wait, we need at least Superboy to hit through all the barriers. So we'd have three forces. Even better, we could have a trap on the outside after the outer force's initial attack, so that team can join the other two as reinforcements-"

She continues theorizing as we watch her pace. A quick glance at everyone's facial expressions confirms that they agree with this general idea.

The Zeta Beam announces Danny's arrival, and we all go quiet as he flies up to us in ghost form.

He pauses for a brief moment. "Wow, this is... quiet."

"Oh, sorry," Tucker replies, almost sounding genuine. He pushes back his chair, slams his palms on the table and yells, "Welcome to the Cave, Phantom!"

Danny smirks once before turning to everyone else. "Do we have a plan?"

Kaldur gives a summary of what we discussed.

"Sounds like a great plan," he compliments. As he says this, he withdraws a scroll from the back of his belt. "And I know how to get there."

Confused silence.

"I want to tease you about this random scroll," Wally starts, "but I just don't know how. It's too random."

"I got it." Artemis turns from Wally to Danny. "Ancient Egypt knew of our troubles and decided to lend a hand?"

"It's a map," he responds lamely, looking from the map to the team. "The map to everywhere. In fact, I'm surprised you guys didn't know to use it." He uses the map to point at Jazz and Tucker.

"We, um-" Jazz coughs, which I knew realize is her nervous tic. "We couldn't find the Far Frozen."

Danny glares at the two of them, "One day we're going to have to run through how dumb you guys are... There's the Infa-map, Desiree, Skulker, Clockwork, the Boomerang-"

"Ahem- Couldn't find, enemy, enemy, couldn't find, and Sam had it..."

Danny waves Tucker off dismissively, "All I'm saying is that you had options."

"Danny," I say impatiently, "The map?"

"Right." He unfurls it, opening a normal enough map. But as Danny holds the long scroll, it begins to glow bright purple. Projections of doors surround his head as he watches the map. "Find Sam."

In response, the doors shuffle and are recalled back into the map, where a line is being drawn across the surface. The strange symbols fade and turn into a snapshot of the northwestern states. Finished, the map jerks, but Danny plants his heels down, holding the map tight.

"New York," I read over his shoulder, "Close to Albany. Makes sense; most light facilities hover in the northeast."

Danny snickers. "I still can't believe you guys didn't think of this-"

Tucker looks murderous, "Excuse us, if you know how to navigate the Ghost Zone and we don't. I've only been to the ice place once and we crash landed there! Don't even get me started on Clockwork's place, which is on the outskirts of an infinite dimension..."

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I forget you guys aren't always with me." He wears an apologetic half-smile that Tucker relents to, and team moves on.

"When should we attack?" Kaldur asks, returning to tactics.

"Monday," Danny responds immediately, "Evening. Like six or seven. Still light outside, but at the end of everyone's shift, and before the night guards get there. Besides, it's a football game. Football games are always distracting." Jazz, Tucker and Danny wear the same secret smiles, but none of us ask. If they're confident, I guess we are too.

"Sounds as good a time as any," Zatanna yawns, beginning to openly show her boredom.

"Look alert, Zatanna," I tease playfully, settling back into my chair, "This is going to take a while."

"The outer team-" Kaldur begins, and I give a relieved smile as everyone readies themselves for an argument. They're taking this as seriously as they know how.

I glance at Danny's content smile. He's ready. We're all ready.

Now it's only a matter of waiting until Monday.

Short chapter, but fear not, the next will be longer. Less than a few chapters left, and I already have a fantastic idea for a new fanfic after this one is completed. I know I have a drawn out story style, but thank any of you who have read this far and still follow the story. You guys are the best!