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Chapter Twenty-Five: Of Councils And A Costumed Huntress

"White," Kaldur calls out for the siren.

He had gone to the roof of the warehouse to look for the siren of pure heart. Phantom had taken his turn to go to the stress room, so Siren was most likely where he could literally spread his wings.

"Do you think it's common for those with wings to be outside in times of stress," White's voice came from a stack of crates on one end of the roof.

The siren had taken a spot on top of one of the crates. His wings were drooping, matching his current mood.

"Are you alright," Kaldur asked him.

"Depends," White says. "Are those hypocritical mortals still downstairs or do I have to thank one of the team for getting rid of them?"

"Conner, Mal, and Jaime were rather forceful when getting them to leave," the Atlantean told the mystical teen.

"I'm sending all three of them gift baskets filled with my chicken and waffles," White stated. "And an extra big one to Gar."

"I mean no offense to him, but why Garfield," Kaldur asked.

"He is the little brother I've always wanted," White answered with a shrug. "Pretty sure that gives me the right to spoil him."

"You want him to stay as innocent as possible, don't you," Kaldur suddenly asked him.

"What," White was shocked by the question.

"You and Danny had to go through a lot while you were here," Kaldur walked up the crates and sat next to Siren. "You guys told us about how you used to be. You had fun while fighting ghosts and demons. Danny would crack jokes and witticisms more often than Dick and Wally combined. You would get scary pissed off at certain opponents and spend quite some time chasing them."

"Guess now's the time to tell you how annoying Box Ghost is," White slightly smiled. "I once got so annoyed that I chased after him in circles that even to this day, Danny still refers to it as the 'Merry-Go-Round Gone Wild."

"My point exactly," Kaldur says. "Even with the constant fighting and the tolls that it most likely took on you both, you had fun. As serious as some of your fights were, you still made it the best you could."

"We didn't really have much else," White said. "I remember singing when I was a kid. Danny and Jazz loved to listen to me. It's part of what made me qualified to become a siren. A love of music."

"Except that the Fenton's are scientists," Kaldur put the pieces together.

"To them, the arts are useless," White crosses his arms. "Music, art, and even my talent with a bow and arrow. Everything but science was deemed useless to them. My dream was to be an author, specializing in fiction. I think it horrified them. I was becoming the exact opposite of what they wanted. Musically inclined, a writer that wants to live in basically a fantasy world, and a siren to top it off."

Aqualad put his hand over Siren's.

"Danny..." White was tearing up. "Danny tried to be what they wanted. He wanted to be an astronaut, to study the stars. He tried, but always felt inferior because of how often they'd praise Jazz and call her a genius, yet didn't give either of us the time of day. My brother is smart, but they never cared to see it. He was bullied and made fun of by a lot of the, so-called, A-listers. He cared enough to take the punches of every jock in Casper High to keep the other nerds and geeks safe. You know what those teachers did... NOTHING!"

"White..." Aqualad tried.

"He was shoved into lockers every day," White's rant continued. " had been our favorite teacher until we realized he was just as pathetic as the rest. He favored the jocks like everyone else. Dash tried to get Danny to eat dirt, so he threw it at Dash and inadvertently caused a food fight. Dash, the school's star quarterback, was exempt from punishment simply because he scored a few touchdowns in the last game. But Mr. Lancer punished Danny and Tucker very heavily. Made me want to scream and shatter every window in town."