"You gonna invite me in, Ghost Boy?"

Danny's breath hitched at the nickname, having not heard it in, well, years.

"What are you doing here?" He didn't bother stepping out of the way of the door. It didn't matter anyway, as she just shoved past him.

"After two years, that's all you have to say? You really did change." Valerie sighed, but Danny couldn't care right now. He had to get back to his lab.

"How did you know I was here?" Danny knew he was visibly tense, knew that Valerie was observant and could see it. He just hoped it would get her to leave. He couldn't handle this, having his inventions possibly stolen, and now having her show up? Such a direct reminder of the past? It was too much.

"Did you already forget that I used to work with Mr. Masters?" His eyes widened, not having thought of that. Last he knew, Valerie and Vlad weren't exactly on the best of terms. But, it had been two years since then. Things change.

It dawned on Danny why she'd come. The only possible reason why Valerie would show up after so long.

"What does he want?" The easy smile she'd had on her face dropped at Danny's growled out words. But honestly? He didn't care. Danny's been trying his damnedest to stay as far away from Vlad as he could. Fuck him being his guardian.

"Danny," Valerie sighed, "he's worried about you. And I can see why. You look awful." She made a point of scanning him up and down with her lip turned down in a grimace. Danny knew he looked like shit. Doesn't mean he needed her to say it.

It didn't matter though, she needed to go. Now.

"Valerie-"

Ring!

The door to the store front opened, the bell chiming loudly.

"Shit." Danny felt like his head was going to explode. He'd barely slept the past several days, and he had a headache the size of Texas. Danny did not want to deal with customers. And wasn't the store closed? Wasn't that door locked?

Something in his stomach dropped. Had that masked man come back?

He dashed out to the store, ignoring the affronted yell from Valerie. He couldn't get back to his lab. The bastard just couldn't. It felt like a hand was squeezing his heart in the few seconds it took to reach the store. When Danny finally got there, he was met with the sight of...

...the Titans.

Relief flooded Danny, feeling himself almost physically sag from it. Until he realized that Valerie was right behind him.

"Uh, Danny? Mind explaining why the Teen Titans are here?"

"Danny, who's that?"

All of the tension rushed back, scowl firmly returning to his face.

"Why are you here?" Robin didn't even look surprised at the venom in his voice.

"You went silent days ago, Danny. We have a lot of enemies, no word for days could mean someone decided to try and take you out." The serious look was replaced with a much more sheepish one after a moment. "And Cyborg broke his weapon."

Danny's head throbbed.

"Fine." He walked over to Cyborg, holding his hand out expectantly. After a few moments the other teen complied, giving Danny his robotic arm. It only took a few seconds for him to realize what happened. "You messed with it, didn't you." It wasn't a question. Cyborg sputtered for several moments, before silently nodding. "Come on."

Danny did not want them in his lab. He didn't want anybody in his lab. Ever. But he was more concerned about leaving. What if the masked man came back? Broke in again? Danny had to be there.

The Titans followed Danny back into his apartment, looking confused. Valerie followed behind, seeming a bit miffed that her question was ignored. The lab, like always, was a mess, but more so than usual. Danny didn't exactly have time to clean up the past several days.

"Come here." Danny barely looked at Cyborg, focusing more so on grabbing what he needed to fix what the older broke. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was trying to make the blast more powerful. Honestly, Danny should have seen this coming. But everything had a limit. Especially when it came to a weapon.

"Why did you mess with it?" The sigh fell heavily from Danny's mouth, some of the exhaustion beginning to catch up to him. Nothing he wasn't used to, though.

"It needs to be more powerful. If I'm gonna fight these things, I need to be stronger." It sounded so easy. Too bad it wasn't.

"This attachment is part of a weapon. A weapon that doesn't interact with the human part of your body, not really. It not like the human body, it has limitations, Cyborg. All you're going to do is break it and take yourself out of the fight." He didn't even bother looking up at the older, too busy reconnecting wires, removing unnecessary connectors. It wasn't hard, but it was annoying.

"Excuse me if I'm not gonna trust some punk kid with my tech. How the hell do you even know about this stuff?" Cyborg was getting louder by the word, it was giving Danny a headache.

"Please, this stuff is practically in his blood," Valerie spoke up, arms crossed, seemingly unimpressed by the two bickering. Danny froze.

"Huh?" It was Beast Boy who spoke. But Danny could barely hear him, his ears muffled by a loud pumping in his ears. Was that his heartbeat?

"Danny, what does she mean by "in your blood?"' Robin this time, but Danny wasn't listening. That doesn't make sense though, it can't be his heartbeat. It's been slow since the accident. It's beating way too fast.

"Didn't Danny tell you? His parents-"

"No!"

The rushing in his ears was there, but Valerie's words, what she was about to say, rang as loudly as if she'd shouted them.

"Don't."

"Danny, what is she talking about?" Robin has this look. This look. Of pity, of pain. Of suspicion. The roaring grew louder. It was too much. He couldn't think. Could hear a ringing in his ears, could smell the scent of burnt flesh-

I'm inevitable.

"GET OUT!"

He didn't see the shocked Titans trying to approach him, couldn't hear the questions or confusion as they tried to figure out what happened. He could just see fire, feel the heat and the pressure as the Nasty Burger-

"Get out! Get out get out get out!"

As the Titans, plus Valerie all but ran from his lab, Danny could only hear the sound of his own demented laughter ring in his ears.