All That Remains

When Duty Calls

   Danny was not having a good day.

   It began when he woke from nightmares he'd forced from his mind a year ago, nightmares he refused to address, hoping that if they were ignored, the events simply wouldn't occur. Danny could almost laugh at his naivety. He'd woken up in a sweat, a silent scream ripping from his mouth.

   That had been at four A.M.

   For some reason, Danny had just so happened to forget to set the coffee maker for an hour later, forcing him to wait even longer for the caffeine he knew he'd need. Only a handful of hours later, just after opening the store, he'd found that the shipment of records he'd been waiting for, the ones with an already impatient, and long waiting-list, was nearly shattered in its box. Those phone calls were likely the closest he'd ever come to snapping at a customer.

   And, as if knowing of his already frustrating day, a letter from none other than Vlad Masters, a.k.a. Vlad Plasmius had arrived. Danny would rather chew on a cup of toenails than open the letter, but knew better. The last time he'd tried to ignore his legal guardian, it resulted in the older halfa coming to the still new storefront, and staying for almost a week. In all honesty, it was a miracle that the building was standing at all by the time Vlad had left.

   Not too much later after nearly tearing the letter into microscopic pieces, Danny felt a painfully familiar chill run up his spine. Now, his (unfortunately) constantly aware ghost sense had gone off a few times since his move, but he ignored them. Probably just a spirit falling its way through one of the random and naturally occurring portals. But this on felt familiar. He couldn't place it, or who for that matter, but Danny knew he'd felt it before. And, as he had done for over two years, he ignored it, how ever unsuccessfully.

   So to say Danny was in a bad mood was likely the understatement of the damn century. And, when he heard his customers suddenly murmuring rather loudly upon the front door opening, he already had a bad feeling. And then he heard the fateful word that sent his already foul mood spiraling downwards; Titans. 

   "Excuse me, can we-" The voice Danny had heard ordering the Titans into actions spoke, cutting himself off as Danny, (however regretfully,) turned around to meet them. "You!"

   "Shouldn't I be the one saying that? This is my store, after all." He rolled his eyes at the surprised Titans.

   "Wait, you own this place?" The cyborg, who was so cleverly named, spoke up. "But your, like, fifteen." The confusion was clear on his face.

   "Sixteen," Danny corrected. "And yeah, that is what I said." He had to physically hold back a sigh, mentally preparing himself for what was sure to be a difficult customer interaction. "So, how can I help you? I assume you're here for a cd? Record, maybe?" Danny asked with false politeness.

   "No, not quite." Robin's entire demeanor had changed, going from surprise to obvious suspicion. "A contact said you knew of someone called the 'Box Ghost', and of others like him?" Danny could tell that the boy wonder was keeping significant details from him, but froze at the name. The Box Ghost? In Jump?

   Had he been followed? Did Vlad leak his location? A wave of paranoia crashed into Danny, leaving him reeling in his own thoughts.

   "We wish to gain more information on this spirit of boxes," Starfire spoke, seeming to think that Danny's internal struggle was him simply not understanding.

   "I can't help you." Danny said simply, feeling his heart constrict with every passing moment.

   "Can't or won't." The dark one, Raven if Danny remembered correctly, spoke.