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chintadraws · 3 years ago

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Buried

Co-written by @imekitty

AO3 | FFN | Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

Chapter 2: Father Knows Best

“Aha!”

Danny dramatically opened the cabinet drawers and peeked in, scrutinizing every corner for the little green furball. Cujo was nowhere to be found, but Danny had already known he wouldn’t be in there anyway. His ghost sense alerted him of Cujo’s hiding spot the moment he ran off to hide for their umpteenth game of hide-and-seek. But even then, Danny really didn’t need his ghost sense to figure out where Cujo was hiding: the little puppy’s pattering footsteps could be heard from the other side of the underground bunker.

But Danny knew how much Cujo loved the suspense. He feigned defeat then sauntered over to lean against the sink, sighing forlornly.

“Well, I guess Cujo isn’t hiding anywhere here,” he said. His heel tapped against the cabinet under the sink, where he could hear Cujo’s tail thumping against the pipes.

He pushed off the counter with another dramatic sigh, pretending to walk away. With a mischievous grin, he floated over the sink and flipped upside down, phasing his head below the sink. His eyes flashed a brilliant green at Cujo. “Boo!”

Cujo yipped and jumped into the air, scrambling out of his hiding spot in a hurry before pouncing into Danny’s arms. Danny repositioned himself and sat on the countertop, chuckling as Cujo attacked him with wet doggy kisses.

“All right, that’s twenty-two for me. How about we go for twenty-three out of forty-five?” Cujo whined and buried his nose into the palm of Danny’s hand. Danny rolled his eyes amusedly, his thumb rubbing against the soft fur. “Well, what else do you wanna do, then?”

Cujo perked up and hopped out of his arms. He slid across the floor as he dashed toward his father’s greatest invention: the portal to the Ghost Zone.

Danny’s expression fell. His entire body bristled and twitched with phantom pains; memories from the accident years ago tugged at the back of his mind.

His father had been working on that portal for months, and when the time came to activate it, he had nothing to show for it, not even a little spark. And while Vlad was never quite the cheery type, Danny had never seen his father so despondent after the matter. He wanted to help, wanted to make his father proud.

That very desire paired with Danny’s curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to find out just what was wrong with the portal on his own. He may not have been as smart as his father nor as resourceful, but surely he could try to do something, anything.

He hadn’t meant to be so careless. All he wanted to do was help. But when he walked in through the portal and his foot got caught in the wiring and he fell against the cold metal interior wall and heard a loud click and the thrumming of machinery, well...

Danny abruptly hopped off the countertop and walked to the portal, not wanting to relive the memory again. He already had enough to deal with in his nightmares.

The hum of the powerful machine drifting into his ears made for a soothing white noise in the otherwise silent lab. And with the amount of time spent here, Danny was grateful for the artificial company.

And despite it all, he was grateful for the accident. Vlad had never been more excited or thrilled about any of his working inventions as he was for the portal. And despite his reprimanding, Vlad did care for Danny during all those days he was left bedridden and feeling so ill he couldn’t even open his eyes. Danny counted that as a win.

Cujo’s barking and scratching at the portal doors drew his attention again. Danny shook his head, dispersing the thoughts, and gave Cujo a small smile.

He knelt down and removed Cujo’s collar, one that Vlad had created to keep his powers at bay. The entire lab was already quite sizable on its own, but even then, Cujo’s houndlike figure was just too cumbersome and havoc-wreaking.

Cujo panted excitedly, tongue hanging out and drool pooling on the lab floor as he scratched at the portal doors again, pleading to be let out to play in the outside world. Danny wondered what it felt like to leave this place, but the thought was banished when Vlad’s warnings made their way to the forefront of his mind.

Danny pointed a finger at Cujo, his face stern. “You have to be back before Father gets home, all right? If he finds out I’ve been letting you out, I will never hear the end of it.”

Cujo curiously stared up at him for a moment, then resumed wagging his tail as he tried to attack Danny’s finger. Danny pursed his lips but couldn’t hold back the smile breaking through at the cute display.

“All right, all right, you win,” Danny said as he scratched and rubbed the little dog’s belly.

Danny keyed in the code and the portal doors opened with a low hiss. The lab was flooded with the ectoplasmic glow, its swirling and twirling patterns almost hypnotic. Its energy tugged at Danny’s ghostly instincts, soothing and a little bit frightening.

He took a step back and watched as Cujo ran circles around his feet one last time before jumping through the portal and disappearing behind the green walls. Danny shut the portal doors, watched as the sturdy metal sealed him away from the Ghost Zone.

And then he was alone. Again.

Danny walked around the lab and began cleaning up the mess he and Cujo had made during their game. It wasn’t much, but he didn’t want the mess to put his father in a bad mood considering he had something really important to ask of him.

His eyes drifted to the small collection of books Vlad had given him, most of which were stacked neatly except one. Danny picked up the almanac to put it back in its place. He paused and examined the opened page.

It was a detailed list of dates when meteor showers would occur, one of which fell on his eighteenth birthday. Ever since Vlad gave him this year’s almanac, he had been planning to ask him to take him to see the stars. He ran his finger along the dates, the page worn out from the many times he had done this before. He double-, triple-checked to make sure it was correct. He couldn’t be wrong. He had to be absolutely certain he had all the right information if he was to really convince his father that this was what he wanted.

Danny checked the date once more, then neatly placed the almanac amongst the other books and continued cleaning. He had to make sure everything was perfect so that maybe, maybe his father would listen to what he had to say and let him see the stars.

...

Paulina brushed through her hair, ridding it of any tangles as she checked her reflection in the mirror for the hundredth time. She was almost done, almost, when her best friend, Star, appeared in the reflection behind her.

Star huffed and met her gaze in the mirror. “Paulina, your hair looks perfect. If you brush it anymore, we’ll be late meeting up with the boys.”

Paulina rolled her eyes and continued tending to her hair. Her eyes drifted over the many photos of her and her friends adorning her vanity. “It’s not like Dash and Kwan are ever on time for any of the events we plan,” she muttered. “And besides, isn’t Dash having a party tonight anyway?”

“Yeah, he is.” Star snatched the hairbrush out of Paulina’s hand, causing her to yelp in surprise. Star paused a moment and sighed as she helped comb through Paulina’s hair. “But, I mean, they’re still fun to hang around. Just the four of us.” Star sighed dreamily. “I definitely don’t mind having some alone time with Kwan. And you can’t tell me you don’t enjoy the attention, too. Dash has been trying really hard to impress you, you know.”

Paulina ignored her friend’s knowing smirk and checked her nails for any chips or blemishes. “I keep telling him I’m not interested.”

“Uh huh. And that’s why you keep saying yes to all his invites.”

“I always make it a point to invite you too. And Kwan.”

“Oh, so it’s like a double date instead?”

Paulina stuck out her bottom lip in defeat.

Star snorted, then shrugged. “I guess you just have to be more direct with him. You know how dim our boys can be.”

Paulina nodded dolefully. Dash may have had his sweet moments, but he certainly wasn’t her type at all. And it wasn’t entirely fair of her to lead him on despite her insistence that she thought of him as only a friend...but Star was right, too: she really did enjoy the attention.

Star brushed through Paulina’s hair a few more times before placing the brush back on the vanity counter. She crossed her arms and leaned against the vanity, facing Paulina. “I know you love taking care of your hair, but do you really need to get a new hairbrush every day?” “It’s not my fault they keep disappearing!”

“Well, who else’s fault would it be? Obviously you just keep misplacing them.” “I would never! Someone just keeps stealing them.” Star raised an eyebrow. “And who would do that?” “I don’t know!”

It was true: more and more of her things had been disappearing as of late. It wasn’t that bothersome at first. After all, her father would always happily replace what she had lost. But when it turned into a daily occurrence, she began to wonder if there was an actual thief targeting her specifically.

It would have been a scary thought had it not been for the fact that this so-called thief stole nothing of significant value.

“Maybe it’s one of the boys playing a trick on you,” said Star while checking her nails.

Paulina scoffed. “If that’s the case, then they owe me several new hairbrushes. Among other things.”

Paulina instinctively reached for her hairbrush when Star swatted her hand away, knocking over some of the picture frames on the table.

“Enough! Let’s go before I leave without you,” Star scolded.

Paulina mock gasped. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Star rolled her eyes and began walking out of the room. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“All right, all right!” Paulina hastily repositioned the fallen pictures, noticing that one was missing. She frowned in confusion, trying to figure out which one was gone when her attention was drawn back to Star’s nattering.

She quickly grabbed her purse and followed Star out of her bedroom. She glanced back at the vanity one last moment before shutting the door behind her.

…

The telltale sounds of Cujo’s claws scritch-scratching on the other side of the portal doors alerted Danny of his return. The portal doors had barely opened before Cujo leaped at Danny, nearly throwing him off balance as he carried the little puppy in his arms.

He reluctantly brought out the collar once more, his heart aching at the sound of Cujo’s whines. He really didn’t like having to subject Cujo to this sort of restriction, but it was what his father wanted, and he didn’t want to disobey him.

Just as he clicked the collar in place, he noticed that Cujo was holding something in his mouth. Danny eyed it curiously.

“What did you find this time?”

Cujo dropped a small frame in Danny’s hand, yipping happily. Danny slowly inspected the new souvenir and turned it over. His eyes widened at the sight.

It was a picture of a young woman with long dark hair and the prettiest eyes he had ever seen. Her smile was so radiant that Danny was certain the picture was glowing just as brightly as Cujo’s aura. Never before had he seen someone so beautiful.

She must’ve been an angel sent from the heavens.

"Cujo, where did you—"

A soft beeping noise echoed around the room, and Danny was brought out of his reverie as he turned his gaze toward the darkened hallway at the end of the bunker. There was a heavy groan of metal doors sliding open.

His father was home.

Danny quickly hid the photo underneath a loose board at the base of the bookshelf. He turned to Cujo, who was busy chasing his tail, and gave him an appreciative pat before gently shuffling him away into his room. Cujo’s ears drooped.

Danny sighed. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. But you know how Father hates when we break the rules. Plus, I have something really important to ask him today, and I don’t want to make him mad.”

Cujo brushed his nose against the floor but seemed to understand as he gave Danny another of his signature doggy kisses. He scurried away into the other room just as Vlad’s footsteps became clearer.

Danny squared his shoulders and stood taller. He instinctively did one last sweep of the lab and other rooms, making sure everything was perfect so that he could be certain his father would be in a good enough mood to start off the day.

Vlad appeared from the darkened hallway, eyes gleaming an icy blue under furrowed brows, face stoic and void of any discernible emotion.

Danny smiled in greeting. “Good morning, Father. Welcome home!”

“Daniel,” came his curt reply as he removed his suit jacket, which Danny took and hung on the coat rack as if it were second nature.

“How was your day?” he started before realizing that Vlad had already moved past him and was now in the lab looking through the cabinets. Danny followed after, about to speak again when Vlad cut him off.

“Daniel, how you manage to clean the lab every day without fail,” he began as he inspected the area. He stopped, pinning Danny with an unreadable expression. “It must be exhausting.”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn’t help but feel a trickle of pride settle in his chest. He had made sure to clean the lab thoroughly, so it was nice to hear that his hard work was showing. Perhaps asking about the stars wouldn’t be so difficult after all.

“Oh it’s, uh, nothing, really,” he managed with a small smile.

Vlad’s lips twitched upward, making the trickle of pride turn into a stream. Vlad pulled out a beaker and shifted some other things around in the cabinet.

“Then I don’t know why you still manage to place the beakers out of order.”

Danny stopped short, his smile fading, pride dissipating as if it were never there to begin with.

Well, so much for being thorough.

Vlad raised a brow and rolled his eyes. “Oh, relax, Daniel. Don’t take it so personally. I only ask that you remember your alphabet when it comes to labelling. It’s not that hard,” he reprimanded with a pitiful chuckle.

Danny awkwardly laughed in response. He gathered his wits once more, stood tall, and approached his father again. Deep breaths.

“Father, as you know, tomorrow is a really big day, and I was wondering—” “I have a lot of errands to run today, Daniel, so can we please get started with the procedure.” “Oh, right. Yes, of course.”

Danny darted around the lab, gathering the supplies in a well-practiced manner. Okay. This was fine. Just another thing to do before he could make his request. But really, he should have expected it, planned for it. Why didn’t he think of preparing this sooner? His father would have been so impressed. But instead, he went ahead and mixed up the beakers. Again.

He really should’ve known better by now. This was the routine, after all. Vlad needed Danny’s ectoplasm to help keep him healthy and alive. It was the least Danny could do after all Vlad had done for him.

Perhaps he shouldn’t make such a grand request for his birthday. Vlad had been nothing but generous, spending as much time as he could during his extremely busy life caring for Danny and protecting him from the dangers that lurked outside this lab. It would be selfish to ask for more than what he was already given.

But surely Vlad would understand. Just this once.

Danny set the supplies on the examination table as neatly as he could. He then sat on the table and transformed into his phantom form. The brisk flow of ghostly energy coursed through his body, igniting in him a sense of urgency that he fought to keep at bay. He had to focus. Couldn’t mess up now. Everything had to be perfect and smooth sailing from here on out.

He slipped his right arm out of his sleeve and applied the tourniquet in record timing, then smiled expectantly at Vlad, who simply raised his brows.

Vlad silently worked, preparing the needle and checking Danny’s arm to find the right spot. Which wasn’t hard to do considering there were scars dotting his inner arm from all the previous procedures.

Vlad’s grip on Danny’s arm tightened. Danny looked away and swallowed hard, forcing his body to stay still despite the shivers that crawled up his back. No matter how many times he’d gone through this procedure, he still couldn’t help but feel a little afraid.

He held his breath and tried not to wince when the small piece of metal slid under his skin and into his vein. After a few seconds, he breathed out slowly and turned his attention back to Vlad. His heel tapped lightly against the side of the examination table.

“So, um, earlier I mentioned that tomorrow is a pretty big day,” Danny began, watching his father intently for any reaction. “You didn’t really respond then, so I’ll just tell you it’s my birthday!”

“Oh? I must’ve forgotten,” Vlad replied.

“Oh, um, it’s a good thing I remember, then.” Danny chuckled softly, but he was losing his confidence. He couldn’t back down now, though. He took another deep breath

“Father, I’m turning eighteen. And I was wondering…well, I wanted to ask—have wanted to ask for a long time, actually, for every birthday as far as I can remember—“

“Daniel, stay still. And stop it with the mumbling. You’re making it very difficult for me to concentrate.”

Danny winced when Vlad held his arm down firmly and briefly shot him a scalding look, but now Danny had his full attention. It was now or never.

He clenched his fists. “Father, I want to see the stars.”

Silence filled the room. Danny was certain he had gone deaf for a moment or that time had slowed, he wasn’t sure which. But when Vlad stared at him, still as a rock, his expression morphing into something almost sinister, time snapped back into place and flooded Danny’s senses with the all too persistent hammering of his heart against his rib cage.

“What?” Vlad finally asked.

“Oh, well, I was sort of hoping that you would take me to see the stars.”

Vlad sighed and turned his focus on drawing ectoplasm again, switching to a new vial. “Haven’t you seen them already in the countless books I’ve given you? Is that not enough?”

“No—I mean, yes, they are more than enough, but—” Danny inhaled to steady himself. Vlad was no longer paying him any real attention, too busy finishing up with the last bottle of ectoplasm.

Danny’s eyes darted toward the bookshelf, then back at Vlad. “Father, the reason I asked about the stars is...is because I found out through this year’s almanac that there would be a meteor shower happening on my birthday. And—and yes, I’ve seen the pictures and illustrations, but it would mean a lot to me if you could take me to see it, you know, outside.”

“You want to go outside,” Vlad mused, his tone eerily calm as he organized the small bottles of ectoplasm.

He put the small bottles aside and removed the tourniquet around Danny’s arm before removing the needle. His movements were precise as usual, but there was a stiffness to his demeanor that made Danny’s gut curl. He didn’t even bother placing the usual cotton bud over the venipuncture site, simply tossed the small roll of medical tape in Danny’s general direction.

Danny wasn’t sure if he was still breathing, but he must have been considering his heartbeats hadn’t stopped muffling all the thoughts in his head.

His father was beyond angry and he could do nothing but sit there and wait for what was to come.

But maybe he could still make things right, maybe he could make his father happy again.

“Father, I— ” “Daniel, do you know why I let you stay here, why I put all my time and effort to build all of this?” He gestured around, his back facing Danny as he continued. “It is to keep you safe. Safe from the outside. Something I have spent years and years doing, and you think you deserve to put all of my efforts to waste for something as arbitrary and childish as a birthday gift?”

Danny’s eyes dropped to his lap and to his bare arm still outstretched by his side. A trickle of ectoplasm leaked from his inner arm. He should probably clean that up. One little thing he could fix. But even that proved useless as he continued to stay frozen, stuck in place, not daring to move an inch for fear of doing something wrong again.

In his peripheral vision, he saw his father turn toward him, felt his piercing gaze on his slouched position. He chanced a glance, not wanting to be scolded for not making eye contact when spoken to again. Disappointment was clear across Vlad’s features, and Danny fought the urge to turn invisible at the terrifying display.

“I—I didn’t mean it like that. I just thought that...that since I’m older now—”

“That you know better than I do about what’s best for you?” Vlad cut in. “I don’t know why I keep giving you those almanacs, they’ve done nothing but give you silly ideas.”

Danny’s throat felt like a desert, his jaw hung open slightly, perhaps still hopeful he could come up with something to say that wouldn’t be stupid or ridiculous or make Vlad even more irate.

It was the only thing he was good at, apparently.

“It’s dangerous outside, Daniel. How many times do I need to remind you of that very simple fact before you get it through to your head? And to even think that I would willingly let you risk all those dangers for something as insignificant as a display of giant rocks falling from the sky, it is preposterous.

“The world out there is cruel. Humans are cruel. They don’t like change. They don’t like anything that is different or unusual from what they know to be true. There are people out there who hunt things that are like you, like us. They would not hesitate to capture and destroy you the moment they find out you aren’t like them.”

Vlad placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder. Danny stared up at his father’s shadowed face; his ice cold eyes seemed to soften. “We are the only ghost hybrids in this world, only we can truly understand what that’s like. I know what’s best for you. Remember that and you won’t regret it.”

Danny nodded.

“One more thing.” Vlad’s grip tightened on Danny’s shoulder, red flashing across his eyes. “Don’t ever ask to go outside again.”

“Yes, Father,” Danny managed.

Vlad’s lips curled into something of a smile. He released his grip, and Danny held back a gasp, the ache in his shoulder now throbbing uncomfortably.

Danny watched as his father collected the ecto-samples and tucked them away in a small case. Vlad gestured at the other supplies strewn across the lab table.

“Do be diligent about keeping everything in its place when you clean up this time, little badger.”

Danny nodded and barely whispered some sort of affirmation. A wave of exhaustion overcame him as he stood and transformed back to his human form.

“I’ll be back in a couple hours for your training. I hope you have been practicing.” Vlad straightened his suit, case in hand as he strode toward the way out of the bunker.

Danny didn’t even notice when his father left and locked the heavy metal doors. He only stood there staring at the empty hallway.

The sound of Cujo skittering across the floor echoed around the room. Danny blinked down at Cujo. The little guy was pawing at his feet, staring up at him, ears drooping and softly whining. Danny smiled and knelt down to give Cujo an affectionate pat on the head.

“It’s okay, buddy. I’m okay.”

Cujo didn’t seem to believe him either.

Danny stood back up and figured he’d better start cleaning up when Cujo started barking and bouncing around him. He watched as Cujo sprinted toward the portal, tail wagging at the speed of light. Cujo slid to a halt just before the closed portal and looked back at Danny, head tilted as if asking for permission.

Danny’s brow furrowed despite the adorable sight of Cujo’s ears twitching in anticipation. A part of him didn’t want to let Cujo go out again. He had had such a terrible time making a mess of things with his father, the last thing he wanted was to be alone with his debilitating thoughts.

But it wasn’t right to make Cujo stay just because he was having a bad day. It wasn’t right to lock him up inside with nothing new and exciting to do or explore. Cujo deserved to be free, to go wherever he wanted whenever he wanted.

With an almost mournful sigh, Danny removed Cujo’s collar again and felt the soft, ghostly fur beneath his fingers that brought him such sweet comfort. It drifted away as Cujo jumped up and gave him a generous dose of wet doggy kisses.

A smile tugged at Danny’s lips. Cujo must have sensed his slight uptick in mood as his tail began picking up speed again.

Danny chuckled softly as he opened the portal and gently nudged Cujo toward it. “Don’t get into any trouble, okay?”

With one final yip, Cujo did another lap around Danny’s feet, then disappeared beyond the swirling portal for the second time that day.

And for the second time that day, Danny felt alone.

But he was used to it by now.

Well, that was what he kept telling himself.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp au #dp fic #tangled au #vlad masters #my art #imekitty #dp cujo #paulina sanchez #star rainsdon #Buried #Buried Chapter Two #Father Knows Best #chintawrites

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