#Although Danny was captured he did not go without a fight

[nelkcats]

Allies in unusual places

J'onn J'onzz didn't have much hope of receiving help after he was captured. He spent his nights locked up in those terrible laboratories, surrounded by selfish people who saw him as an experiment.

Still he did not give up, he continued to ask for help from the heroes he had heard about. Heroes who could save him and stop the future invasion. Many of those calls were futile, but there were times when he really felt that someone had heard him.

Perhaps it was because he was distracted that he didn't notice the fact that he wasn't the only "experiment" in the facility. It was only after he was moved that he noticed the teenager huddled in one of the containment units.

The boy looked exhausted, doing everything he could to make sure no one got to him, kicking and biting every time they tried to grab him; J'onn's heart broke. It was obvious that the boy wasn't human, he didn't look like a Martian either, but it was clear that he was a living being. A living being that was constantly being hurt by human greed.

The Martian was an adult, an adult who could endure pain, an adult who understood how horrible people could be, but that boy? He looked like a child, a child begging to be seen as a sentient being. J'onn hated it.

The days when he heard his sobs were the worst. That's why when the heroes came to "rescue" him, the first thing he did was set the boy free. Not caring about the looks he was getting, he wrapped the boy in a blanket and took him away (he was so scared, kicking and flailing, afraid he was going to get hurt again).

Even as they argued about the invasion, J'onn never left the boy's side. The same little boy who told them in a weak voice that he could help them, that he knew people who could help them.

Danny wanted to do something for the Martian who had helped him (and wasn't it amazing? there was a Martian in front of him! Someone who knew space!), and he thought that a couple of ghosts owed him some favors.

Unknown to the halfa, many of his former enemies were looking for him, desperate for the disappearance of the youngest of their own. The ghosts were furious, and perhaps an alien invasion could help them release their anger.

[asleep-in-the-keep-sideblog]

Asleep In The Keep-Chapter 31

DPxMHA crossover Fic

Chapter 31: Lets Go To The Mall!!!

Summary:

Word Count: 5613

Danny hadn’t seen Ma since that night, not in the store or by the alley. He kept catching himself watching the cafe door for him to come through, or looking for him in every crowd or group of people he walked by. Danny no longer knew what he wanted from the man. He kept switching between regret and then anger. 

The hero may have lied to him, but what if he meant what he said about wanting Danny to be safe? Danny also punched him pretty hard, maybe enough to break his nose. Did the old man really deserve that? At the same, Danny wished he hit him harder. This whole situation reminded him so much of Vlad. Both men had tricked Danny into trusting them. There was a reason he didn’t trust adults. Everybody lies. Danny himself was such a hypocrite. He lied as easily as he breathed in life. His existence is basically a big lie. He was even still lying to himself. 

It would’ve been better if Ma had just tried to capture Danny or fight him that night. At least Danny would know he was a bad guy and not waste his energy worrying about it. 

Danny couldn’t wrap his head around it either. Why would this random man care so much? There was also the fact that Ma was a hero, the people who kept trying to capture him or ancients know what. So why did Ma risk getting hurt for Danny? Because he wanted to know him? Ma didn’t know Danny, not one bit, he only saw what he wanted to see. If Ma had truly known Danny, he wouldn't be trying to help him. 

Danny was a monster. It was a simple fact that he had been trying to avoid, but that didn’t make it any less true. The fight from last week only proved it to him. It wasn’t how brutally he fought but that he enjoyed it and wanted more. He even hurt someone innocent (although Danny was still trying to decide how innocent Ma truly was). 

Danny saw a flash of Ma’s tired eyes. Despite being hit by Danny, he didn’t look at him like a monster but like a scared kid. He even forced himself to smile, however painful that was. It seemed genuine. Jazz looked at him the same way and it made Danny hurt inside. 

That is what hurt Danny the most. Not the betrayal, but that he might’ve thrown away the only chance he had at a family again. He wasn’t angry at Ma. He was angry at himself. 

The truth was, Danny wanted to go with Ma, but his head was screaming at him and threw out any excuse it could. Bad things always happened when he let someone in, either to himself or them. That was why he burned the card. It took him a week to understand that. Now that he did, he wished he could go back. It was easier to be mad for no reason than scared. Danny was the worst kind of person. He knew that only bad things would come, but he still wanted to see Ma again and apologize. He was so selfish. 

A part of Danny wanted Ma to disregard his boundaries and come into the cafe anyway. However, he knows that if Ma did that, Danny would be even angry at him even if that's what he wanted. He wasn’t ready yet. Still, Danny watched the door day after day for Ma to walk in, but he never did. 

Before Danny knew it, it had been a week. 

Mr. Tanaka, Danny’s boss, finally paid him. Danny had been working 12 hours everyday without any breaks, so it made sense that his pay would be a lot. However, when his boss handed him a wad of cash, it felt like Danny had sold an organ rather than worked a few shifts. 

“Are you sure that's the right amount?” Danny was flipping through the stack and saw several ichiman-en shihei bills. 

“What, do you want more?” Mr. Tanaka reached into his back pocket to give more to Danny but Danny stopped him and bowed.

“This is enough, thank you,” Danny’s bow was still awkward but Mr. Tanaka didn’t say anything. Danny stood up and smiled, pushing his previous thoughts away. He was finally gonna be able to buy some new clothes or maybe even a phone. 

His last hero sweatshirt had been burned up during his fight with Endeavor, and so he didn’t have anything to wear. It wasn’t a big deal since Danny didn’t have to have a disguise since he could just turn himself invisible, or even go out in the first place. He had no need for food or water, or anything else that he had to go out for. But Danny liked doing those things, being seen and walking in crowds of people. It made him feel real, if only a little. He would take that feeling everywhere he could get. 

Mr. Tanaka had been very kind to him and gave him a sweatshirt with the cafe’s logo and name on it. Danny felt like a walking advertisement everytime he went out, but at least he could now. 

Mr. Tanaka smiled back at him and put his wallet away. Danny didn’t ask why he was being paid in cash rather than a check. A flashback to the first time they met gave him his answer, so he shut his mouth before it could even get to his lips. Despite how kind Mr. Tanaka appeared, he was still very suspicious. 

With his new earrings, Danny decided to go to the mall. He had seen it a few times when he flew around the city, but never bothered to go in. Window shopping required money and Danny had already stolen enough stuff. With that in mind, Danny made the short trek to the mall. 

It was large, far larger than the one in Amity. The food court alone would’ve been able to fit a good chunk of it in there. In another life, Danny would have loved to sit there and eat with his friends, but that was long gone. It was strange, but Danny had slowly started to get used to his new reality. 

He no longer gagged when his body did something strange because now it was supposed to. He was a ghost now, and that meant being strange. There were times where Danny would catch himself thinking he was human, when he almost forgot that he was truly dead now. He would snap out of it in an instant. That is a fact that will never change. Spectra was right, he was a ghost trying to fit in with humans. He no longer felt shame in it. It was just what he was now. No more. No less. 

Danny even got used to heroes being after him (they simply replaced the GIW in his mind), but they hadn’t attacked him since Endeavor. It was crazy to think that he really was the #2 hero with how easily he went down. Either there was a huge gap in abilities between the #1 hero, or everyone else here was as weak as that. 

Danny continued walking around the mall. He didn’t have a destination in mind, just a list of what he needed, so he let himself wander around. Danny was barely able to keep count of the days, so he had no idea what month it was, but he heard that it was just about time for summer break. Tons of kids from all ages were spread across the mall. Most were teenagers but there were plenty of younger kids with their families. Danny sat on a bench and watched them. He tried to be less of a creep by pretending to look at the wall instead. There was a large group of teenagers that looked to be on the hunt or something, but Danny didn’t know what. It was probably a new video game or something like that. He recognized the girls from the coffee shop, and two of the boys. One was with Deku when Danny defeated Stain and the other was someone else he saved. The rest were unfamiliar to him.

They were just normal kids doing normal kid stuff. Danny got bored after a while and decided to walk around. A lot of the shops were foreign to him (excepted since he was in another dimension and country) but he did recognize Amazon and Hot Topic, which was strange. As he was walking something caught his eye. 

Across the way was a merch stand with a very familiar image. There were hoodies, gloves, boots and other shoes, keychains and plushies, all with his face on it. Well, the best they could do for his face. On one of the key chains were 5 hims all posing together. Each one had slightly different facial features. Going from right to left, the first one had a longer face with a carefree expression, the next had a more cockier look and bigger ears. Then the third one had smaller features and looked more shy and was pressed between all the other members. The forth one had a cold expression with hair covering half his face. The final one looked out of place and a creepy expression, his dead eyes staring into the face of the holder. His face was gaunt and hollow looking. 

A part of Danny shivered at seeing it. That’s what he feared he truly was. More monster than human. 

“Are you a fan?” A seal head popped out from behind the kiosk. She looked like a leopard steal and was a little shorter than Danny. 

Danny laughed, “I guess I am.”

Honestly he was surprised this was even here. He knew that people thought he was a group rather than one person, but he didn’t expect people to react like this. However odd it was, he couldn’t contain his smile. Fortunately he had a mask on so no one would notice if his mouth was too big or his teeth were too sharp. 

“Well you’re in luck! We have a bunch of Phantom merch, from the more generic stuff to stuff for each member!”

“Is that what the keychain is?” Danny picked it up and studied it closer. 

“Yep! Since we know that Phantom is made up of brothers, us fans decided to give them each names based on their personalities and powers.” She grabbed a keychain and pointed to each member, “This first one is called Specter, he has a flight quirk and is the de-facto leader of the group since he’s spotted the most. Then there’s Poltergeist who shoots blasts, Wisp who can turn invisible, Permafrost with ice. Oh, and the last one is called Plasm who can turn into goo and stuff. We just found out about him recently since he was the one who was cornered by Mt. Lady and the other heroes.” 

Danny just stared at her with his mouth open. And he thought Paulina was bad… Danny never really paid attention to how often he used certain quirks, but apparently it was enough to base personalities on. Despite how creepy it was, Danny couldn’t stop his smile and was giddy with excitement. 

“How do you even know all that stuff?” Danny set the key chain down and started to look closer at the other merch. Sure enough, there were other little trinkets for each member. 

“There’s a fan page. People post their experiences with them along with fan art or other content. Over time, it just became a bigger thing and now there’s even merch.” She picked up a few prints near her, “These are the ones I did.”

Danny took them from her and looked at them. The art style was really cute, more comic book than the other art which took on a more anime-like appearance. A few of them pictured the group standing together, but most of them were of Plasm and Permafrost alone. Danny found it comforting that she drew Plasm smiling or with flowers rather than how other people drew him, which was more creepy looking or depressed. 

“Why do you like them so much? I mean, yeah, they saved people, but what's the appeal? Don’t you think they’re…” Danny paused thinking of all the words people have called him over the years, “spooky?”

“I don’t think so! I think they seem really nice. I mean, they’re risking a lot by being vigilantes, but that's just because they really wanna help people.” She paused, “and there's the fact that they have a more mutated appearance…”

Danny cocked his head, “why is that so special?”

While he didn’t exactly have the best perception of how he looked, he thought it would’ve made people turn away or just label him a villain or a monster like the commission did. The seal though, she made it sound more like it was a quality rather than a flaw. A weird feeling settled into Danny's stomach. 

“I can’t speak for all mutant types, but for me, well, you don’t really see a lot of mutant heroes, and if you do they’re either marketed as cute or as scary. The ones that aren’t marketed like that aren’t even thought of. My uncle is a pro and while that’s really cool, there’s a longing in me to see more.” 

“The Phantoms are just themselves. They don’t have an agency so there’s no one telling them how to act or what to wear to reach more audiences. Plasm in particular. People think he’s creepy but I think he’s pretty cool. He doesn't have as stylish a quirk as his brothers, but he still does what he can to help people.”

If Danny was alive he would have stopped breathing. He had never had anyone talk about him like that. Dash and Paulina were arguably his biggest fans, but Paulina just liked him cause she thought he was hot, Dash too but he also thought he was cool. No one ever related to him, or if they did they never said it. A strange feeling fluttered in his core and he had to blink a few times to clear his eyes. 

“My name’s Tommy, what’s yours?” Danny reached out a gloved hand. 

“Saoirse,” She held out a strangely human hand.

“Nice to meet you, Saoirse.”

Danny bought a few of her prints and the keychain. She also gave him a card with some of the fan sites on them. Danny would have to look them up next time he went to the library. He stared at the drawing of Plasm smiling with stars around him. He hopes he could be like how Saoirse saw him someday. 

If people saw his flaws and accepted him, why couldn’t he? It was much easier said than done. Other people would only know him as what he pretended to be. Danny knew what he truly was. Still, it was a nice thought. Even people in Amity didn’t look at him so kindly, or at least not the majority. Well, that was the case here too, but Danny was being a bit of an optimist. 

After that he continued shopping. He still needed clothes and a phone. The phone was the most essential in this new world. Fortunately there was an electronics shop close by the stand. Most of the models were outside Danny’s price range so he had to settle for a flip phone instead. He got a blue one and connected the keychain he got to the bottom. He had to pay for minutes, but it was surprisingly cheap, nowhere near what his parents complained about when he was younger. This flip phone thing wasn’t such a bad deal, he could even download some games. Danny would have to set it up later though so it would be compatible with his ectoplasm. A thought sprang into his head. He could take a picture of himself. 

The last time he tried, he ended up a crying mess. It was just another symbol of what he lost. Back in Amity, every phone or camera was able to take pictures of ghosts, also, due to his halfa status, he never had to mourn the loss. He didn’t even think that it would be anything to miss. 

When Jazz started to help, she took tons of pictures of the ghosts. While Tucker did that before, they were taken sneakily so he wouldn’t get hurt. With Jazz though, she was so obvious (really, one of the worst ghost hunters ever). The first time she took a picture of Skulker, Danny thought the ghost would forget Danny and go after her. That did end up happening but instead of attacking her, he stopped and asked to see it. Danny was stuck in a trap so wasn’t able to do anything but watch. Jazz handed it over and he smiled. He asked if he could have it when she printed it out, to which she said yes. He left after that and went to the zone of his own free will. The next time a ghost attacked, they asked about getting their picture taken, and it became a normal thing after that. 

Ghosts would come out just to get their picture taken or ask to borrow the camera. Ember and Kitty especially since they went on so many girl trips. Tucker suggested that they start charging for it, but Danny felt bad. Instead, Danny made a few polaroid cameras that were available in the Realms. It was a honor system since if a ghost broke it or had it too long, all the others would hunt them down and take it from them forcibly. One time, the warden tried to confiscate it since it was against his rules. Danny didn’t see him months after that. The camera didn’t stop Tucker from taking trips into the zone to be a photographer. 

Danny snapped out of his memories. He was so concentrated on everything bad in Amity Park that he almost forgot the good times. He thinks he still has some of those photos on the flashdrive in his pocket. It also had old schematics of his parents and Danny’s own inventions. All he needed was a computer that could handle ectoplasm. Danny had nothing but time and the idea of taking pictures would tide him over until then. 

Next were the clothes, which were easy enough. Danny didn’t need anything fancy, just a pair of pants and some shirts. He had to shop lightly since he didn’t have a permanent place anymore. Since the commission knew how to track him, Danny has been hopping from place to place every few nights. It wasn’t too bad, more annoying than anything else. 

A thought invaded Danny’s brain about Ma’s place and his husband. Did they have family dinners every night? Did they have any kids? Ma seemed like he’d be a good dad. Danny couldn’t let himself think about that too hard, afraid of spiraling again. He got used to how it was. He might not have anything, but had freedom and that's all that mattered to him. Freedom, and a new pair of pants. 

Danny changed into his new outfit. It was a simple pair of jeans, a band T and a red and white sweatshirt. It was comforting to wear something he was used to. He didn’t have to worry about his hazmat suit since it was as part of him as his hair. Danny just absorbed it like he would do with any stray ectoplasm. He also decided to get some new shoes since he didn’t want to be wearing boots all the time. He picked out a pair of green converse. They were a shade off from ectoplasm, but Danny liked them all the same. He would have to keep an eye out for a marker to draw some ghosts on them too. It was by this point that Danny wanted to take a break. He didn’t get tired or anything, but he was starting to get a bit bored and he wanted to sit for a minute. Up ahead was a fountain that a few people were seated at. One such pair was a man in a black hoodie with his arm around someone. Danny couldn’t see what since there was a plant blocking them from view, but something about the man seemed off. A feeling of deep hate washed over Danny and choked him. Danny slowly got closer to see that the man had his arms wrapped around Deku.

~🫶~

Tomura walked aimlessly in the mall waiting for something to happen. Was he waiting for a hero to show up? A new game to go on sale? He wouldn’t know until it happened. 

It started to become monotonous after a while. He didn’t want to, but his mind began to wander. It went all sorts of places, to the new recruits, to his master, but then it stopped at Phantom and Stain. The whole world had forgotten the League within an hour after their attack on Hosu. At least in the case of Stain, Tomura had the pleasure of seeing the idiot get beat by a kid, and they even got some new recruits out of it. Phantom was a bigger annoyance. Tomura knew that it was just one brat, anyone with half a brain could see that. People could only have one quirk, so it’s impossible for Phantom to be one person, at least that's what they think. Those idiots believe anything that the commission told them. Their ignorance would be their downfall. Who knows, maybe the vigilante they value so much would turn on them like a dog. 

Tomura hated to think how Phantom got so many powers but like all things the thought wouldn’t leave him alone. After Hosu, his master had demanded that Tomura and the league try to capture him. He asked if Phantom would become a new Nomu, a fitting end in Tomura’s eyes, but he was also fine with just turning him into dust. All For One didn’t say anything just hummed. 

He hated it, but a memory he suppressed revealed itself. One night years ago, Tomura heard the Doctor and Kurogiri talking. Supposedly, All For One had a son he left behind when All Might defeated him. It wasn’t his first child either. Every few generations, All For One would have a child to try to reproduce his quirk, or at least one useful to him. To Tomura’s knowledge, no child has ever been able to inherit his quirk and all were thrown away in time. Still his master’s motives were clear. He was trying to create a new heir, someone to replace Tomura. As if he’d ever let that happen! He’d kill every child in Japan before he gets thrown away like that! 

Tomura scratched his neck anxiously. There were certainly a few similarities between All For One and Phantom. The white hair, green eyes and quirks being the most striking. But their personalities were completely different. If Phantom was truly his son, he would not be a vigilante and see All For One’s glory instead of being an ungrateful brat. Phantom took after All For One’s brother rather than his master. Yeah, so there was no way Phantom was that child. He was just a cheater.  

Tomura passed by a cart that sold Phantom merch. This is what brought him here in the first place. Tomura should just knock the stand over and kill everyone around. He looked at it in disgust. There were little plushies that stared into his soul with dead eyes. It had no other facial features aside from this but Tomura swore the thing was mocking him. 

“Give me one,” Tomura pointed to the thing and pulled out his wallet to pay the seal. He was looking forward to destroying it. Maybe he could buy more and make the others watch, “actually give me three.”

“Great! We also have an online page where you can order them.” She handed him a business card with the site on it along with the bag. Tomura took it and sneered at her. Her smile only faltered for a second before he walked away. 

Tomura took out one of the plushies and stared at it. He didn’t have to worry about his quirk since he was wearing his gloves. The thing was obviously home made but was still good quality. Someone clearly poured their heart into making these. A smile spread across his face at the thought of destroying it. It was just the kind of stress relief he needed. 

Tomura was strangely feeling better. He did what he came here to do (but with less murder) so he decided it was time to go back. He walked to the entrance with a satisfied smile. It grew when he saw no other than that brat from UA, alone. Tomura took off his gloves. 

“Oh, it’s someone from UA, nice.” Tomura easily slid next to him and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. A harmless gesture from the outside but it worked to restrain him from running.  “I want an autograph. You were the one who got beat to hell at the sports festival, right?”  

“Uh, yeah.” Midoriya was clearly uncomfortable and was looking around for someone to help. 

Tomura held him tighter, “Aren’t you one of the students who ran into Stain at the Hosu incident, too? You’re practically famous!” Tomura had put on a sickeningly sweet voice to not scare the brat right away. No, he wanted to make him put it together. 

“You sure do know a lot,” Midoriya wasn’t looking at him and clearly didn’t understand the danger he was in. It made Tomura giddy. He could end this kid’s life right now and he would have no idea why. 

“What can I say, I’m just a big fan of yours. I can’t believe I’m running into you again.” 

Midoriya gasped. Now he got it. Tomura was starting to think he was an idiot. 

“It makes me think that this might not be such a coincidence. No, no. This feels like destiny,” Tomura wrapped his hand around his neck, lifting one finger up so the fun wouldn’t be spoiled so quickly. 

Midoriya shivered in his grasp and started to slowly look up at him, his mouth open in shock and fear. His eyes radiated terror and understanding like a sheep about to be slaughtered. 

“Oh right. From your point of view we haven’t met since the attack on UA. Why don’t we spend some time catching up? Midoriya Izuku.” 

“Tomura Shigaraki.” Midoriya said his name through clenched teeth. It was the only thing he could do to stop them from shaking. 

Tomura led him to a sitting area with his hand still around his throat. He wanted the boy to explain something to him, cause Tomura really didn’t get it. 

Everywhere around them people were smiling, even though somewhere else people were getting killed. It was fine as long as it wasn’t them, right? And that could never happen because they trusted that everyone else had the same morals as them. At any point, one of them could unleash their quirk and kill tens before a hero would arrive, and he explained as much to the brat. Tomura didn’t really get heroes or the Hero Killer. In the end, they were all doing the same thing, but why was what they’re doing wrong? 

“When it comes down to it, I hate basically everything,” Tomura vented to Midoriya as if they were friends. “Phantom and the Hero Killer are really pissing me off. The attack on UA, the Hosu incident, they upstaged everything I did and are all people are talking about. I really don’t get it.”

“Are they really a part of the league?” The brat had the nerve to interrupt him while he was ranting. 

“People seem to think so. With Stain, he essentially is with how the media is talking about it but not Phantom. I have no idea where he came from but he’ll never join the League or even get close to it. I’ll kill him if he ever does.” Midoriya looked up at him scared, more scared than when Tomura first grabbed him. What's the deal? Did he know Phantom or something? Tomura smiled.

“Is,” Midoriya gulped, “Is Phantom really-!”

“All For One’s son?” Fortunately, Midoriya caught him in a sharing mood so his blood didn’t immediately boil upon hearing that. His grip did tighten though, “I really don’t know… I never even heard about him until Hosu, but master did have his secrets. It wouldn’t surprise me if the brat really was his bastard.” Tomura was surprised at how honest he was, but it wasn’t many times that he got to have a captive audience like this.  

Midoriya looked solemnly at the floor deep in thought. Why did he care so much? It wasn’t like it affected him who’s bastard was his master’s like it did Tomura. God, the brat made him sick. 

“Hey, Phantom saved you from one of my Nomus, right? And from the Hero Killer? Since you know him so well, what do you think the difference is between us? He destroys things he hates like I do. He did almost kill the Nomu, after all.”

“What’s the difference?” Midoriya had anger in his eyes, clearly Tomura struck a nerve. “He’s way different than you! For one, his first instinct isn’t to kill, he actually saves people! He even carried me when I was unable to walk when he didn’t have to.” 

“You’re wrong, I do save people. I’m trying to make a new world here for everyone thrown out by society.” Tomura defended. They both saved people, just in different ways. 

“Phantom is an outcast too. The heroes are after him just like you, but he still sticks to his goals instead of running at the first opportunity. When he was out matched by heroes, he fought back unlike you at the USJ, and you had people on your side. While I don’t agree with him there, I’m sure he had a good reason while you have no justification! He fights with all he has and still smiles. Phantom inspires people, same as All Might!” 

All Might… of course. 

“Ahh, that's like a weight off my chest.” Tomura breathed out, “I see it now… all the dots connected. Why he makes me so angry, why you irritate me so much. Everything makes sense. It's him, the problem is All Might! Yeah, yeah. That’s it. That’s the most rational explanation!” 

Tomura felt his mouth widen into a smile of pure joy. He hadn’t felt that in a while. It was as if all his problems were fixed by a single sentence. He saw the future ahead of him clear as day. He felt Midoriya squirm to look up at him and freeze. 

Tomura laughed, “I didn’t see it, even though it was right in front of me the whole time. What was I worrying about so much? It's simple. He’s why these morons are able to smile thoughtlessly!” 

He grabbed Midoriya's throat tighter in his excitement like he was a stuffed toy. Maybe if he squeezed harder his eyes would pop out. 

“They feel so safe because that garbage pro is smiling thoughtlessly too, as if there's no one in the whole world who he can’t save. Oh, I'm glad we had this chat. I feel better. I can’t thank you enough Midoriya. I  don’t need to change my ways after all.” 

His grip on the brats neck didn’t loosen and his face was turning red. Midoriya tried reaching up to grab his hand, but they were too heavy for him. 

“Whoops, don't struggle, now. Unless you want to die. You want all these people here to crumble as well?”  

Tomura continued laughing to himself. All he had to do was kill All Might! Once he destroyed the symbol of peace, no one would be able to smile like that. After he was done with him, he would go after Phantom and Midoriya, or maybe before. He wasn’t picky. Hey, with Midoriya here, he could use him as a trap for Phantom! The brat did seem close with him after all. And when Phantom comes to save him, he could kill them both! Two birds with one stone.  

“Hey, Deku! Crazy seeing you here. Who’s your friend?” A pale teen interrupted them. 

He was too old to be one of the brat’s classmates, maybe an upperclassmen? There was something weird with his vibe. The way he looked at Tomura was too calculating for his liking. He wore a smiling face but his eyes screamed murder and harm. They sized each other up before Tomura let go.

“Oh, you were here with a friend? I didn’t know. Sorry about that.” Tomura whispered a threat to Midoriya before he left. 

The teen rushed to Midoriya’s side as soon as he let go, but his eyes didn’t leave Tomura. He didn’t like that kid. If he was from UA, he could be a problem. He should add him to the list of people to kill. Tomura will have to ask his mole if he knows anything about him. The last thing he reported is that class 1-A was gonna go to a training camp over summer break, but he didn’t know where. It didn’t matter. They would find out soon enough. 

Tomura smiled. He was looking forward to it.

[shadowphatom22]

Walker and his adopted half son Chapter 2

Hello everyone hope you are all well and I am glad to see many people love the first chapter, and I was surprised when first saw the number of likes the next morning to say I cried and was happy when I saw it when I first woke up, and now an almost one later as of tomorrow I am so happy. I am glad you all are taking the time to read the story, well we should start the next chapter! (trying hard not to cry while typing pulse my boyfriend is asking me if I am okay)

REMINDER:

Naturally, I do not own Danny Phantom which belongs to Butch Hartman. (Note if you have not seen the show I Highly recommend you see it before reading this if you are a newbie or you will not fully understand).

I was given the OK from @five-rivers​ to use this AU and turned it into the story that I am posting and I hope you all like it.

Lastly, I have been using different stores as my teacher, and I do not know all of them, I want to give a big shot out to you guys because without this story might not even happen. one of the authors is @halfghostwriter, and there are so many more on here, fanfation.net, AO3, in other words, thank you.

*Please Note: the age is going off of how long they have been born in the ghost zone, or died and went to the ghost zone*.

Chapter 2: Power trouble, and in baby form, is that bad?

Last time….

After the two goons spotted Danny, and try to capture him to bring him into the prison, much to Danny's unpleasant mood, Danny has been having trouble with his powers granted he had been training with his friends and his sister and being in this situation was the last thing he wanted was to run into Walker’s goons because he was tired, hungry, and his power was acting up. However during the fight, the two goons thought we getting faster because they thought they can finally bring in the troublemaker, but when they both noticed Danny acting differently they started to slow down and then….

??? Goon 1: YOU’RE A BABY?!?!?!?

??? Goon 2: …. (Still In shock)

Danny:......( looks confused while trying to look mad) but failed 

NOW!

No one point of view

Danny did not want this to happen to him, although he thought that came to his mind. A baby! He is 14 years old. Meanwhile, the goons were lost for words, and thoughts while one is and the other is still in shock. For the one that is lost in thoughts and also can not believe that they have broken the law, of hurting a ghostling they also failed to protect him, because there were other ghosts hunting him and also human hunters too that also including the ghostling parents the Fenton; which leads to questions in his head such as Do his parents know? why are they attacking him? Many different questions came one after another. After a few minutes, the goon was lost in thought, that enough was enough, and decided to take a gentle approach, and by doing that he kneel down and got to Danny's eye level so he could feel calm and relaxed and not scared and want to run away.

First-person point of view

(??? Goon 1)

After I kneel down, my partner finally comes out of shock and did the same thing as I am doing we both are keeping a safe distance for Danny’s safety because of our auras and it can be dangerous for a ghostling, because they will fight or flight, which is important to stay calm; from the little experience that they know Plasmius is 20 years old.

??? Goon 1: Danny, long have you been a ghost or half ghost in your case?

Danny made an O shape with his month and at first, I missed how he was trying to tell me, then I hear the sounds of taping and I look at his tall and paid more attention to it when Danny tapped his tail in vers of 3s, I figure it out and I hear my partner gasp.

??? Goon 2: 3 months?!?!  That is Impoissble we are getting our ass kicked by –

I gave him the look of shut the hell up and I also heard a high pitch sound of a squeak, I looked at Danny because I know that sound came from him and he must feel embarrassed, now that I am looking at Danny and his aura, core, and form, he needs help.

??? Goon 1: Danny you need help, you are in trouble, and the way things are it is hurting you. Do you have a parent or someone to take care of you here in the ghost zone?

Danny only shook his head no.

??? Goon 2: What should we do Nightmare?

Nightmare: I have no idea Shadow tracker

Danny: squeak

Nightmare: Oh? Is someone laughing (trying hard not to laugh too)

Shadow tracker: You may be laughing now but I can find any shadow in both zones (with an evil smirk on his face). Hearing this Danny Paled even more than he already is (how is that even…) I thought; and I hit shadow tacker outside the head “Not cool you should have kept your mouth shut!” I sigh and wonder why the hell did the boss assign him to be my partner for today, especially right now. I turn back to look at Danny and I notice how tired he is because he is fighting to stay awake right now, and slowly raping his tail around his body, it may be half tail and the half eco blob I am wounding what he will grow up to be and look like? “Hey, Danny how would you feel about coming, with us. You don’t have to if you don’t want to –” I was cut off by Danny's squeak and nod of yes (that is weird because of our boss wants him locked up, and another thing Danny looks relieved for some reason). I thought as I go and pick him up gently.

Shadow Tracker's point of view

After I came out of my shock and scared Danny which I feel guilty of doing and Nightmare has every right to be mad at me because this was the first time we see Danny calm and relaxed and I go and mess it up. However I am surprised at Nightmare with how calm he is acting, and his actions not only he got Danny to answer some important information, he even manage to talk Danny into coming with us although I think I’m missing some of the conversations do to the shock that happens more than one. After Nightmare picks up Danny in his hand, Danny snuggles in Nightmare's hand, while his tail is wrapped around his wrist. I move closer to them and we hear a small purr.

Nightmare: how can something be so cute yet so deadly

Shadow tacker: I have no idea the boss is going to lose it and did Danny just hiss at me?

Nightmare look down at Danny who was busy looking at me and does not want me to get closer to him.

Nightmare: Karma, ( while laughing at me) hey Shadow tracker do you think this week's ghostly gossip news is out?

Shadow tracker: I have no clue I hope so and he is finally asleep let’s head back now while he is sleeping.

Nightmare: Good idea we are in for an earful that is for sure.

No one point of view

As they are heading back to the prison with a sleeping Danny they did not notice the other ghosts around him some were shocked, others felt guilty for what they have done, and others are planning something.

??? 1: Oh the ghost child is actually a baby how interesting

??? 2: I seem so what should we do?

And the two of them went left getting concerned looks from the other looks.

[five-rivers]

Life's Great Lie 6

"You idiot!  He can fly!"

Well, so could Danny!  Usually.  When he wasn't limited to human form because he was being mind-controlled and the mind control didn't want him to go ghost because it would have to let go. 

Luckily, Danny could slow down their fall, and Danny’s plan didn’t require distance, just breaking the man’s line of sight. 

He turned them both invisible, and when they crashed into the trees below, it didn’t hurt much. 

Loki got the idea quickly enough.  Soon, there were illusions, perfect images of Danny and Loki, running through the trees below.  Thor zoomed after them, and with a muffled scoff, flicked his fingers, splitting the illusion. 

Danny had to admit that was pretty cool. 

“Why,” said Loki, voice low and angry, “did you tell him I was mind-controlled?  I am not under any mind control.”

Could have fooled Danny.   “You told me to protect you.  He seemed to care about you.  If he thinks you’re being controlled, he’ll hesitate.”

“Care about me?  Maybe he cares about the brother he thought he had, but he never knew me.”

.

“I’ve got eyes on—” Romanoff broke off.  “There’s more than one.”

“Fenton’s duplication ability?” asked Rogers, who was still dripping on the floor. 

“Only if he can pass it to Loki, too.”

“We’ll have to split up,” said Rogers.  “Each of us take one.”

“I’ve got the one in the middle,” said Tony. 

.

“And here come the heroes,” said Loki.  “Shall we see if I can get them to fight?”

.

They’d whittled down the Lokis to one, and Romanoff had finally managed to tag Fenton with a sleeper dart.  Problem was, Thor didn’t want to let his brother go without a fight. 

A fight there was.  It started out okay, at least in Tony’s opinion.  Neither he nor Rogers were exactly fresh and Thor was a godlike alien warrior with a magic lightning hammer, but they held their own. 

Up until Thor overloaded his circuits, leaving the right side of his suit a smoking, unresponsive mess.  Being that he didn’t want to become Perillaus Mark 2 inside his own brazen bull, he pulled the emergency release.  Not all the catches worked, and he had to kick off one of his boots before it could cripple him. 

This left him a normal, undefended human in the middle of a battle between Captain America and Thor.  Not his idea of a vacation. 

Not that he didn’t feel as if he could overcome even this challenge, but valor, discretion, etcetera, etcetera, it was time to get out of—

He was stopped by a spear tip to the chest.  The arc reactor in particular.  Oh, and a smiling Loki. 

Not good, not good—

Loki frowned.  “Why isn’t it working?”

“Uh,” said Tony.  “Compatibility issues?”  Then he remembered the two legendary figures duking it out behind him.  “Help!”

Loki, annoyingly, disappeared. 

.

“I thought we were trying not to get caught,” hissed Danny. 

“Having the smith under my command would have been a boon,” shot back Loki.  “The benefits outweighed the risks.  Why didn’t it work?”

“Might have something to do with the giant glowy thing on his chest,” said Danny.  Tucker would kill him for forgetting the name.  “The arc reactor?  Does something for his heart problems.”

Loki looked like he had swallowed a lemon.  “No matter.  We still have the upper hand.”

.

We, Loki had said. 

It wasn’t exactly a slip of the tongue.  He was simply… surprised at the word’s honesty.  He didn’t think he had it in him, to be honest. 

No, that wasn’t right.  For all his lies, he was more honest about the truths of the world than anyone else. 

He dismissed the thought to focus on his current… predicament. 

Running through the woods like this, plan or no, was undignified.  He was half tempted to tell Danny to leave him to be captured and tell Barton to go through with the previous plan.  They were disgustingly far from the rendezvous. 

Disgustingly, because although Loki would prefer to ignore it, he was on a time limit.  His unconventionally acquired followers were not automatons.  Their bodies would force them to sleep eventually, and then what would Loki do?  He’d be left in a situation not unlike the one Danny outlined regarding the Chitauri. 

The new plan should give him time to overcome that particular problem. 

The reached the road, and Loki shot a warning blast in front of the next car to drive by, forcing it to stop. 

“Sorry,” said Danny as he pulled the driver out through the door, and then…  Went around to the side without the wheel. 

“What are you doing?”

“Getting in the passenger seat?”

“You expect me to drive?”

“You are the adult.  I can’t get a license in my state until I’m sixteen.”

“Sixteen decades?” asked Loki.  Who had come up with such a ridiculous number?

“Uh, no.  Years.  Sixteen years.”

“As in, rotations around your sun?”

“That is how we define years, yes.”

“How,” said Loki, “old are you?”

“Fifteen.  Do we really have to have this conversation now?”

“And what is the average lifespan of a human?”

“I don’t know, man.  Eighty?  The oldest person I’ve ever met was only, like, a hundred.”

Loki did not blanch.  Truly.  He stalked to the driver’s side door and pulled it open.  Operating a mortal vehicle couldn’t be that hard.

.

Danny, having been raised by Jack and Maddie Fenton, did not see anything deficient in Loki’s driving skills.  However, it is important to note that anyone else in the same situation – save, perhaps, Jazz Fenton or Thor – certainly would have. 

.

“So,” said Fury.  “You let them get away.”

“I think,” said Tony, testing out exactly how pulled the muscle in his right shoulder was, “that ‘let’ is a bit of a strong word, there.  Why didn’t those fancy ray guns work?”

“At this time, that’s unclear,” said Fury. 

“Could it be sabotage?” asked Romanoff.  “The Fentons may know more than they’re letting on.”

“Again, we’re looking into it.  What is clear is that you underestimated the enemy.”

“Well, sorry for not wanting to use lethal force on a teenager.  Now, if it was reindeer games—”

“I do not believe my brother is entirely in his right mind.  The boy with him—”

“Even ignoring the fact that Fenton has been compromised by Loki’s mental abilities,” interrupted Fury, “are you trying to say that what he did in New Mexico was, what, some kind of fluke?”

“In New Mexico,” said Thor, “Loki was only after me.  He didn’t kill anyone.”

“Not for lack of trying,” said Agent Coulson from where he was lurking in the back of the room.  Cool.  Tony had no idea how long he’d been doing that. 

“I think he was trying to give us hints,” said Tony.  “Fenton, I mean.”

“Like what?” asked Rogers.

“Said his friend was a fan of mine and that I could do better, whatever that meant.  Didn’t he say something about your shield, too?  Something about it being loud?”

“He did,” said Rogers.  “But we have no idea how the victims here are being affected.  It might not mean anything.”

“Yeah?  And how about the fact that we’re all still alive?  He pulled circuits out of my suit without touching anything around it.  He could have yanked out the arc reactor.  You know, the thing that is very publicly the only thing keeping my heart beating.  Hell, he could have pulled out our hearts with that little stunt.  Yeah, we got knocked over, but at the end of the day, that’s all that happened.”

Fury stared at Tony for a long moment.  “Coulson,” he said.  “Get in contact with the Fentons.  See if you can learn anything about Daniel’s friends, and why the weapons they gave us failed.”

[lexosaurus]

Birthmark

Phic Phight oneshot for @datawyrms: Danny Phantom's jumpsuit is hiding a secret he'd rather not reveal to anyone.

---

“Shit,” Valerie cursed, deactivating her hoverboard and gently placing the figure on the ground. “Shit, shit, shit.”

Bright green liquid soaked the ghost’s body, dripping off his waist and painting the grass in a steady stream. It was ectoplasm, something inhuman and twisted, and yet when Valerie looked down, all she saw was how closely it resembled blood. 

She raised a shaking hand and attempted to brush away some of the green on her suit. But she looked more green than red at this point and all she could think of was how much ectoplasm was outside the ghost’s body. 

It was too much.

They’d been ambushed after a ghost fight, the Guys in White having caught them in one of their special nets. Valerie had tried to yell out that she wasn’t a ghost, she was human, but it was no use. They zapped the net, and her vision was shrouded in darkness.

The next thing she knew, she was in a van, trapped with her biggest rival in Amity Park. Phantom was awake, but he didn’t know how long they’d been in the van for. Hours passed before the van stopped at last. But at that point, they had a plan.

As soon as an operative opened the back, Valerie was on him. She knocked him out, stole his gun, and bolted.

Apparently, Phantom wasn’t so useless without his powers either. By some miracle, he managed to find a way to remove his inhibitor collar and take flight.

But that was when all hell broke loose. Right as he’d paused to free Valerie from her inhibitors, someone landed a shot on him.

And he fell.

Valerie didn’t have time to think. She just grabbed his body, activated her hoverboard, and flew, not sure where she was going but unwilling to stop until she was sure she’d lost the agents. 

“Fuck.” She threw off her helmet and looked down at Phantom’s unconscious form. There was a hole in the stomach of his suit, and ectoplasm bubbled and sparkled in the harsh sun.

He was going to die, Valerie realized. What happened when a ghost died? Could they even die? 

“Stay with me,” she whispered.

She shoved a hand in her belt for her emergency supplies, but her glove was too slippery, and her hand trembled too much. She couldn’t do this. She ripped off her glove and tried again, trying to ignore the way the ectoplasm trickled between her fingers.

She had a bit of gauze, a tube of instant clot powder, a few butterfly clips, and a few large bandages. It wasn’t much, but it would have to work.

Because the alternative…

She set the supplies down and turned back to the unconscious ghost. His glow was almost nonexistent, and for the first time she could see his face clearly. All the grooves of skin, his pores, the individual hairs on his eyelashes and eyebrows. He had freckles. That tiny, human detail Valerie would have thought impossible for a ghost. 

Even the more humanoid ghosts always had some slight haze to them, something that just made them more like a realistic doll than a person. But not Phantom. If it weren’t for the white hair and ectoplasm, she would have thought him to be just a regular teenager.

“Stay with me.” 

She needed to take his jumpsuit off. Could she even do that? Was it attached to him? Would taking it off just hurt him more?

For a moment, Valerie knelt there frozen, unsure of what to do. She felt lightheaded, dizzy, nauseous. Her nostrils were filled with the scent of burnt battery acid and lime, and she could only stare as the Phantom’s face slowly grew paler and paler.

She pinched herself. “Snap out of it.” She’d dealt with worse, this was just a ghost. A ghost that she didn’t even like. A ghost that she’d spent the last two years chasing out of Amity Park.

She could do this.

Grabbing her swiss army knife out of her belt, she began carefully slicing through the fabric. Her damp hands were immediately filled with green goo, and for a moment she panicked, thinking that her fears were correct and that the jumpsuit acted like a second skin for Phantom.

But then she saw a black t-shirt peeking out underneath the jumpsuit, and she realized with a shaky breath of relief that the suit simply melted if it wasn’t attached to the host.

Of course, that made sense. She’d seen Plasmius rip off his cape before and it had dissolved in thin air. How could she have forgotten?

She made quick work with removing the jumpsuit, and had started on the undershirt as well when Phantom groaned.

She froze, unable to move the slightest muscle, as she watched Phantom’s drunk green eyes slowly flutter to life. 

“Don’...” he slurred.

“I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. “You’re hurt, I’m sorry.”

She tried to resume cutting his shirt, but he lazily swatted her hand away. “Don’...”

“Phantom, stop. I need to get this off you.”

“Stop...”

“I gotta do this,” she said, tearing his t-shirt. “It’s just a shirt.”

“S’ugly,” he mumbled, his eyes rolling back. His head lolled to the side, and he was out again.

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t be—” 

Her voice cut off, and she sucked in a breath. Tattooed on Phantom’s skin were glowing lightning figures that branched from his shoulder, snaking around his chest and stomach as if they were alive.

Valerie had never seen anything like it before, and she could have dismissed them as just ectoplasmic tattoos. But from Phantom’s reaction, she had a sneaking suspicion that these were something much more serious. Much more personal.

Something that she didn’t have time to think about right now. Something that was getting covered by ectoplasm, something that was losing its bleak glow as the aura around Phantom faded to nothing.

Time was up. She needed to act now.

Ripping off the packaging, Valerie got to work.

---

The sky was clear, glittering with thousands of stars. It was one of those rare nights where the milky way was visible, arcing the sky with its brilliance. 

Valerie had never been one to care about nature. Growing up rich in the city, her focus was always materialistic. She just wanted to fit in with the other girls, so she’d been more than willing to follow along with their hobbies and model her life after their trends.

Nature? Space? Stars? She never gave them a second thought.

Until her life was turned upside down, that was. Suddenly, Valerie went from hardly spending time outside to now soaring through the sky every night, weather be damned. It didn’t take long for her to appreciate the beauty of a clear, warm, night sky.

She landed on top of a building and collapsed her hoverboard. It had been quiet thus far, with only a few ambient blob ghosts roaming around a warehouse. Although at the beginning of her ghost hunting career, Valerie had spent each night painstakingly capturing every ghost in sight, she’d grown since then. She wasn’t so angry, so vengeful now.

And aside from being completely harmless, even Valerie had to admit there was something almost cute about the tiny bulbs of ecto energy.

Her suit dinged, signaling a ghost nearby, and Valerie groaned. There really was no rest for the weary, it seemed.

She raised her radar watch to her eyes to see a familiar ecto signature reading pop up in the corner.

One that was heading towards her.

Shit.

She hadn’t seen Phantom since that day. He’d been avoiding her. And maybe a few months ago she wanted him to avoid her, but now...

That day had changed her.

It was terrifying the way the government had so easily lumped her in with the ghosts just because they detected ectoplasmic readings from her suit. She woke up not knowing where she was, where she was going, if she’d ever see her father again.

Part of Valerie had insisted that once they saw her without her helmet, they’d call her dad and drive her back. It would have all been a big misunderstanding.

But a different part of her, one deep down inside, knew she was just lying to herself.

The government operated the way she did when she first started ghost hunting. All black and white, no room for grey. Ghost were evil and all ectoplasm needed to be destroyed. Period.

After she patched Phantom up in that grassy field, she flew and flew until she stumbled across a nearby town. She hid Phantom in a warehouse and sat with him for hours, forcing herself to stay away and stand guard in case the GiW found them. 

He didn’t wake up until the next morning, taking one look between Valerie and his exposed torso before panic struck his features and he simply disappeared. Before Valerie could gather her wits to hunt his ungrateful ass down and kill him again, he reappeared, suit intact, and began leading their way back to Amity on instinct alone.

Phantom refused to look her in the eye for the entire trip home. And when they finally got to Valerie’s apartment, left her with a “get some sleep” before disappearing once again.

Her watch buzzed lightly against her skin, signaling that he was close. Valerie leaned back, waiting. Seeing if he’d actually come to her, or if he’d bail and pull the vanishing act he was so famous for.

But then he appeared. Right in front of her. His glow was vibrant against the night sky, covering his body in a shimmery aura. His acidic green eyes glistened in the dark.

He really looked no worse for wear after his injury. That kind of hit would have landed Valerie in the hospital. And yet, Phantom was back the next day, full of bright smiles and puns for the people of Amity.

She wondered how often this kind of thing happened to him. Just how many times had he been nearly slaughtered only to pop back into the public eye pretending like nothing happened?

He gave her an awkward wave. “Hey, Red.” 

“Phantom.” She greeted cooly.

Just because lately she’d been seeing Phantom as someone who didn’t have an inherently evil Obsession didn’t mean that she liked him. At best, he was cocky, arrogant. At worst, he’d dumped her back at her apartment and left her by herself after the complete shit show that was their kidnapping.

So yeah, maybe she was a little bitter. Sue her.

“Uh, do you mind if I…” He gestured to the roof.

She pretended to mull his proposition over, watching as his ghostly tail flickered in anxiety.

He was ready to bolt, and she didn’t blame him. They’d never really talked before.

“Do what you want. I don’t feel like fighting tonight,” she finally conceded.

Relief spread across Phantom’s features, and Valerie was once again reminded of how human he was. She once thought that ghosts couldn’t feel any emotions. While it was doubtless that the way they experienced emotions was different than how humans did, there was just no way that Phantom was able to nail all those tiny details so accurately. Even if he was one of the more powerful ghosts out there, it would have been near impossible to mimic the full range of human emotion so quickly and precisely.

He settled down next to her, his tail morphing into legs positioned criss-crossed against the concrete. He turned to her, rubbing the back of his neck.

Valerie said nothing, just allowing the blanket of awkwardness to settle over the pair. If he wanted to say something, he could say it. Valerie wasn’t going to hand-hold him through a conversation.

When the tension was reaching the point of unbearable, Phantom finally broke the silence. “It’s a nice night.”

“Sure is.”

“I haven’t—uh, seen any ghosts. Tonight, I mean. Like outside. Or inside, too. Uh...it’s a quiet night. Ghost free. Well, except for me, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

He ran a gloved hand through his white hair. “Not that I’m really complaining. It’s kinda nice to have a break for a change.”

Valerie grunted in agreement, even though she was sure Phantom was lying through his teeth. Ghosts lived for their Obsessions, and Phantom was no different. She knew that deep down, he reveled in ghost hunting even more than any human ever could.

The duo was lapsed back into another tense silence, one that Valerie didn’t try to break. She didn’t understand what his goal was with the petty chatter. Did he think they were suddenly friends now? After he discarded her back at her apartment like she was a used rag and disappeared without a hint of remorse?

After she carried him hundreds of miles away from the Guys in White compound, bandaged his wounds, and then stayed up all night just to make sure he was safe?

She could have left him there. She could have been home before her father had woken up the next morning in a panic because his daughter was nowhere to be found. She could have avoided the phone call to the police, the missing child report, the whole mess that had followed.

And he couldn’t have even been bothered to say thank you afterward. Just dumped her and left.

So if he thought she was going to help him out now, he had another thing coming.

“How have...um, how have you been? Since…”

“Fine.” She said. “My dad’s been better.”

He winced. “Yeah…”

“Not that you care.”

He jolted up, turning around to face her. “What?”

“You know what I’m talking about, spook.”

“I thought we were over the whole ‘spook’ thing,” he said, his face twisting in annoyance.

“And I thought you were over being an inconsiderate jerk. But I guess I was wrong.”

“Listen, Val—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Okay, Red. Listen, I’m sorry. Okay? I got freaked out that you—you saw…” He let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry you got caught up in my problems, I’m sorry they thought you were a ghost, and I just...yeah.”

Valerie sat there for a moment, glaring out at the night’s sky. “It was a big mess, you know.”

“I know.”

“The police were involved and everything.”

“I heard.”

“And you know the worst part? I couldn’t even tell them the truth.” She let out a bitter laugh. “I got kidnapped by my own government and I couldn’t even tell my dad. I had to lie and say I got lost while out on a nature hike. How stupid is that? I nearly got killed by the freaking government and I haven’t been able to say a damn thing to anyone.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice was quiet.

“Yeah, well…” Valerie swallowed the lump in her throat. “You know. Hazard of the job, I guess. Still would have been nice if you hadn’t just left on me. After everything.”

Phantom lowered his head, allowing the white strands of hair to cover his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“It was a dick move.”

“It was.”

“I just wanna know why.”

He looked up, startled. “Why? Why you were captured, or—”

“Why the silent treatment? Was it because I saw those glowing lightning tattoos under your jumpsuit?”

He flinched back as if he’d been struck, his body lifting to hover over the cement. He stared at her open mouthed, as if he didn’t think she’d even dare to mention it.

But Valerie couldn’t find it in her to be joyous at his hurt expression. “Seriously? You were mad about that? Like I care about what you put on your body.”

“No, no.” Despite looking like he wanted to take flight, he managed to lower himself back onto the roof. “No, they’re...it’s complicated.” 

“Oh, wonderful,” she said sardonically. “So let me get this straight, ghost boy. I save your ass from the government, pull an all-nighter guarding your lifeless body in a warehouse, and the best you can give me is an it’s complicated? Thanks a lot. It really makes me feel better.”

“No, it’s…” He trailed off, rubbing a hand over his face. His eyebrows were pinched and he looked almost sick. When he finally spoke, his voice was small. “They’re not tattoos.”

“Oh? What, an unlucky birthmark?”

He didn’t respond.

Valerie turned to him, realization hitting her with full force. Unable to keep the surprise out of her voice, she said, “Really? That’s it?”

He pulled his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. His eyes were distant, far away. Lost in some other world.

He’d been electrocuted. Struck to death by lightning, or something similar. And now it was branded on him, as some twisted reminder of the ugly creature that extended its spindly claws and ripped his humanity from his body.

“Damn.” Valerie blew out a breath. “Of all the ways to go, huh?”

“I—Yeah…”

She couldn’t help herself. “Do all ghosts have one?”

“No.”

Valerie didn’t know if that made it better or worse. Questions swirled through her brain, but she bit her tongue. She didn’t know much about ghost culture, but she was fairly certain that there was a taboo against asking ghosts about their deaths.

So she stayed silent, pretending to focus back on the stars but stealing glances to the teenage ghost beside her. His brows had furrowed, as if he were having an internal war. Whatever it was, Valerie didn’t pry. Even if her curiosity burned brighter with each passing moment.

Finally, he sighed, dropping his forehead into his knees. “It’s fine,” he said, though his voice sounded anything but. “You can ask.”

She hesitated for a brief moment before relenting. “Why do you have a mark?”

“They’re called Lichtenberg figures,” he explained. “They just happen. If the shock is bad enough. But they, uh, are supposed to fade in a few days. You know, if you’re...human.”

“But yours didn’t.”

“No, mine didn’t.” He raised his head, opening his mouth slightly, before slamming it shut.

This was unmarked territory she was stepping into. Hell, she doubted even the Fentons had ever talked to a ghost about their death before.

“Do you remember it?” she tried.

“Yeah.” 

That surprised her. She’d read some of the Fenton’s papers, and even they were uncertain of how much a ghost remembered about their death. 

The question must have shown on her face because Phantom added, “Not everyone does. I think...I think it has to do on their power level. And, uh, how old they are. I think some of the more ancient ghosts just kinda...forget. But I don’t know much. We don’t really talk about it.”

“Oh.”

Phantom nodded, staring down at his gloves. He sighed, and then started pulling one of them off.

Valerie froze, her eyes locking onto the movement. She’d never seen Phantom remove them before, and frankly she wasn’t even sure if they could be removed.

The glove left his skin and dissolved into ectoplasm, splashing onto the concrete roof. And there, left on his otherworldly skin, were the cobwebs of the lightning scar that covered his torso. It was brighter, glowing with more precision than Valerie remembered from before. 

He pushed his sleeve up to his elbow, revealing more of the Lichtenberg figure. It traveled up his wrist, spiraling throughout his arm before it disappeared into his suit. The branches were thin, glowing with the same ectoplasmic energy that ran through the ghost’s core.

Valerie didn’t know what to say. Here Phantom was, her biggest rival in Amity Park, revealing his creation, the moment that turned him into what he was today.

“It was an accident.” He finally spoke. “I was being stupid, I don’t know. My friends and I were fooling around with this...this machinery, I guess, that we knew we weren’t supposed to be near. I grabbed a malfunctioning piece of equipment—I didn’t realize it was plugged in—and that...was it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well…” Phantom pushed his sleeve back down. He closed his eyes, willing the glove to  materialize back onto his hand. He looked at her and offered a feeble smirk. “Teenagers, am I right?”

Valerie forced a polite smile in return, hoping it didn’t look too pained. 

He cleared his throat. “But, you know,” he said, allowing some of that familiar cocky energy back into his voice. “It’s in the past now. I’m over it.”

Valerie doubted that much. After all, he was still a ghost.

“I mean, I get to do really cool things now. Like helping people. Protecting the town. You can’t exactly do that as a human.” He froze, his eyes flickering to her. “I mean, aside from you. You’re great at it!”

Valerie flipped him off. “Whatever, ghost boy.”

“No, I’m serious! You’re really good as a ghost hunter.”

“I know I’m good! I don’t need your flattery to give me self-esteem.” Her voice sobered. “But really, Phantom. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

He frowned, and looked up at the sky. The brilliance of the stars reflected on his form, giving his body an almost ethereal presence. 

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

---

Thanks for reading!

[marvelous-imagines]

Forever and always

Johnny Lawrence x larusso reader

Request: I’m watching cobra Kai and have fallen in love with Johnny! Could you maybe do a short post on Johnny liking Daniels sister and then they meet again in cobra Kai 😱

Warnings: mild language. Angst. Fluff

I can't find the person's account that requested this👉👈🥺💔

1984....

You and your family have just moved to California, now living in a small apartment complex where you and your brother are sharing a room, which was really a pain in the ass. Especially since Daniel didn't really seem keen on keeping his side tidy, it was annoying really. But you couldn't change it, no matter how bad you wanted to. But you could get out of the apartment for a while...

That's how you found yourself now, exploring the new territory with excitement. You've done been everywhere you'd thought, until you found the beach, that's where you were now. Barefoot as you walk on the beach, watching the ocean with a relaxed gaze.

Until a something hit you on the forehead, making you fall on your back with a yelp, pain instantly taking over your head. You had your eyes squeezed shut, a groan emitting from you.

"shit I think you knocked her out Johnny!" someone laughs, but you didn't care to open your eye's to see who.

"shut up asshole!" someone else says, that's when you felt someone crouched down beside you, hands gently grasping at your shoulders and giving you a gentle shake. Hand carefully pushing hair away from your now hurt forehead.

"hey, you alright?" the same voice said, you crack your eyes open and see two beautiful blue ones looking back at you with concern, his blond hair falling in front of his beautiful eyes as you feel the air being knocked from your lungs, heart skipping a beat as butterflies erupted in your belly.

This stranger was by far the most hottest stranger you've ever seen. He was handsome, beautiful, gorgeous.

"shit, can you hear me?" he asks, his voice bringing you out of your trance.

"y - yeah I'm fine - I'm okay" you stuttered out, trying to sit up, the handsome stranger helping you do so. "what the hell even happened?" you ask, watching how he let's a little smile sneak its way on his face.

"I threw my friends shoe away from him and it uh... Hit you in the face...he really hates sand..." he said trying not to laugh. You giggle a little, giving him a little grin.

"I'll have to admit, it's a little funny... But please watch where you throw stuff next time" you say with a chuckle.

"I can't make any promises sweetheart" he said, giving you a wink. You blushed, hating how handsome this man really was. His wink sending your heart into overdrive. "I'm Johnny Lawrence by the way" he stands up and offers you his hand. Which you gladly take, him helping you stand up.

"I'm y/n larusso, nice to meet you" you say rubbing at the sore spot on your forehead. Johnny looks guilty for a moment before his friends start shouting for him.

"to make it up to you for almost knocking you out, how about me and you go see a movie sometime, my treat?" he questioned, and even though you just got hit in the head you felt like you just won the lottery.

"that sounds nice, how about Friday?" you ask with a smile. Johnny gives you a smile as he stuffs his hands in his pockets, walking backwards and back to his friends.

"Friday it is" he confirmed, he set up the time and place and you felt yourself counting down the days until then.

Who would have thought being hit in the face with a shoe would have scored you a date with a handsome man?

Who would've thought that, that date would have brought you and Johnny closer, the outcome of being hit in the face making a beautiful relationship bloom. After that one movie date with Johnny there was more than one. One night you both went rollerskating another night you went mini gulfing. And after almost two weeks of dating Johnny had snuck you both into the local pool for a midnight swim. That was the night you first kissed, a night you would always remember.

You've been dating for a year, You fell so helplessly in love with him, he was sweet, loving, kind and even a gentleman. But you was the only one who saw that side of him. The only one who saw Johnny for who he really was. Everyone else saw him for his reputation, being a bully, a badass cobra Kai. They looked past his soft side that only you brought out, and looked straight at his tough guy attitude.

And even though he could be bit of an asshole and bully - especially with your brother. He wasn't really a bad guy. But you knew Daniel wouldn't agree with your relationship with Johnny, so you dated in secret. Always having dates when everyone in your house was asleep, hiding whenever you share kisses at school. Fleeting touches shared secretly, lingering gazes hidden.

But it was worth it, Johnny was worth it. And even though you knew Johnny and Daniel hated each other, you couldn't stay away from Johnny. You loved him. And the mere thought of leaving him hurt. So instead of choosing who you kept in your life, you tried keeping both. Because you knew if it ever came down to it Daniel wouldn't ever speak to you if he found out you and Johnny was a thing, that thought was painful considering you and Daniel was like twins, although he was a year older. And if Johnny knew Daniel wasn't speaking to you just because you two was dating, he'd make you runaway with him where you both could be together without someone trying to tear you apart.

You sigh at your wandering thoughts and live in the moment, that being seated in the sand, watching the ocean with Johnny's arm around you, holding you close against him you wearing his red jacket because the night wind was chilly. You've been sitting there for hours, listening to music on the boom box he brought. Talking and perhaps maybe making out.

It was nearing 2am when Johnny stood up, bringing you with him as he cups your cheek in hand and holds your hip in the other.

"we should probably get you home before you're family realize that you are gone" he muttered, face closer to yours. You smile and peck his lips before running off toward his bike. Hopping on the back and waiting for him you give him a grin.

"you better hurry slow poke!" you say, watching him run toward you with a laugh, the happiness on his face enough to cause your heart to swell.

Once he makes it to you he gives you a smirk, one hand resting on the handle bares of the bike while the other is resting on the seat behind you. He leans his face closer to yours.

"you're a tease y/n" he said, capturing your lips with his, the kiss deep and slow. His lips moving against yours perfectly. You pull away from the kiss and give him a cheeky smile.

"c'mon hot shot let's get going before Daniel wakes up for his usual kitchen raid" you joke making Johnny laugh. Hopping on the bike and listening to it roar to life. You wrapped your arms around Johnny's middle, holding him tight.

He then zooms down the road, wind blowing through your hair. You hold onto Johnny tightly, making him feel as if he was on top of the world. It didn't take long for him to slow down, before shutting the bike off. You was home, the apartment complex quiet all the lights off. You hop of the bike as Johnny stayed seated, watching you shrug off his jacket and handing it to him.

"I wish you could wear it all the time, it looks good on you" he said, taking it and putting it on.

"I think it looks pretty good on you Johnny" you replied back with a grin. He rolls his eyes and chuckles.

"you better get inside before Daniel or you're mom wakes up, my bike isn't exactly quiet" he points out causing you to sigh. "goodnight y/n"

"goodnight Johnny..." you lean in to give him one last kiss, him being the tease he is nibbles at your bottom lip. You giggle into the kiss and pull back reluctantly, Johnny smirking at you.

"I'll see you at school, bye babe" he starts up the bike as you back away slowly with a wave.

"bye Johnny, love you!" you say slightly loud over the noisy bike.

"love you too!" you watch how he gives you a wink before zooming down the road, disappearing from your sight. You sigh dreamily and head inside.

Completely oblivious to the watching eye's in your home.

You slip inside your bedroom and close the door quietly, slowly crawling in bed. As you laid down the light turns on making you jump up startled. Daniel gives you a look of disappointment. Making you instantly know that he knew.

"y'know I didn't believe Mr Miyagi when he told me that he saw you hanging around with Johnny but know I feel like a fool for not" he said, the disappointment Clear in his voice.

You sigh and hold your head in your hands. This was going to be a disaster...

"i was going to tell you -

"that's a lie" he scoffs, shaking his head. He looked angry now, he had a look of betrayal swimming in his eye's, "he's nothing but trouble y/n he's a bully! To be precise he bullies me!" now you scoff, looking up at Daniel with a annoyed look.

"I've been talking to him about that, he hasn't bathered you any now has he? he's not a bad guy Danny, he's nice, kind and he treats me like a queen! You just never give him the chance to be a nice civilized person because you instantly start going at each other's throats" you huff out, watching your brother shake his head.

"he's everything but good, did you see how he was fighting me at the tournament? He was fighting dirty!" he nearly yelled in anger, causing you to tense your jaw.

"he's different when it's just me and him, he's always so kind, so sweet...he loves me Danny, and I know you don't wanna hear it but I love him too... " you trail off knowing no matter what you say Daniel wouldn't change his mind. He didn't approve of the relationship, he didn't want you around him...

"he's a bad guy y/n, he's gonna end up breaking you're heart and I don't want that to happen to you... You deserve better" he muttered before cutting the light off and angrily going to sleep.

The next few days after that night was horrible. When you woke up you had walked into the kitchen, picking up a orange from the fruit bowl and tossing it to Daniel with a little 'think fast!' in hopes he would catch it like usual, a smile on his face. But instead he focused on his bowl of cereal and let it fall to the floor, ignoring you.

At school he didn't even look at you, wouldn't speak to you or even let you sit with him at lunch. It was painful, especially since you and Daniel was like bestfriends. He was always there for you when you needed him, a shoulder to lean on, cry on. You felt absolutely heart broken but thought perhaps he'd go back to being his normal self over time... But days turned to weeks and that's when you knew what needed to be done, no matter how hard it would be...

The room was dark, the only light being that of the moons blue hue shining through the window. You laid on your bed, watching the clock tick as you patiently wait for midnight to roll around. The cold silver locket in your hand felt heavy, your heart aching. You look down at the metal locket and sigh, flipping it open you let a little smile etch itself on your lips, the picture of you and Johnny one of your favorites, it was the night of your second date, the one where you had both went rollerskating. It was taken by Johnny, he held it further away from you both, smiling wide as you were. You close the locket as midnight had arrived, and for once you actually dread it.

Standing from the bed and slipping out the door, before you closed it Daniel spoke up making you freeze in shock that he was talking to you and fright that you had been caught.

"remember what I told you about him y/n, he's a prick, he'll kick you in the back any chance he gets" Daniel said, making a lump form in your throat. Looking down at the locket in your hand you nod.

"I won't give him the opportunity Danny..." you muttered, tears filling your eyes as you shut the door and leave the house with a heavy heart, a dark cloud lingering over your head.

The streets was empty, void of traffic or people. The star's twinkling in the night sky as the moons light danced across the ocean, waves crashing into the shore, sitting in the sand the man who stole your heart the moment you looked into his beautiful eyes...

Letting out a deep breath and wiping at your eye's in hopes the tears would go away you walk over to Johnny with a fake smile. He looks up at you with a smile.

"hey babe, before I came here I got you something" he grins up at you, holding a hand behide him and away from your sight. You felt your heart being squeezed by an unbearable pain. Out of all the nights he had to be the sweetest it just had to be now...

"oh, what it is?" you say sitting beside him, watching how he only grins wider.

"give me a kiss and it's you'res" you give him a genuine smile, leaning in and pecking his lips shortly. But that obviously wasn't enough, his pout saying it all, "what was that? That was hardly even a kiss!" he laughs, making you roll your eyes and press a more firm kiss on his lips, deciding to deepen it, relishing in the feeling of his soft lips on yours, engraving his taste into your memory as you place a hand on his jaw and pull him closer. Making him let out a noise of surprise into it, smirking as he pulls away slowly.

"how was that?" you ask teasingly. He chuckles and shows you the gift, which wasn't much honestly, just a flower, your favorite. You take it and feel your heart swell at the sweet gesture.

"johnny it's beautiful! Thank you" you kiss his cheek and decide you should give him the locket, even though you knew Johnny wouldn't even think twice about wearing a necklace, you still wanted him to have it. You pull it out of your pocket and hand it to him.

"I know you won't ever wear it, but I wanted you to have this..." you muttered, watching how he takes it and looks over it, a fond smile on his face.

"a locket?" he asks with confusion, looking inside it at the picture, "our second date..." he chuckles at the memory. He looks back up at you with a look of pure love and affection, making you feel sick to your stomach. Johnny noticed the change of mood in you and gives you a concerned look.

"what's wrong?" he placed the locket down and cups your face. You bite your bottom lip to stop it from trembling, unable to look him in the eye's.

"I - I'll always love you Johnny, no matter what... You know that right?" you say, voice cracking. He nods his head and wipes away a falling tear off your cheek. You didn't even know you was crying...

"of course, I'll always love you too y/n" he reassures you, but he only made you feel worse...

"I want to end things..." you let out your tears, your voice trembled. Johnny looks takem back by your words, shocked. He let's go of your cheek and flickers his eyes across your face, looking for any sign of anything but truth.

"what? Why?..." he questioned as he clenched his fist around the necklace in his hand. His once happy smile morphing into anger and sadness.

"we can't be together anymore... I'm sorry Johnny... I love you -

"if you loved me then you wouldn't be saying all that - bullshit!" he stood up, necklace in a vice like grip in his hand as he looked down at you with heart broken eyes, anger, betrayal.

"I'm sorry" you sob out, tears freely falling from your eye's. Johnny scoffs and shakes his head, tears swimming in a pool of anger in those beautiful blues of his, making your heart break even more.

"I should have expected this, you leading me on. You're no better then that loser brother of yours!" he yelled, taking one last look at the locket, his tears fell from his eye's making him angrily wipe them away, "love me forever eh?" he takes the locket and throws it somewhere away from you both.

You sit helplessly, crying on the beach as you watch Johnny walk away. But you knew if you had Johnny in your life your brother would never talk to you again.... It was a hard choice, and you found yourself regretting it...

2018....

You woke up with a loud groan, rolling over in bed spotting the book on your bed side table, reaching over and taking it, opening the book to see the old withered and slightly torn flower, your favorite. Although it's color was slightly gone and it was dead, you loved it. It reminded you of him.

Shutting the book you place it back on the table and stand up from your bed, deciding to begin the day with a hot shower. you gathered your clothes and head into the bathroom. After that you had a tiny breakfast and head straight to your brothers work, only to torture him a bit.

It's been years since that horrid night you broke up with Johnny, yet it still haunts you. The guilt and regret never went away, you never dated anyone after that, never got married. Although your brother would always set up blind dates for you, saying you needed someone in your life like how he had amanda, his wife.

You smile when you pull up into the auto shop, seeing the big letters of your last name plastered on the building. Parking your car and stepping out you head inside instantly spotting Daniel, who gives you a wide smile.

"well if it isn't the bum who always drops by!" he joked, hugging you. You laugh and hug him back.

"I dropped by to see if I could get my insurance this month payed off for free" you joke right back making him roll his eyes.

"no can do sis, I'm afraid you're gonna have to do that yourself" he said with a chuckle. "what are you here for though? Need a job? Because we are always hiring y/n - and I think you'd really love -

"Danny I don't need a job here" you laugh at his rambling. Daniel was always so eager to hire you, he wanted you both to work in the same field, under the same roof. But you didn't want to work at his business, although it was pretty awesome, you didn't really like the whole 'car selling and paperwork' theme. So you was a waitress at a old dinner, it didn't pay good but you wasn't poor. You knew Daniel felt slightly guilty for having so much money and a big house while you struggled to pay rent in a apartment building. That's why he made it a habit of loaning you - gifting actually, money. Even when you refused to take it.

"I actually came here to ask you about the whole dick in you're mouth thing?" you giggle at his face of horror and frustration.

"oh God you saw the billboard?" he asks with a low tone, a look of annoyance etched on his face.

"of course I saw it! I think everyone has" you laughed, almost at the point of wheezing. "I even took a picture so I can always have it as a reminder" you wheeze out, causing him to groan.

"of course you'd do that" he muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"who done that anyway?" you ask, watching his expression turn from embarrassing and frustrated to conflict and deep thought.

"they didn't find him...or her..." he muttered, turning his back on you. Confused by how he just obviously lied to you, you shrug it off and understand it's a touchy subject for him, Amanda kindly texting you not to bring it up, but you did because it was to good not to.

"okay, well I hope you're day doesn't suck to bad" you stifle a laugh at your pun. He groans and shoo's you away.

"get out of here before I ban you!" you laugh loudly and complie, leaving the place. But as you walk to your car you noticed a yellow flyer on the ground. curious, you pick it up, heart skipping a beat at the word's...cobra Kai... But your heart fluttered yet is clenched with a guilt filled pain at the picture.

Johnny Lawrence in all his glory. He looked the same, a bit aged but still the handsome man who stole your heart all those years ago.

Folding the picture up you hop inside your car, deciding a little visit to this new cobra Kai dojo wasn't so bad. So starting your car and searching for the place you let your mind wander.

Was he still mad at you? Did he hate you?

Of course he did. you broke his heart for Christ's sake. He threw the locket you gave him away like it was a poisonous snake. You sigh when the building comes in sight. You park and stare at it, debating whether you should go in or not.

What if he didn't want to see you? Or what the hell would you even say?

You let out a deep dragged out breath before opening up your car door and getting out. You wanted to see him again, you needed to. So without a second thought you approached the dojo, getting ready to open the door while your head was held low.

That's when you felt a horrible pain in your nose as you fall on your back, a yelp emitting from you as you hold your hurting nose. Feeling the warm sensation of blood slowly falling from it. With eyes squeezed shut you groan.

"oh my God! Are you okay?" the familier sound of the one and only Johnny Lawrence blesses your ears. You feel his hands gently push your hair away and out of your face. "lady you're gonna have to move your hands otherwise I can't see what the hells wrong" you would have laughed at his polite yet slightly rude words if you didn't think your nose was broken.

You move them slowly and open your eyes only to be greeted with his beautiful concern filled blue ones. That's when it hit him, the realization of who you were, "y/n larusso? Is that you?" you sit up slowly and nod.

"yeah, is it just me or do you greet all women by hurting them unintentionally?" you joke, causing him to smile a small smile.

"come inside and let me check you're nose out, try stop the bleeding" he says while helping you up, leading you inside. His hold on your hand never filtered as he held it all the way to a little office typed room. Cleaning his desk off and motioning you to sit down on it. You do so and watch how he disappeared into some other room and soon returned with a few tissues and a cotton ball.

"so what brings you here? Wanting to learn some karate?" he asks with a teasing smile, wiping the blood from your nose then delicately placing the cotton ball inside the bleeding nostril.

"no, I actually saw a flyer and wanted to... See you" you muttered the last sentence but he heard. Giving you a small barely noticeable smile he crossed his arms. "it's been a while" you say with a nervous chuckle. Taking your eyes off him and looking down at your hands.

"well, since I hit you with my door how about I make it up to you and buy you a drink?" he suggests, causing you to snap your head up eagerly and nod.

"that sounds only fair" you giggle. He chuckles and reaches for his keys beside you on the table.

"then follow me" he said as he leads you out of the dojo.

In a car ride full of silence besides the classic rock playing on the radio, you both had arrived at a quiet little bar, where you both sat tucked away in a booth in the corner. A beer in both your hands as you talked and laughed like old times.

"oh God, do you remember that time when I snuck in through you're bedroom window and I didn't know you and you're brother shared room?" he asks with a laugh, the memory a hilarious one.

"you had to hide under the bed for like 5 hours before Daniel went to sleep!" you laughed, remembering how Daniel stayed up that night for hours telling you horrible jokes and stuff. Poor Johnny hiding under your bed and suffering through it with you.

"nothing will ever be as funny as that one time we went skating and you nearly broke my neck trying to push me away from you because you saw Daniel with ali" he snickered, sipping his beer as you snort.

"you wouldn't stop trying to make out with me, I thought he would for sure see us" you giggle while sipping your own beer.

"we used to have so much fun" he muttered, a nostalgic look on his face. You give him a fond smile and nod.

"y'know, I never wanted to break up with you that night..." you say, mind slightly buzzed from all the beers you've had. Not quite drunk, just more bolder with your words. "the only reason I did was because Daniel found out about us... He Stopped talking to me for days, he hated me"

That caught his attention and made him devote his full attention on you.

"he stopped talking to me, completely acting as if I didn't exist. So I knew if I didn't end things between you and me, I'd lose my only brother" you sigh, shaking your head and giving him a apologetic look. "I'm sorry I think I've had way to many -

"I kept it..." he blurted out, cutting your words short. You give him a confused look. "the locket, I went back the night after you ended things and found it" he reaches for the neckline of his shirt and pulled out the silver necklace locket.

You felt a flutter in your heart, a hope blooming inside you that perhaps maybe you still had a chance with Johnny. He smiles and flips the heart shaped pendent open, revealing the photo inside.

"you found it?" you questioned as you stood only to sit beside him, shoulders nearly touching as he shows it to you.

"of course, I didn't really throw it that far" he said while closing it, shoving it back under his shirt, "besides, even though you broke up with me I couldn't ever get you off my mind" he confessed while looking at you with those big blue eye's of his.

"likewise, I regretted that night ever since it happened" you muttered while looking away from him, feeling the guilt and heartbreak weighing down on you. Tears slowly starting to glisten in your eye's.

But Johnny gently placed his hand on your face, palm firmly pressed on your cheek as he makes you look at him.

"I understand y/n, I understand that you done that because you're brother and I aren't exactly bestfriends" he reassures you. Causing a little smile to tug at your lips. "I never stopped loving you y/n, and even though I can't stand you're brother... I'd love to take you to dinner sometime?" he asks with a little half smile.

You felt a wave of happiness wash over you, heart swelling with joy as you nod.

"of course, I'd love that" you say with a wide grin. He let's out a little chuckle, a silence falling over you two, his hand still on your cheek as he just let's his eyes roam your face with adoration.

"I missed you" he muttered, his thumb rubbing at your cheek.

"I missed you too..." you murmured, as you lean into his touch.

And as if he couldn't live without his lips on yours he brings your face closer and pressed his lips on yours. You was surprised at first but soon let your lips move with his in the familier way you missed, the kiss was enough to take your breath away. The way he nibbled at your bottom lip caused you to giggle into the kiss. Pulling away he gives you his beautiful smirk.

"I see you haven't changed a bit Johnny" you murmur with, small smile on your face.

"neither have you y/n..." he placed another kiss on your forehead as he wraps a arm around you, holding you close to him. For once in your life you feel content, happy. And there is no place you'd rather be than in Johnny's warm arms..

A/n: I know this sucks, and I'm sorry it took so long, I'm a very busy person *coughs* it's classified👀

Also I left my phone unattended, I was also in the middle of writing this here imagine, and when I came back to check on it my little sister had down this:

I laughed at this for a while 😂🤣

[geekgirles]

Your Heart

Chapter 3 -- Introductions

READ ON AO3

Word Count: 8831

Sleep. Ah, blissful sleep. The Holy Grail Danny had spent his entire high school life looking for, and that still eluded him from time to time. That wonderful feeling when he just collided on his bed after a long day of balancing his secret identity and his civilian one, of ruling over a race whose reputation had earned him the contempt of many, of fighting rebellious spirits...To just let the tiredness wash over and slumber take him was pure bliss. 

Could there be anything more amazing?

At this point Danny’s perfect day had evolved from the amazing activities normal people looked forward to ーgoing to the beach with friends, binge-watching an entire season-worth of episodes in a day, ice skating…ーto the simple joys in life, such as getting a full night’s sleep (maybe even sleeping in, if he was lucky), going to the Nasty Burger with Tucker, and just having a normal day. 

But, as an aggravating sound would remind him, those days were far and in between. 

Twisting around in bed, eyes tightly shut and his face forming a grimace in annoyance, the halfa did everything in his power to ignore that damned noise. Trying hard as he might, there was no turning off the volume of that obnoxious beeping. Giving up, he reached out a hand from under his covers to tap the snooze button.The fucking alarm clock; his worst enemy after Plasmius. And the second most annoyingーthat title belonged to the Box Ghost.

Stifling a yawn with his hand, he got out of bed. Half-heartedly rummaging through his closet, he picked the first thing he could find and went inside his bathroom, having no choice but to start a new day. Once inside, he locked the door and took one look at himself in the mirror, well, as good as a look through sleepy, half-lidded eyes could be. He was greeted by the sight of his ghost form’s nuclear white hair and glowing green eyes. Seeing his reflection, Danny jumped back in surprise, until he remembered the previous day’s events. 

After officially meeting the Witch Queen he decided to crash in his lair in the Ghost Zone, too exhausted to return home.

He attributed not realising it sooner to his chambers’ appearance. Soon after he became the Ghost King, he was instructed to create a lair of his own; to cement his current position as ruler among his subjects, and to have a place where they could go in case they needed his help that wasn’t Fenton Works. Clockwork helpfully pointed out that keeping his secret identity from his parents and the citizens of Amity Park would be considerably more difficult if the ghosts had to look for him around town whenever they needed him. 

It was also Clockwork who gave him the idea of designing his lair taking himself as inspiration. “Try creating something both familiar and completely foreign; such as your own condition.” the Ghost of Time advised wisely, “Combine things that remind you of your human halfーtry not to make it very obvious, while you’re at itー with the sort of elements typical of the Ghost Zone.” 

And hence, he created his lair. 

On the outside it looked like a house belonging to the neighbourhoods he and Tucker grew up in, but on the inside he drew inspiration from Pariah Dark’s castle. Only it wasn’t nearly as frightening, just lavish enough to give the impression that someone powerful resided there. But his favourite room was, without a doubt, his own. An almost exact replica of the one at FentonWorksーthe main difference being that this one had its own bathroom and a few large one-way windows he used to oversee his realmー Danny could feel at ease. And, again, it explained why he hadn’t noticed he wasn’t back on Earth. That, and the sleepiness, of course. 

Shrugging, he summoned the twin circles of light to surround his body, the familiar, chilly sensation running down his spine. Once he was Danny Fenton again, he stripped off the clothes he’d worn the previous day, got into the shower, and got the water running. 

As he showered, his mind raced back to the previous day. In particular, to his meeting with the Queen of the Witches of Amity Park. She was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Even with his alter egos, both of his identities were fairly well-known in the public eye. Danny Fenton was the son of Amity Park’s most notorious ghosthunters, not necessarily for their skill or captured ghosts, but his parents had certainly always been very present around town. With their ghost conferences and pep talks, their field trips searching for ghosts around town, that one time they felt like dressing up like back in the 80’s and embarrassed him and Jazz in the middle of the Nasty Burger just because he’d forgotten his wallet… 

Between his parents, puberty, and his new-found ghost powers, his teenage years sure were a blast...

And speaking of ghost powers, there was Danny Phantom. The ghost boy that one day appeared out of the blue, first seen fighting a giant meat monster. The public menace who once attacked the mayor. The spectral intruder who trashed Axion Labs, got one of its employees fired, and was responsible for the rise of the Red Huntress...who also happened to be his sorta-kinda-maybe-it-was-complicated ex-girlfriend. The young hero who valiantly fought against the terrifying, tyrannical Ghost King and defeated him, saving both worlds in the process...only to be then crowned King of the Ghost Zone himself and ignite the ire and distrust of the town whose respect he had just won not even a week prior. 

The very same Ghost King who was still doing his best, day after day, to protect everyone from the most malicious ghosts who still challenged his rule. But did anyone care? Well, aside from a, thankfully, ever-growing fan club, if the burn he’d received the other day courtesy of none other than Valerie Gray was any indication...Nope. 

Summing up, Danny was fairly well-known. 

But the Witch Queen, on the other hand… The only reason he even knew of her existence or where to find her was because he’d found a few pages of Sojourn’s legendary journal flying around the Ghost Zone while he investigated the cause for the numerous portals opening. According to the wandering ghost’s notes, although there were several covens scattered throughout the globe, one in particular had settled in Amity Park after years of travelling around the colonies, fleeing from an event they called ‘The Great Burning’. Although Danny had no idea what that was, even if it did sound bad, what caught his attention was both their abilities, therefore his idea to ask them for help, and the last place Sojourn saw them before continuing on with his own search. He remembered his own eyes widening at the location. A location he knew from personal experience. 

The fact that his messenger actually delivered the letter was pure luck, though. For all the halfa knew, the witches could’ve left Amity Park in the centuries between Sojourn’s disappearance and his accident.

Reaching his hand to the faucet, he turned off the water. He grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around his lower half while he used a smaller one to dry his hair off. Then he grabbed his clothes from the floor where he put them and got dressed. Combing his unruly hair with a hand, since he had long given up on doing anything with it, he stared at his, now, fully-dressed human reflection.

He looked the same as his fourteen-year-old self, except for the more defined physique that came with daily ghost fights. At least there were some perks to getting your ass handed to you on a regular basis. The only other thing that changed was his wardrobe. It was still casual, he wasn’t going to start wearing Giorgio Armani suits anytime soon (it’d make him look like Vlad), but more grown-up, too. In his sleep-induced blindness he managed to pick up some decent clothing: a baby blue shirt over a long-sleeved, white undershirt, dark blue jeans, and beat-up red sneakers. Not bad. 

He left the bathroom after brushing his teeth in the sink. Walking down the corridors on his way to the kitchen, his mind went back to his encounter with Lady Arcana. When he became king, Frostbite served as a tutor of sorts. The leader of the Far Frozen made sure he knew everything he would need about the Ghost Zone and its history to be an effective leader. It was because of his lessons that he even knew who Sojourn was! But, most importantly, it was thanks to them that he learned of the existence of witches. 

And what he’d learned about them and what they’d done...it was so horrifying he couldn’t blame the ghosts for having a grudge against them that kept them apart for centuries. Thanks to what he’d read and was told about them, Danny knew what to expect from the spellbinding group of women. 

Witches were scheming, often fooling people into making a deal with the devil (figuratively speaking, that is) in exchange for things their clients would never be able to afford. They were selfish: the Witch Queen herself only cared about what happened to her people, never mind two entire dimensions! Much like Vlad, they only showed interest in a confrontation or making a deal if they had the upper hand. 

Frostbite had every right to be wary of his decision to ask them for help. After all, not only were the witches malicious, they were dangerous. Even if they lacked the standard ghost abilities such as flight, invisibility, and intangibility; their knowledge of magic was enough to give any ghost a hard time. And it was said that the Queen was the most dangerous of them all…

Danny could definitely attest to that. Although he hadn't seen her in action per se, he could feel an inner strength radiating from her the moment they locked eyes. And the way she fiercely fought for her people's safety only proved that. Even if he really found it selfish that she only cared for her people’s sake, Danny had to admit, it made sense, it even made her a good ruler. The only reason he cared about both worlds was because he lived in both worlds. Had he been fully human or fully ghost, deep down he’d only have cared about whatever dimension he belonged to. 

Despite all the red flags and warning signs, there was this part of him who truly believed Lady Arcana (what an odd name) was his only hope. He just hoped that part of him had some kind of clairvoyance and wasn’t just indigestion or something.

“Your Majesty, you’re awake!” A high-pitched voice broke him out of his musings. Looking around, he realised he was in the kitchen and the voice belonged to Dora, his maid. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like to eat, so I made everything I could think of.”

When his eyes landed on the food served on the table, he almost had to do a double-take. She sure went all out… Before him lay a carton of milk, eggs cooked in all ways imaginable (fried, scrambled, boiled, Benedict eggs…), over a dozen toasts, a few jars of different jams, bacon, pancakes, around three boxes of cereal, and an arrangement of fruit and juice.

Mouth watering and eyes as big as the saucers set down on the table, he turned to the ghost maiden, “When did you have time to do all this? Did you even sleep?”

The green-skinned spirit raised a hand to politely cover her mouth, chuckling in amusement. “My Lord, you forget we ghosts don’t sleep. So of course I had time to do this.” She smiled at his flushing face, embarrassment for having forgotten about that apparent on his features. “But, please, don’t trouble yourself with such things, your Majesty. Just sit down and eat.”

He did as he was told before reaching out for a few toasts and strawberry jam. He actually hated toast, but then again, that was probably because the Fenton Toaster always made them way too dry. As Dora poured some coffee on his glass, he spoke up, ignoring he was speaking with his mouth full. “I thought I told you to just call me ‘Danny’”, he swallowed, “We’re friends, Dora, remember? You are under no obligation to treat me as anything but that.”

Princess Dorothea, or Dora, was a ghost he met back in freshman year of high school. The first time they met her magical amulet got him in trouble, since it transformed his former crush into a dragon whenever she got angry. The next time they met, though, was when her asshole of a brother was looking for a bride but, being too out of the loop to try online dating, he forced her to organise a beauty pageant with him as the judge. When he defeated Aragon and freed his kingdom, he also freed Dora, who swore to be his ally after that. And the moment he rose as king, she offered to be his maid. 

“I know, but what can I say? My brother kept our kingdom in the Dark Ages for 1600 years. Old habits die hard, I suppose.” She defended.

“But you have no trouble keeping up with the current time’s peech pattern.” He pointed out.

Dorothea just shrugged in response. 

They stayed in silence for a while after that. While Danny ate his breakfast, Dora cleaned the kitchen. It was usually like that when he stayed in the Ghost Zone long enough to need the kitchen running. Looking at his cellphone, Danny almost spat his food. In an instant, Dora was by his side, making sure he didn’t choke. “Shit! I’m gonna be late!”

With that, he quickly finished his plate with a quick “See ya!” thrown at Dora and transformed, flying around the Ghost Zone until he could make out the Fenton Ghost Portal in the distance. It was still a little early for his parents to be up and running around the lab, so he didn’t have to turn invisible once he reached the lab. Phasing through the ceiling, he was about to make it to the door when the sound of footsteps startled him. 

“Danny? Is that you?” came his mother’s voice. 

Panicking slightly, he dropped the transformation. By the time his parents came down the stairs, he was nervously waiting for them at the door, fully human. “Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.” He waved at them with a nervous smile. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Son.” Jack patted his son, who almost reached his 6’1 height, being 5’9 now, on the back. “Did you sleep well?”

“Um, yeah. Fully rested. And you guys?”

“Oh, you bet, Danno!” the Fenton patriarch exclaimed as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “I dreamed I had that putrid, ectoplasmic apparition of a monarch right where I wanted him; with an ecto-blaster aimed right at his forehead!” Jack boasted, completely ignoring how his son suddenly lost some colour in his face. 

Sipping at her own mug of coffee, Maddie chimed in, “We didn’t hear you last night. Did you come too late from college, sweetie? Did you need anything?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Although he’d got much better at lying to his parents over the years (a fact he hated), that didn’t mean he felt comfortable doing it. “Yeah, sorry. It was late when I was done studying at the university’s library, but before I could get into my dorm I realised I didn’t have the keys with me.” He explained, hating the way the lie naturally rolled off his tongue. “I came here thinking I must’ve forgotten them the last time I came to visit, but no such luck. Anyway, it was too late to return so I decided to crash. Hope that’s okay with you guys.”

His mother went over to place a kiss on his forehead, mug still in hand. “Don’t be silly, honey. This is your home! You’ll always be welcomed here.”

Jack came to stand beside his wife, a hand resting on her shoulder. “That’s right, Son. We were just a little confused. We didn't hear you coming in, that’s all.”

“Care for some toast?” Maddie offered. 

“No, thanks. I already ate, besides, I’m gonna be late for class.”

“Then don’t let us keep you! See you later, Danno!” Jack said with a wave of his hand at the same time as Maddie said, “Bye, sweetie! Come back soon!” After closing the door behind him, he swiftly hid behind a nearby car to transform before leaping into the air and speeding up towards APU (Amity Park University). He wasn’t lying when he said he was going to be late. 

Besides, he’d promised Tucker he would meet up with him and someone he was dying to introduce him to today. 

...............................

When her alarm clock blared, Sam lazily reached a hand out from her covers to hit the snooze bottom. As the weariness wore off, she arched her back in an attempt to stretch and barely managed to cover her mouth as a yawn came to her. Yanking her red comforter aside, she got up from bed and walked towards her vanity, getting ready to start a new day. 

Flopping down her chair, she hazardly opened her eyes to stare at her reflection. An over-sized Humpty Dumpty t-shirt she used to sleep hanging low from one of her shoulders; her disheveled black hair sticking out in disarray; a clammy, pale face contrasting greatly with the dark circles under her eyes… “Aren’t you a sex symbol, Sam.” She drawled sarcastically. 

Well, things could only get better from there. Walking over her closet, she picked out the clothes she’d be wearing for the day and then got into the shower. Once she was out and dry, she sat back down her vanity chair and picked up her brush. People always said handling straight hair was easier, but they were wrong. Oh, they were so wrong. Untangling her onix mane was a challenge fit of Hercules himself, with all the tugging it required; case on point, whenever Paulina or Star had to work on her hair, they always marveled she wasn’t already bald.

With her hair taken care of, Sam slipped on her favourite tank top, a black one with a purple circle in its centre. Then came her pants; a pair of black shorts that were ripped at the sides she complemented with a white belt sporting a skull-shaped belt buckle. After that she slipped on a pair of thigh-length purple socks and her favourite steel toe combat boots; black with a row of three buckles on each side. When it came to accessorizing, Sam opted for her trademark black choker and bracelets and a purple opera glove on her left arm; Star recommended it, saying, “there’s just something so fashionable about asymmetry.”

Last but not least would be her make-up. Sam went for her usual style; not too over-the-top, but not too bland either. And so, she carefully applied a heavy coat of eyeliner and mascara on her eyelids and lashes, respectively; and her trademark violet lipstick. Now, the only thing left to do was the spell. 

After listening intently and making sure no one was coming, Sam conjured in hushed tones, “Mutatio speciei.” With that, a swirly mist enveloped her head and, where once were her back-length inky locks framing her face, was now a different hairstyle. While the right side of her face remained the same, her left side was shaved with purple undertones, a tiny green ponytail in a purple scrunchie sticking out. Her lavender eyes had been replaced by a pair of hazel ones, and due to her hairdo, the two orbital piercings decorating her lower lobe were visible. 

Satisfied with her look, she stood up from her chair, closed the door behind her, and descended the stairs to her kitchen. Yes, her kitchen. Not the one at the clan’s manor. While the large mansion located at 917 Maple Street, which the citizens of Amity Park believed to be an abandoned townsend place that could be rented for Halloween (they had to get funds from somewhere), served as her coven’s headquarters, training grounds, and shelter, the relatively lavish home in the upper class part of town was when she was raised. 

In fact, every single witch had a house outside of the manor, for it was crucial to keep their identities hidden. Since having purple eyes and ebony hair was a huge giveaway of her real identity, Sam had to perform that one simple shapeshifting spell to make sure nobody ever recognised her. And now that Danny Phantom had seen her face, even if he didn’t know her real identity, all the more reason to be careful. 

After her talk with the king of the Ghost Zone, Sam was almost tempted to think he was someone she could trust. Almost. Even with the explanation of their worlds depending on each other to exist, the Witch Queen still didn’t cross out the possibility of having been lied to. Phantom was known for being capable of anything if it saved the day. And lying to the leader of a tribe of magic users was sure to be nothing for him. 

Even if he’d seen a lot less arrogant than he gave the impression of whenever he battled a rogue ghost, with all those puns and the constant taunting, he acted rather...humble towards her. He didn’t even show signs of animosity until she tested the waters and sneered at his kind. But that didn’t mean she was going to let her guard down around him anytime soon. If there was one thing dating that lying, good-for-nothing, Hungarian wannabe had taught her, it was that when something seemed too good to be true, it usually was. 

After setting a carton of soy milk, a bowl with cereal and an apple down on the kitchen table, she sat down on her chair. Her dad, Jeremy Manson, read the newspaper with a steaming mug of black coffee beside him. Registering movement from the corner of his eyes, he lowered the paper. “Good morning, Sammy. Did you sleep well?”

Sam sent her dad a small smile. “Yes, Dad. How ‘bout you?”

Jeremy lifted a shoulder up, a nonchalant expression on his face. “Oh, you know… Same all, same all. It’s a bit harder to sleep when your mother’s away, planning events. But that’s how it is, isn’t it? While I oversee the company, she takes care of the social gatherings. We’re a great team like that.” He stated proudly.

“Yeah. You sure are…” Sam commented despondently. She didn’t have the heart to see what being married to a witch meant for her dad. Even though Jeremy was a true Manson, being Ida’s only child, the fact that he was a man meant he had little to no affinity to magic, and therefore, he could never be a part of their clan. The closest he got was marrying Pamela, a witch from a lesser family he somehow fell in love with. Neither Sam nor her Grandma put it past her that she’d been purposely hunting him down, since not only was he the Queen’s son, but Ida’s own father had been a successful and wealthy inventor.

Her Grandma often told her the main reason she accepted her mother was because she, somehow, made her dad happy and she’d given her the most wonderful granddaughter anyone could ask for. 

Grandma Ida, on her part, always did her best to show her son how much she loved him, but their circumstances made it very difficult for them to spend time together; especially because Jeremy didn’t even know his mother was a witch. And neither did any other man involved with a woman from their clan, for that matter. 

Being part of a secret, women-only tradition made it very difficult for them to have normal lives. It was imperative that the coven never died, which meant they needed children. There were only two ways of doing so: either a witch went downtown in search of a one-night-stand during her fertile days, or she used her civilian identity to start a family. The latter alternative also meant she’d have to protect herself and her children from a possible betrayal, hence, there was a special spell designed to keep their husbands in the dark when it came to their wives and daughters’ activities. In the worst case scenario, that is to say, that they’d been caught doing something suspicious or even performing magic, their partner was bound to forget all about it. 

That was the reason why her dad thought Pamela was out planning social events for the sake of the company when, half of the time, she was actually in the manor. It was also the reason why he never commented on the way his daughter’s appearance would constantly change in ways it shouldn’t. 

“I like what you’ve done to your hair.” He suddenly said, before taking a gulp of his coffee. “Did you use that new eco-friendly shampoo you wanted to try?”

Sam couldn’t help but smile at the way his father, who was incapable of remembering or realising certain things due to a spell, never failed to realise others. Especially if it concerned her. “Yeah. It’s got passion fruit, blackberries, and I don’t know what else.”

“Well, I like it!”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“I’ve been thinking,” Jeremy started, giving his daughter his full attention with a soft smile on his face, “since your mother said she’d be busy next Saturday, what do you say we go check out that new vegetarian restaurant you wanted to try out, um?”

Sam’s entire face lit up at that. “Are you serious?”

The blond man chuckled at his daughter’s child-like excitement; it’d been too long since the last time he saw it, “Yes, why not? I’m free that day and you’re always saying how much you want to go. So, what do you say? Do you have any extracurricular activities planned?”

‘Extracurricular activities.’ That was what she and her mother said whenever they talked about her role as the Witch Queen around the house. “I think I’m free, too. Sounds great, Dad.” The young woman smiled at her father warmly.

It was ironic, she couldn’t help but think. Due to all her responsibilities now and growing up, Sam never got to spend much time with her father; she was always near Pamela or her grandma. And yet, she was much closer to him, who actually made an effort to understand and encourage her interests ーespecially if Pamela wasn’t aroundー, than her mother. Then again, perhaps it was precisely because they weren’t together often that she was closer to him. Maybe she’d feel as suffocated around him otherwise. 

After all, wasn’t that what people always said? ‘Distance makes the heart grow fonder’?

“Got any plans for today, Sammy?”

“Oh, you know, same as always. Go to class, pay attention in class, go to the library, my...extracurricular activities,” she coughed nervously at that, “come back home, and repeat.” Taking a bite of her apple, her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered something important. “Shit, I almost forgot! Today I agreed to meet up with a friend and someone he wants to introduce me to!” 

Sam facepalmed herself. How could she have forgotten about that?!

“First of all, language.” Jeremy admonished her lightly. “And second, then I guess your day won’t be the ‘same as always’ after all.” 

The raven-haired girl snorted at her dad’s sense of humour. Dad jokes. They weren’t her cup of tea, preferring witty remarks and dark humour, but they did the trick. Sometimes. “I guess not, Dad.”

“And who’re you meeting up with, kiddo?”

“Oh, my friend Tucker. I don’t think you know him because we mostly hang out at campus. Last week he came to me to ask me for a favour.”

“What sort of favour?” The blond middle-aged man raised an eyebrow, suspicious. 

“He wants to introduce me to a friend of his. Apparently, he’s writing a paper on a subject I know quite a lot of.” She was just surprised there were classes teaching her subject of expertise that she wasn’t already a member of. 

“His friend’s writing a paper on environmental law? Then you probably know them already!” Jeremy stated, setting his newspaper down. 

“Dad, I’m in college, not high school, remember?” She sent him an amused look. “Even in  regular classes there’s tons of people I don’t even know the names of.” Sam was tempted to tell him Tucker’s friend was probably not writing about environmental law, either, but she held her tongue. Better play along. 

“Well, have a nice day anyway, honey.” He pointed at the clock hanging from the wall with a knowing smirk. “You should hurry up, too.”

Following the direction his thumb pointed at, Sam barely held herself back from cursing again. Eating the remaining food in a couple of large bites, she lunged herself out of the house the moment she grabbed her purple, spider-shaped backpack from a nearby chair. Once outside, she slid her arms through the straps before adjusting them. And with that, she ran to the nearest bus stop. 

She couldn’t be late. 

...................

“Did you have fun last night?”

The bespectacled young man watched as his best friend all but threw himself face-first at his bed on the other side of their room. A groan was all he received as a response. With a sigh, he set his tablet down on the table, directing his full attention to the exhausted half-ghost in front of him. “Could you please repeat that? My Groan-ish is a bit rusty.”

With great effort, Danny rose his head from his pillow, shooting a tired glare at Tucker. “Not in the mood, Tuck.”

“I’m gonna take that as a ‘no’”. He said before getting up from his chair to grab a mug and pour Danny some coffee. An intense espresso with no milk or sugar. Just like the dolt was addicted to.

Their room was an average one. Two beds, each on either side of the room; a kitchenette as you opened the door to step inside whose only appliances they used were the fridge and the microwave, both college students being way too dangerous to be trusted with their daily food. Each of them had a little, wooden desk on their respective side to work on projects and study, and in the middle of the room was a modest table where they ate. 

When they first stepped foot in, he and Danny knew the room would undergo some major changesーor as big as the campus’ rules would allow. As time went by, though, only Tucker’s side looked almost identical to his own room back home. But since Danny often ended up crashing in his lair in the Ghost Zone or back at Fenton Works, that was to be expected. Case on point, while Tucker’s side was filled to the brim with screens, computer parts, wires, and the occasional top secret ghost-hunting project; Danny’s only way of telling there’d been some kind of change since they first got the room were his clothes in his drawers, and the occasional space and rock band poster on the wall. Other than that, it couldn’t be any more impersonal.

When he offered the mug to him, Danny snatched it from his hands like a dehydrated man in the middle of the desert would snatch a water bottle. “Correction: I’m gonna take that as ‘rough night doesn’t even begin to cover it.’”

“You have no idea…” Danny said in between gulps of caffeinated goodness. “Remind me again why I thought organising a meeting with the Witch Queen on a Sunday, knowing full well I had several killer classes the next day, was a good idea?”

“Probably because the rest of your week was booked anyway.” Tucker replied offhandedly as he grabbed his chair and got it closer to Danny’s bed. Spinning it around so its back was facing his best friend, he flopped down, a smirk on his face. “Speaking of, how was it? Was the Witch Queen as much of an old troll as we suspected?”

Turning around on his back, Danny rolled his eyes. “I’d wiー” he stopped himself short; one never knew when Desiree was lurking. Clearing his throat, he went on, “I mean, if only. That would’ve made talking to her easier. But, no! She had to be a purple-eyed, hottie brunette!”

Tucker perked up at that. “Wait, she was hot?” A nod from Danny. “Dude, that’s awesome! Wait a minute. Are we talking about Paulina-from-high-school hot, or regular hot?”

“Believe me, there was nothing regular about her.”

“So she was Paulina-from-high-school hot.”

“No, they’re completely different. Lady Arcana ーyeah, that’s her name. Don’t give me that look; I’m not the one who came up with it!ー has the kind of looks that come with a warning sign: ‘you can look, but if you so much as lay a finger on me, you’re dead.’”

“Okay,” Tucker drawled, “So, again, she’s basically Paulina-from-high-school hot.”

Danny shook his head. Tucker wasn’t there, so of course he wouldn’t get it. “No. If you got on her bad side, Paulina would throw the football team at you. Lady Arcana looked like she could kill you with her bare hands.”

The technophiliac tapped his finger against his chin pensively, registering the new information. “I see, so she was drop-dead gorgeous, but in a literal sense.”

“Are her looks all you’re going to fixate on?” Danny asked flatly, before conceding, “But yes, that is a more accurate way to describe her.”

Seeing as his friend was having none of it, Tucker limited himself to raising his palms up in a placating manner. “Sorry, dude. Just trying to dissipate some of the tension coming off of you. Serious talk, now, though. How did it go?”

The blue-eyed young man ran a hand through his jet-black hair, groaning. “Fine, I guess?”

The techno geek frowned. “Fine, you guess? What’s that supposed to mean? Did she or did she not agree to help you?”

“She did.” Danny nodded, but the uneasy expression didn’t leave his face.

Now it was Tucker who wasn’t having none of it. “So? Come on, man! Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing?”

“I don’t know. Frostbite has warned me several times now that asking the witches for help might bite me in the ass...Not with those exact words, of course, but you get the idea.” He elaborated as he repositioned himself on the bed until he was seated on it and facing Tucker. 

“So you’re afraid that might happen now.” Tucker guessed. 

Danny nodded. “But that’s not all. I have the feeling I might have brought this on myself.” Before Tucker could get a word in, the halfa stopped him with a raise of his hand. “I mean, I already knew I’d be risking a potential betrayal the moment I sent that letter butー.” 

“Letters,” Tucker scoffed in disbelief. “In the 21st century. Only for that I already have a feeling I would never get along with one of them.” When he noticed Danny’s withering glare directed at him for interrupting him, the teal-eyed young man smiled sheepishly at him. “Uh, sorry.”

With a roll of his eyes, Danny went on. “As I was saying, I already knew what was on the line when I wrote to her, but I had a plan, you know? If she refused, I’d just have to look for an alternative. But if she didn’t, then I would keep my guard up. But something happened.”

He took Tucker’s silence and his raised eyebrows as a sign to continue. “She agreed to come to the Ghost Zone, she and two other witches came to the Ghost Zoneー.”

“Only two?”

“That’s what I said. Anyways, as I was trying to explain the problem, she basically made it clear that the issue with the portals was none of her business and made her way to the door.”

“None of her business?” Tucker echoed in disbelief. “But of course it’s her business. If there’s a problem in the Ghost Zone, that means the Earth’s next! How could she act like she wants nothing to do with the matter?”

“But that’s just the thing!” Danny pressed. “At first glance, it looked like she didn’t know. After I explained things to her, she seemed far more willing to associate herself with me, albeit very reluctantly.”

What was it with his best friend and never making sense? “Okay, so she accepted. She’s going to help you out. Care to enlighten me in regards to what the problem seems to be?” The techno geek crossed his arms, not following.

“I was getting there!” Danny defended. “The problem is that I was supposed to go on with my life if she said no. Well, she said no, and I practically begged her to help us!”

Okay, that sounded more serious, and not only because it must’ve been a huge blow to Danny’s ego. “Why’d you do that, dude? She’d just given you your ticket out of your,” he paused, thinking better of what he was going to say, “of your second death sentence.”

The halfa just shook his head, groaning. “I don’t know, Tuck. It’s just...One second she was making her leave, and the next there was this voice in my head that panicked. There was this...this...feeling that only she could be of help. So, against all common sense, I stopped her and tried reasoning with her. And now I’m stuck working with a woman who will not hesitate to stab me in the back with her magic wand.”

“Whoa. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was fate and you two are destined to be together.” At Danny’s murderous glare, Tucker burst out laughing. “I..I’m sorry...m-man! It...it’s j-just...t-too good!” He said in between wheezes. 

Danny huffed. “As if! Lady Arcana might be pretty, but she is so not my type. Too brooding, with too many trust issues, and far too willing to kill me for real. The less I have to interact with her, the better.”

Sometime during his rant, he closed his eyes as he folded his arms over his chest as he leaned back on his wall, maybe to drive the point home. When he opened them, though, he found Tucker’s smirking face. The sight unnerved him; that was not what he was expecting to see. “What?”

“Are you sure she’s not your type?” The bespectacled young man asked in a teasing tone. “‘Cause you just described Valerie, and, unless my memory fails me, she was so your type back in high school.”

His smirk only widened at his blue-eyed best friend’s dark scowl. “Shut up, Tuck.”

Tucker threw his arms up in surrender, the teasing grin never leaving his face. “I’m just saying, man. Valerie has been hellbent on vaporising you with her ecto-guns for years and that didn’t stop you from crushing on her and giving her lovesick puppy looks even after she ‘broke up’ with you for the remainder of high school.”

Danny rolled his eyes at the reminder. “Trust me, Tuck. Falling for the Queen of the Witches of Amity Park would be like falling for Vlad.”

They both shuddered at the thought. 

Finally, Tucker decided to let the issue go with a shrug of his shoulders. “Whatever you say. Just don’t forget we’re meeting up with Sam in an hour.”

That took Danny aback. “With whom?”

Exasperated, Tucker rolled his eyes. “Sam.” He repeated. “You know, that friend of mine I met last year in the library? When you told me you might be working with witches to solve the portal problem I arranged for us to hang out together.”

“Okay, now I remember. What I don’t remember, though, is how this ‘Sam’ is going to be of any help.”

“Dude! Sam knows a helluva lot of stuff about the occult! Probably because she’s a Goth…” He added then, as an afterthought. “Trust me, if there’s someone who can help you take whatever the Witch Queen throws at you, that’s her.”

Danny sighed in defeat. It wouldn’t hurt to try. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to be on time for once, would it?”

“No, what would hurt is making Sam wait.”

Suddenly, Danny wasn’t so sure this was a good idea. 

..........................

The You Mocha Me Crazy was one of Amity Park University’s hidden treasures. While most people gathered at the several Starbucks Coffee establishments spread throughout campus, only a few students knew of the Mocha’s existence or gave the quaint café the time of day.

A small store in the outskirts of campus, near the Law building, the café had more than enough to be the perfect place to relax, or hang out with friends. On the right corner of the store was the counter where people asked for their coffees, with a stand dedicated to displaying the day’s assortment of cakes, sweets, and sandwiches. On the left corner, in contrast, lay a small stage, surrounded by several tables and chairs, that was usually used for the café’s weekly Open Mic nights every Friday. On Open Mic night customers could do basically anything; read their poetry aloud, organise gigs for their bands, try some stand-up comedy… Anything, really. There weren’t organised events for each different artistic approach because the shop was well aware of its obscure status; they didn’t want to attract too much attention. 

Summing up, the You Mocha Me Crazy screamed individuality and integrity, which was why Sam was hopelessly in love with the place. The fact that it also had a varied, high quality vegan menu didn’t hurt, either. 

“Hi, Sam! Same as usual?” Robert, the barista that was usually manning the counter when Sam went to the café, asked her once it was her turn to order. 

“Actually, I’ll start with just a macchiato with soy milk. I’m actually introducing this place to someone and I wouldn’t like to have already ordered without them here.” Sam corrected gently, smiling at him. 

“You’re meeting up with someone?” The barista’s eyebrows raised in surprise as he hit the code into the cashier. “Have you found yourself a boyfriend this past week I haven’t seen you around?” He teased her goodnaturedly. 

The hazel-eyed witch shook her head slowly with a small smile on her face. “Nah, I’ve been way too busy.” That wasn’t a lie. “Besides, you already know dating is the last thing on my mind at the moment.” That wasn’t a lie, either. “A friend of a friend of mine needs help writing a paper, so we’re going to meet up.”

“Yeah, that makes more sense. I mean, you made it pretty clear that you weren’t looking for a boyfriend when you turned me down.” Robert pouted. For a moment, Sam was worried he might still be hurt over it, but his teasing wink soon put her mind at ease. 

She felt comfortable enough to joke around a bit herself. “Oh, please! You say the craziest things, Robert. As if I could ever choose somebody else over you; where would I get free coffee then?”

With an amused expression, the young man set her order down on the counter. “Here you go, Sam. Enjoy!”

Taking her drink, she threw him a quick, “I will, thanks!” and a generous tip as she made her way to a three chair table. Sitting down, she brought her laptop out of her backpack to work on her latest assignment to kill some time as she waited for Tucker and his friend to arrive, taking gulps of her drink now and then. 

Her friendship with Tucker was an odd one. And by odd she meant they couldn’t be more different, they couldn’t have met in any weirder circumstances, and they couldn’t get along any better. 

Sam met Tucker the previous year, during finals. She was busy studying at the library for her Law and Policy of Climate Change exam when this guy approached her. 

He was an African American man around her age. Though he wasn’t what most people would identify as an Adonis, he wasn’t hard on the eyes, either, just...not necessarily Sam’s type. He wore thick-framed glasses, a white dress shirt under a mustard vest, fern green pants, black dress shoes, and a worn-off, red beret. 

What truly was odd about their first meeting was that Tucker had tried to hit on her, and Sam didn’t even try to break his arm! When she told Paulina and Star about it the next day, the Latina was crying tears of joy while her blonde counterpart made sure their queen didn’t have a fever. 

She had to stop him in his tracks the moment he tried setting up a date with her in a nearby grill. At the mere mention of her being ultra-recyclo-vegetarian, he immediately lost all interest. Despite everything, though, they started talking and, even if they couldn’t be more different ーTucker was majoring in engineering with a minor in computer science, Sam studied environmental law; Tucker was a bigger carnivore than a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Sam didn’t eat anything with a face; Tucker believed in progress through technology, Sam was all about an ecological agenda…ーthey hit it off just fine. After that day, they often texted each other or hung out around campus. 

Today, however, was the first time she’d be meeting his famous best friend and roommate; Danny. 

Sam was woken up from her reverie by the chime of the door’s bell. Looking up, she noticed Tucker, who happened to be wearing the very same outfit from the day they met, and a guy who happened to tower over him. Oh, great! She was going to be surrounded by giants! 

Once they stepped foot inside the café Sam had told him to go to, which had to be on the edge separating Earth from the Ghost Zone, judging by how far from the dorms it was; Tucker looked around until he spotted a purple, gloved hand waving at him. There she was. Nudging at Danny with his shoulder, he pointed at the table where Sam was at before waving at her himself and making their way over.

Taking a good look at who she guessed was Danny, Sam had to admit, he looked kinda cute. With his unkempt jet-black hair that was either natural or a product of countless hours styling it in front of the mirror; the defined lines of his body, the awkwards yet somewhat assured way he carried himself… 

The moment they made it to her table she got up. “Took you guys long enough. Did you have trouble finding the place?” She said as she pulled Tucker in for a hug. Normally she wasn’t one for physical affection, but she hadn’t seen him in over a month, so it wouldn’t kill her to be a bit more affectionate for once.

“Well, we would’ve arrived sooner if you’d told us this place exists in its own place of existence.” Tucker rolled his eyes as he broke the hug, his hands resting on her forearms. “I think coming here should qualify as physical exercise; my high school gym teacher would be so proud!” He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye in mock nostalgia. 

While Sam rolled her eyes with a knowing smile on her face, she noticed Tucker’s friend chuckling beside him. “Please, Tuck...Knowing Tetslaff, she wouldn’t be proud unless you came here riding a monocycle at the same time as you juggle snakes.”

“Sad but true.”

“You must be Danny,” Sam addressed him for the first time since they entered the café. She held out her hand for him to shake, “Tucker has told me a lot about you.” 

“Should I be worried?” Danny joked with a small grin as he took her hand. 

The moment their hands touched, however, a familiar sensation ran through their spines. There was something familiar about the, seemingly, natural cold radiating from Danny’s body; and an unexplainable wave of heat coursed through his body the moment he touched Sam’s skin. 

Now that he took a closer look, there was something familiar about her as a whole. As if they’d already met. Which was strange, because he was sure he’d never be able to forget a girl with a look as unique as Sam’s. 

Before he could ask her, however, Sam beat him to it. “Have I met you before? ‘Cause you look really familiar…”

Somehow, that made more sense. With an uneasy smile, Danny tried to will the embarrassed blush creeping up on his face in line. “My name’s Danny Fenton. The Fentons, the ghost-hunters, are my parents. They...appear on TV often.” Although, in their case, it’s never something to brag about, he thought to himself.

Understanding seemed to dawn on her, for she exclaimed. “Oh, that must be it! Well, Danny, I’m Sam. Sam Manson.”

“As in Samantha?” Danny was immediately confused when Sam’s lazy grin morphed itself into a nasty frown. 

“Yes. But call me anything other than Sam and I will bury you six feet under.” Something about the way she said it made him understand she would keep good on her threat. Why was he only meeting dangerous girls lately?

Looking down at their still intertwined hands, an impish grin on his face, Tucker thought it was the perfect time to intervene. “If you guys are done memorising each other’s footprints through physical contact, I’m starving.” He turned to wait in line. “Come on, Sam. You promised this place had food that’s not necessarily green and leafy.”

Looking down themselves and realising they were still shaking hands, the two young adults snatched them away, as if they’d been burned, muttering awkward apologies to each other. 

“Yeah, come on...Let me show you what they have.”

As the three waited in line, Danny cleared his throat to get Sam’s attention in an effort to alleviate the sudden tension Tucker’s comment had caused. “Just so you know, I’m not here because I wanted Tucker’s help at picking up girls; I really need your help writing this paper. The topic is a bit hard to find in a school library and Tucker said you really know your stuff, so…”

Sam could only snort at his awkwardness. There was something endearing about his dorkiness, not like she’d ever admit it, though. She meant it when she said she wasn’t looking for a boyfriend. Besides, cute dork or not, Danny was too...normal, for her taste. “Oh, relax. I know that already. I wasn’t suspecting you of having ulterior motives; don’t worry.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I mean, do you seriously expect me to believe anyone would ask Tucker for help when it comes to picking up girls?” Putting a hand on her hip, she couldn’t help but laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. “Please, I’m more popular with the ladies than he is.”

“You don’t say.” A devilish grin made its way to Danny’s face, who was looking at Tucker with what could only be described as endless mischief.

Having heard Sam’s uncalled for comment and sensing Danny’s unforgiving eyes burning a hole on his head, Tucker huffed, crossing his arms indignantly. “Okay, okay! That one cute girl did give you her number instead of me. But I’m not going to complain about not being dating material to a cute lesbian; that’s pitiful.”

“Actually...she was bi.” Sam corrected him, almost doubling over in laughter at the sight of Tucker’s eyes comically snapping open. By her side, Danny was doing a poor job trying to stifle his own snickers. “She just wasn’t into you.”

Under Tucker’s withering glare, Danny cleared his throat in an attempt to appear nonchalant. Once he got his laughter under control, he turned to Sam. “Oh, you’re comfortable enough to make jokes at Tucker’s expense! Either you two are good friends...or you two literally just met.”

Turning away from them in an indignant huff, Tucker muttered. “Introducing you two to each other has been a terrible mistake.”

Neither could help bursting out laughing at their friend’s comment. Sharing mischievous smiles, eyes twinkling in amusement, Danny and Sam stared at each other. Maybe they weren’t each other’s first choice for company, but something told them something good would come out of that coffee date, even if it wasn’t really a coffee date since, well, they weren’t looking for a partner in each other. But, hey, they both could use a new friend. 

[kinglazrus]

A Helping Hand

Phic phight 2020

Submitted by @trainernick: Lancer telling Danny he knows his secret and admitting trying to help him throughout high school (maybe at prom or graduation) - wholesome found family

Summary: Everyone says prom is supposed to be one of the best nights of Danny's life. And even though he wrecks his suit, ditches his date, and gets attacked by Skulker, it sort of is. But not for the reasons everyone says it should be.

When Lancer sees his student feeling low, he does what he can to make sure Danny knows there are always people rooting for him.

Hurt/comfort

Word count: 3923

People like to talk about milestones. They divide their lives into neat little segments and mark the years with special occasions. First steps, first words, first day of school, first car, first kiss, first job. Lots of firsts. They're important. But they aren't the be-all, end-all of those experiences. People keep talking after their first word. They keep walking after their first steps. They continue to learn, and drive, and kiss—if they're into that sort of thing—and work, and work, and work until that's all they ever do.

The firsts matter, but they don't matter so much that you can never do any of those things ever again.

Some milestones can't be repeated, though. Or, at least, people build them up so much and make such a big deal out of it that even if you can repeat it, it'll never be the same. They make it sound like if you do it wrong then you'll never get to do it right. That's how Danny feels about prom.

It doesn't matter how often he tells people there will be other parties, that this won't be the only time he ever dances with his peers, that this won't even be his only prom because he probably won't be able to graduate this year. Prom is big. Prom is important. Prom is special. He has to do it right or else he'll never get to do it again.

Danny tries his best.

He gets a date, one of his best friends, Sam. It takes him a few weeks to ask her out, because he can't figure out how to do it. He wastes hours writing out what he wants to say. Four days before prom, he sees Sam in the middle of a ghost fight, grinning like mad, hoisting a bazooka on her shoulder, ectoplasm stuck in her hair, and Danny blurts the question out right there because holy shit she's beautiful. It totally throws all his careful, romantic planning out the window, but she still says yes.

He gets a suit. Black jacket, black shirt, purple vest, purple tie, because he thinks Sam will like it. She calls him a dork as soon as she sees him in it, which means she does like it, very much so. He gets a corsage of blue poppies for Sam's wrist, to go with his boutonniere. He gets Jazz and Dani to watch the city for the night so that nothing will distract him from the dance.

He does everything he can to make sure he does prom right. But, in the end, he still gets in a ghost fight.

Danny leans his head back against the wall of the shower stall in the boys' locker rooms. His lungs burn, his body aches, and his knuckles are bruised. The water's turned up as hot as it can go. It succeeds in getting the worst ectoplasm out—cold water would have set the stains—but now he's completely soaked, and his suit is still ripped.

Looking down, he catalogues the damage, both to his body and his rental suit. A gash on his right shoulder to go with the torn seam of the sleeve. The left sleeve is ripped from cuff to elbow, his cufflink lost somewhere on the street outside. There's a matching slice in his arm, stretching from his palm around to the outside of his elbow.

The cut stings in the hot water, same with the wound on his shoulder, and he should probably take care of both before he loses too much blood. But he has a couple minutes to spare.

His pants got out of the fight okay, minutes a little tearing on the knees, the skin beneath scraped and red. He doesn't think the store is going to take the suit back.

There's a knock on the stall door and Danny lifts his head. Through the foggy glass, he sees Tucker.

"You good, man?" Tucker asks.

Danny swallows, glad he doesn't taste blood. Skulker really held nothing back today. He calls back, "Yeah, I'm good. Suit's a little torn, though."

"Why'd you fight in your suit?" Tucker asks, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"I think Skulker borrowed some of Vlad's tech. He shorted out my powers for a little bit, but," Danny raises his hand and forms a swirling ball of ectoplasm in his palm, "they're back now."

"Okay. Lancer's doing a headcount. I told him you had gone to the bathroom just before Skulker showed up, so I'll let him know you're safe."

"Thanks. I won't be long."

Tucker's silhouette does finger guns and he clicks his tongue twice, then leaves. Danny waits until he hears the locker room door closing before he stands up. The ectoplasm in his hand turns blue, its temperature dropping a few degrees, and he drags his palm along the cut on his left arm. Ice seeps over the wound, sealing it shut and stopping the bleeding. It also works fantastically at numbing the entire limb so it doesn't hurt to move.

After rotating his arm a few times, testing its mobility, he does the same to the gash on his right shoulder. It's only a temporary measure, until he can get home and get Jazz to help stitch him back up. Sam and Tucker used to be in charge of doing that, but Jazz is by far the better seamstress, and leaves fewer scars behind.

Danny shuts the water off and heads toward the lockers. Rather than going for his own locker, he stops in front of Tucker's. Danny usually has extra clothes for emergencies like this, but he used them last week and hadn't brought them back since. Tucker keeps a few spares, though, because of the last few times Dash and Kwan stole his clothes while he was in the shower.

Turning his hand intangible, Danny sticks it through the locker door and grabs a shirt from the top shelf. When he pulls his hand out the shirt unfurls, and he stiffens.

"You've got to be kidding me," he says. It's a black button-up shirt, which is perfect. But it's also covered cartoonish pictures of Danny Phantom's face. Reaching back into the locker, he tries to find another, but this is the only one. He could use his gym shirt, but he needs the long sleeves to hide his left arm.

With a groan, Danny strips, laying his jacket, vest, tie, and shirt out on the benches. He and Tucker are around the same size, so the shirt fits, for the most part. It's a little tight across the shoulders and bites into his skin when he bends his arms, but it'll do. As long as he doesn't get into another fight and tear this shirt up, too.

Danny pulls his jacket and vest back on, although he does neither up, and drapes his shirt across his arm. With his left hand facing down, you can't even he's injured. Minus the scrapes on his knees, but if anyone asks, Danny will just say he tripped running away from the ghost

When he exits the locker room, Danny looks left and right, checking to make sure the hallway is clear before slipping out. His wet shoes squeak on the floor, and water drips from his hair onto his nose. He probably should have tried drying off. Especially since the water from his jacket is now seeping into Tucker's shirt. But, Fentons are stubborn, and Danny's already on his way back to the gym.

Prom posters featuring smiling members of the dance committee stair down at him as he walks, silently judging him. Their blank eyes follow his every move. Somehow, Danny feels like he's failed them.

He expects the dance to be back in full swing by the time he makes it back, because Casper High is just like that sometimes, but he couldn't be more wrong. The music has stopped. No one's dancing. There's a massive hole in the outside wall, letting in the cool night air. A wave of shame rolls through Danny as he remembers he did that.

His gaze drifts up to the ceiling, where there's another, smaller hole. That's where Skulker burst through, shouting about the glory of capturing his prey on such a momentous occasion. Seconds later, Danny blasted him through the wall and took off after him. Without even a single glance back at the chaos he'd caused.

Paulina, Star, and other members of the dance committee hustled about, directing people to help with the cleanup so they could get things started again. City protocol said to wait for an official cleanup crew, but this was prom, damn it, and Paulina wasn't about to let a couple ghosts ruin her chances of getting crowned queen.

He finds Sam and Tucker quickly. They're helping Elliott move one of the larger chunks of concrete. The front of Sam's dress is covered in dust and her corsage it crushed.

Another wave of guilt pushes Danny out the door. He backs into the hallway, gives the ruined dance one last look, then turns and heads for the front door. There's no point sticking around and risk ruining things even more.

The cold air and his wet clothes shill Danny to the bone when he gets outside, but he doesn't mind. The benefits of having an ice core means he can weather the cold better than most people. But, being half-human still, he's not infallible. Danny sits down on the front steps, slipping his hands into his pockets, and sighs. Maybe he should just go home.

Since Danny doesn't have his license—he never had time, with all the ghost fighting—Tucker gave Sam and Danny a ride. So, if he does leave, he won't be abandoning Sam without a way home. Going for a fly sounds pretty nice right now. There's not much he can screw up when he's miles above the city. Although, if anyone could find a way, it would be him.

The only thing he can ever seem to do right is fight ghosts. It's not too late to make a career out of it. At this point, it's basically his job already, and it'd be nice to get paid for it. Maybe the G.I.W. are hiring.

Danny laughs. It's a bitter, self-deprecating sound.

"They'd probably cut me open first," he tells the open air.

"Modern Prometheus, Mr. Fenton, that's quite the accusation."

"Holy sh–" Danny jumps, nearly toppling off the step, and whips around to see Lancer behind him. "Mr. Lancer! Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Checking on my student," Lancer says. "I wasn't satisfied with Mr. Foley's assurances and wanted to make sure you were safe myself."

He steps forward and looks down at Danny, frowning. "Are you... dripping, Mr. Fenton?"

"Uh." Danny glances down at his soaked clothes. "I fell in a puddle."

"While you were in the bathroom?"

"I went for a walk and then fell in a puddle."

"It hasn't rained in three weeks," Lancer says.

"So crazy, right?" Danny chuckles. He silently wills Lancer to go away, preferring to be alone right now. Instead, Lancer does the complete opposite and sits down next to Danny.

"Is something bothering you?" he asks.

"What makes you think that?"

"I've worked with teenagers for a long time, Mr. Fenton. I can tell when things aren't okay. And I think, by now, your tells are somewhat obvious to me."

Danny refuses to meet Lancer's gaze. He's probably the last person Danny wants to see right now. Not because he hates Lancer, but because he cares too much what Lancer thinks. While he didn't like the man much during freshman year, things changed over time. Lancer started actually believing in Danny. He's the only teacher who never gave up on him, who always had their door open.

Lancer even leant Danny his ear on more than one occasion. Danny tried to avoid this as much as possible, but there were some things he just couldn't talk to his sister or friends about.  And Danny's willing to admit, although somewhat grudgingly, that he's become attached to his English teacher.

"Prom's ruined," Danny finally says.

"Is that so?"

"I mean, yeah. Sk– uh, that big metal ghost dude kind of crashed the party. And then Phantom fucked it all up."

"Language," Lancer says. He gives Danny a critical look. "Why are you blaming Phantom?"

"He kind of destroyed a whole wall. He could have just, I don't know, thrown the ghost back through the hole that was already there?" If only Danny had thought of that at the time. But in his desperation to not ruin prom, he went ahead and ruined prom.

"I think Phantom did a fantastic job," Lancer says.

Danny gapes at him.

"Yes, the wall was damaged, but no one got hurt. And your classmates are displaying wonderful teamwork skills by clearing out the debris so the dance can go on. It wasn't Phantom's fault the ghost decided to interrupt," Lancer says. "Although I have to say, it's extremely lucky of us that he was so close by. In fact, it was almost like he was there before the ghost arrived."

Lancer smiles. Something about it puts Danny on edge. It's a familiar smile, a fond one. It's the smile he gives students who do exceptionally well. It's the smile he gives Danny when he does well.

"Oh, yeah. That's really lucky, yep. Must be because of how often the school gets attacked. I mean, if I were him, which I'm not, I'd probably hang around the place that gets attacked the most, too," Danny says, a little too quickly. He was cold seconds ago, but now he's uncomfortably warm.

"Which you're not," Lancer repeats slowly. His gaze is intense and critical. Danny can only bear to meet it for a few seconds before he has to look away.

He tries to distract himself, looking at the cars lined up along the street. There are a few limousines amongst them. Danny would bet his ghost half on one of them being here for the A-listers', who came together as a group rather than bringing dates. There were so many cars already parked by the time Danny and his friends got here that Tucker was forced to park his old Camaro around the block.

It's a pretty nice car, despite how old it is. A hand-me-down from Tucker's dad, they fixed it up together, making it good as new. Danny tries to picture doing something like that with his own dad. Jack would probably deck the car out in ghost weapons and stamp the word "Fenton" across it.

They could call it the Fentonmobile.

"Danny," Lancer says.

The use of his nickname gives Danny pause. Lancer never calls him Danny. It's one of his most frustrating traits. Every student is always Mr., Ms., or Mx. As annoying as it is, Danny can't deny that it feels nice at the same time. Like Lancer actually respects them as people, doesn't look down on them the way most adults do.

After everything Danny's been through, he thinks he warrants a little basic decency.

Lancer continues. "I know."

Everything stops. Every thought in Danny's head comes to a screeching halt. He stares at Lancer. Maybe he heard it wrong. Maybe he doesn't mean what Danny thinks he means. But the longer Danny stares, the longer Lancer stares right back. At first, dread fills him. His secret is blown. This is it. The G.I.W. are on their way.

That dread quickly drowns in a tidal wave of relief, because Lancer knows. And he isn't hurting Danny, or calling him a freak, or doing anything.

"You know," Danny repeats in a breathy whisper.

"I know."

Danny slops backward, burying his hands in his hair. He lets out a soft laugh. "You know. How long?"

"Almost three years now," Lancer says.

Danny's stunned into silence. Three years. That's nearly as long as he's been a ghost. He had his accident a couple months into freshman year and started fighting ghosts a few days after that.

"I," he pauses, "am a terrible liar. Aren't I?"

"I'm surprised you've lasted this long," Lancer says.

Danny laughs sharply. Sitting back up, he turns to face Lancer proper, running his hands through his hair again. It's a nervous habit he's never been able to kick. "What gave it away?"

"Your first weeks at Casper High, I thought you were a talented student with a lot of potential. You managed average grades on your first couple of assignments, but I could tell you were struggling in the environment. Not a fan of classroom learning?" Lancer asks, quirking his eyebrow.

"It's hard to focus. Sometimes," Danny admits.

"But you managed. And then you disappeared from school for two weeks. When you came back, your grades plummeted. I blamed it on the stress of your accident, at first, which I excused. But then your delinquent behaviour started."

Danny winces. He knows exactly how he looks to other people. A problem child, skipping school, not doing his assignments, barely studying. Coming to class with bruises on his knuckles. Tetslaff tried to "set him straight" once. She said some good physical activity would help him channel his issues and convinced his parents to sign him up for volleyball.

Tetslaff kicked him off the team after his third missed game.

"To me, my students are my children. I want to see them succeed in every way they can, and do what I can to make that happen. In that way, I failed you freshman year. I'm ashamed of how I reacted." Lancer pauses. He looks away from Danny, tipping his head back to search the sky instead.

Danny wonders what he's thinking. He wishes he knew.

"I'm even more ashamed of the fact that if I hadn't seen you transform, I might not have changed my attitude at all."

"You saw me transform," Danny deadpans. First Jazz, and then Paulina—although she was possessed at time, Danny still counts it—and now Lancer. How many times is this going to happen? He asks, "Where?"

"Here, at school."

Danny sputters in disbelief. "What?"

"You were in the middle of the cafeteria, Danny. You stood on a table and cried 'I'm going ghost.' I'm surprised more people didn't see you," Lancer says. He shoots Danny an amused grin.

Danny blushes, burying his face in his hands. "I thought it was cool," he mumbles into his palms. It made him feel like a superhero. Until he wizened up and stopped shouting out warnings to every ghost within earshot.

Lancer had a point, how did people not see him more often? Maybe there's an entire cult in Amity Park of people who have seen Danny transform. They could call themselves the Phentons. Or the Fantoms. Or the Keepers of the Great One. Frostbite would probably like that last name.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Danny asks.

"Because I think you need to know there are people on the sidelines who are willing to help you, who have helped you, even if you don't realize it."

"How do you mean?" Danny already knows he has people looking out for him. Jazz, Tucker, and Sam always have his back and they've helped him more than he can ever thank them for. He's going to miss Sam and Tucker next year when they move on to college and he's stuck repeated senior year.

Lancer reaches into his pocket and pulls out a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, he smooths it out on his knee and passes over.

It’s a schedule for April, May, and the first week of June. Two dates are circled. April 18th, today, and June 4th, the graduation day. The weeks between are full of markings. Squinting at the thin writing, Danny reads "Packet One: Biology" written over next week. Skipping over the rest of the schedule, he finds "Packet Two: History," "Packet Three: Applied Math," all the way up to "Packet Six: English" the final week before June. They're all classes Danny is taking this year, including ones he already failed last semester.

"What is this?" Danny asks.

"A study guide, of sorts. I spoke to the other teachers about your grades. Because of 'special circumstances,'" Lancer makes finger quotes, "they agreed to give you a chance to redeem your grades. You did well on your exams overall, but it's your course work that failed you. Each of your teachers has put together a packet of bonus assignments that, if you finish successfully, will earn you a passing grade in each class."

Danny's breath hitches. "You mean..."

"With any luck, I will not be seeing you again in these halls next year."

Danny's eyes burn. He lowers his head, hiding his face in the crook of his elbow. He tries to stay quiet, because the last thing he wants to do is cry in front of a teacher, but he can't help it. The tears won't stop. A few gross sobs fight their way through his hiccups. Lancer rubs Danny's back as he cries, a soothing gesture.

"Thank you," Danny says, as soon as he can gather the breath for it. He wipes his nose on his sleeve and shoots Lancer an elated grin. "I hope I don't see you here next year either."

Lancer smiles in return. "We could head back, if you'd like. The dance should be starting up again right about now. Ms. Sanchez certainly knows how to whip a cleaning crew into action. I never expected such leadership from her."

"I did kind of ditch Sam," Danny says. He hopes she's not too mad. "But I kind of need to take care of something first."

"The ghost? I always did wonder what you did with them after capturing them in your... lunchbox?"

Danny laughs and shakes his head. "It's a thermos. But, no, he'll be fine in there for a while. I actually, uh," he trails off. Sheepishly, he pulls back his left sleeve and shows Lancer his injury.

"The English Patient, Mr. Fenton, you need medical attention!" Lancer shoots to his feet, digging his phone out of his pocket.

"No hospital!" Danny shouts. He scrambles up after Lancer and covers his phone. "My body's different. They'd notice something. I just need some stitches and my healing will take care of the rest."

"That's reassuring, I suppose." Lancer lowers his phone. "I have keys to the nurse's office, and I'm no slouch with a needle."

"Oh. I can just take of it myself, at home. Or get Jazz to do it."

"Nonsense, Mr. Fenton. What kind of teacher would I be if I let you go home in that state?" Lancer beckons for Danny to follow. He only hesitates for a second before complying.

Danny doesn't want to see Lancer in these halls again, but he certainly hopes graduation won't be the last time he ever sees the man. It's nice, knowing there's another person out there who has his back. Someone who can give him a stern word when he's being stupid, and a helping hand when he's lost. It's almost father-like, now that Danny thinks about it.

He stares at Lancer's back and thinks. Lancer looks the kids of Casper High and sees them not just as students, but as his children. Danny doesn't mind looking back and seeing a parent instead of a teacher.

[mischiefandspirits]

The Third Path

Some new ghost hunters have come to town, but are they really ghost hunters, or something else?

When a human dies, there are three paths the freed soul can take. Most are sent straight to the After. However, some stay behind.

“Excuse me, dear girl, but may I have a moment of your time!”

Valerie frowned at the shout and turned her board around to see a Latina woman staring at her with a curious smile. She had knee-length black hair that, alongside her long white dress, swirled around her from her spot on the edge of a skyscraper’s roof.

The ghost hunter immediately dove down towards the woman, holding up her hands. “Woah, hey now. There’s no need for that. Come down from there and we can talk about this.”

The woman frowned, then smiled again as she climbed down and stepped back until there were a good five feet between her and the edge. “Apologies, I did not mean to frighten you. I simply wished to gain your attention. I did not anticipate you taking my position in such a way.”

“Right,” Valerie said slowly dropping down to the roof and banishing her board. “How can I help you?”

The woman hummed, staring at where her board had been before looking up at her.

A shiver went up Valerie’s spine at the neon blue color of the woman’s eyes, but it was washed away a second later by a wave of contentment that filled her.

“My name is Adelaida. I and my people have come to this town to assist with the demonic presence that plagues you.”

Valerie’s eyes widened. “Demonic? You mean the ghosts?”

“Yes, that is the term you use for them, isn’t it?”

“You’re ghost hunters?” she asked cautiously. More ghost hunters wasn’t exactly a bad thing, but only if they were actually helpful. Most of the ghost hunters Valerie has met were absolutely useless while the G.I.W. did more damage than the ghosts. The Fenton’s at least knew what they were doing, even if they tended to be a little trigger happy and often late to the party.

“In a sense. We hoped to gain information on the demons -- or ghosts -- that most commonly plague you. We have already sought out the matriarch and patriarch of the Fenton family as our research painted them as your town’s best hunters and they spoke well of you. As such, we wished to see if you would have any information that might assist us.”

Valerie straightened up with Pride. It was nice that some people appreciated her efforts. She’d never really spoken to the Fentons in her hunting persona -- too worried they’d recognize her -- and everyone else either opposed her because of her fights with Phantom or was Masters, and Masters was one wrong move away from a face full of ecto-ray.

“They did not inform us that you use demonic relics to fight with, however.”

She flinched. She wasn’t exactly happy to be using ghost-made weapons, but she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Her suit was far and away the best of the best and let her keep up with ghosts in ways no other human could. “Well, fight fire with fire and all that.”

“I suppose.”

She frowned at the disgust in Adelaida’s voice. “It’s not that different from the ecto-weapons the Fentons have created.”

“No, but those are distasteful as well.”

“Well, what do you use?” If Adelaida was another one of those people who thought you could fight ghosts with sage and horseshoes, Valerie was taking off without another word. Where did people even get ideas like that?

“My people have access to an energy that is the polar opposite of the energy used by demons, the matter to their antimatter so to speak. It can be quite painful to ghosts and does not burden us with using such horrific devices.”

Valerie felt her annoyance with the woman’s haughtiness growing, but shoved it down in curiosity at the idea of some sort of anti-ectoplasm. “Really? How did you get your hands on something like that? Did your people develop it?”

“In a way. But that is not why I’m here. Tell me, what do you know of the demons that plague this town?”

She shrugged. “Too much to tell. There’s a ghost for every day of the year and they all show up at random. The short of it though is one ghost. Well, two, but Box Ghost is more a nuisance than a threat.”

Adelaida nodded. “The Fenton’s mentioned the box obsessed demon. I suppose the other you referenced is the one who refers to itself as Danny Phantom.”

“Yeah, him.” Valerie scowled. She still wasn’t sure how to feel about the ghost-boy. Every time she considered going back to hunting him, all she could think about was him pleading for her to let him save Dani and him holding out his hands after so she could capture him once more. She thought about the times they’d worked together and how he’d only ever betrayed her by telling her father her secret to keep her from what she knew was a suicide mission.

The woman must have misread her scowl as she said, “Yes, I understand your frustration. The Fenton’s told us much about the hero act the demon uses to gain favor in the town and we agree that its tie to this plane is likely its need for attention. Given its age, it was likely either an unwanted or neglected child or one who hoarded such attention in life, such as a prince or celebrity. It has clearly come to find that displays of kindness are its best bet to gain this attention and should the attention ever wane, it will undoubtedly return to its early acts of vandalism and violence to satisfy its obsession once more.”

Even though she nodded along, Valerie couldn’t help but disagree as she’d done before when she’d heard such things from the Fenton’s. Phantom didn’t like attention, he had run away from his phans and hidden from news copters enough for that to be obvious. Sure, he was a showboat, but he never stuck around after a fight. If Phantom had an obsession -- which Valerie didn’t buy -- it was probably fighting. Or maybe just Amity Park in general. He’d certainly claimed it as his territory, judging by the fact that a few of the ghosts that could be found skulking about often complained about how “Phantom said we could stay!” and would go cry to him if she tried to capture them.

“Is there anything else you could tell us?”

Valerie considered saying something about Masters, but she was hesitant to reveal the human-ghost hybrid. If someone discovered him, how long until they discovered Dani? She wouldn’t be the reason the girl was in danger again. “Careful with Phantom. He’s a lot more powerful than most of the ghosts we see around here and he’s got allies.”

“Allies?”

“Most don’t know it, but Phantom lets some ghosts stick around. He’ll protect them if we come after them, so I wouldn’t put it past them to return the favor if he needed it.”

“Vassals then,” Adelaida hummed. “That could be promising. The Fenton’s did not mention that. Thank you for your assistance. I will inform my people.” She gave a curtsey and turned to leave.

“Would you like some help?”

The woman looked back at her with a smile as she opened to the door to the rooftop entrance. “We have this under control, young one.”

With that, she was gone.

Valerie frowned as she took back to the air. She briefly wondered if she should reach out to Phantom about this before shoving the thought aside. Even if she wasn’t sure about hunting the ghost-boy, she wasn’t going to help him either. And the woman didn’t give her the same creeps as the G.I.W., so it was probably fine. In fact, the woman had felt warm and comforting.

Although it was admittedly kind of weird that she’d called Valerie young when Adelaida looked like she was maybe in her early twenties at best and the suit made people think Valerie was older than her actual sixteen years. Also, there’d been something off with her eyes. Valerie couldn’t place it, but they’d just felt… uncanny.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“It’s not funny,” Danny muttered, rubbing at his back and scowling at his laughing friend.

“How long until the paint wears off?” Sam chuckled.

“I don’t even know! Young-butt wouldn’t say.”

“What’s going on?” Tucker said, glancing between them as he joined them for their walk home.

“Apparently, Danny forgot to mention that he got ambushed on his way home from his weekend in Olympus,” Sam said, laughter still tinting her voice.

At Tucker’s worried look, Danny elaborated. “Youngblood decided we were going to have a water balloon fight.”

“But instead of water, he filled them with ectoplasmic paint. And now his ghost half is covered in the stuff, even if he transforms.”

“Only my face and hair. Thankfully I was wearing that ceremonial outfit Pandora gave me. I hope she doesn’t want it back before I can figure out how to get the stains out.”

“Ghost OxiClean,” Sam suggested over Tucker’s laughter.

“What color… are… you now?” Tucker asked between chortles.

“A dark purple,” Danny sighed.

Sam pat his head. “Could be worse. You could be red. We’d be forced to make Christmas jokes and then we’d be back to square one with you, Mr. Grinch.”

Danny rolled his eyes and knocked their shoulder together, only to hiss at the pain that shot up his back.

“You okay, dude?” Tucker asked, wiping away tears.

“Yeah, my back just started hurting last night. I thought I’d just pulled something in the fight, but it was even worse this morning. I took some of the pain meds Frostbite gave me, but they wore off.”

“Does your ghost form even have muscles to pull?” Tucker wondered.

“We can head to your house first so we can pick up your pills,” Sam suggested. “It really must be hurting if you actually took them instead of deciding to wait it out.”

It was. It felt like growing pains crossed with the ghost gauntlets, but worse. A throbbing ache that took his breath away with random spikes.

“Thanks.”

They were halfway to his house when Danny’s ghost sense went off and a grey-green arm shot out of an alleyway to drag him in. He braced for a fight, but relaxed slightly when he saw it was Kitty.

She looked rumpled, her hair messed up and her jacket singed with burns littering her skin.

“What’s wrong? Valerie again?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know who attacked us. I couldn’t see them, but I think they were after you. When they captured Johnny and Shadow in a net, I heard one of them say they’d gotten one of Phantom’s vassals, whatever that means.”

“A vassal is someone who is granted land by nobility in return for loyalty, respect, and wartime support,” Sam explained. “It kind of describes the deal you and the others have with Danny, in an archaic way.”

“If you ignore the fact Danny’s not nobility and substitute the loyalty stuff for you guys just not attacking people,” Tucker added.

Kitty’s nose scrunched up at the information, but otherwise ignored it. “Please, you have to help them! We weren’t even doing anything this time!”

Danny gave her an unimpressed look.

“Okay, maybe Johnny destroyed some guy’s car because he was checking me out, but can you blame him.”

“Yes,” Danny said, then sighed. “Fine, but you need to head back to the Ghost Zone as soon as I get your boyfriend out. Try to warn anyone you can on your way. Might be best for everyone to get clear until I figure out what these guys want.”

She agreed immediately and he turned to his friends.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Sam said and Tucker nodded.

“Alright, I’m going ghost!”

Kitty and Danny shot into the air, Danny holding onto Kitty since he was faster while she led him to where she’d last seen Johnny.

They found him on a side street, pinned beneath a net that glowed silver. It certainly didn’t look like anything he was used to. His parents’ tech was all green since it used pure ectoplasm straight from the ghost zone. Valerie’s was a reddish-pink thanks to Technus keeping her aesthetic the same as Vlad’s tech, which was powered by his own energy. The G.I.W.’s was blue due to the purification they did on all the ectoplasm they got their hands on.

Danny looked around as they got closer to the street, but didn’t see anyone. Knowing it was a trap, but with no other choice, they turned invisible and dropped down next to the net.

“Johnny,” Kitty whispered, kneeling next to him.

“Hey Kitten,” he groaned. He looked up at Danny and smirked. “What happened to your face?”

“Shut up.” Seeing the way the net was hurting Johnny, Danny reached out with his energy to pull it off him that way.

The net went flying. Thank you, Pandora! Telekinesis was the best!

“Thanks, kid,” Johnny huffed.

“You know, I’m the same age as you guys now,” Danny said as Kitty helped him stand and Shadow peeled off the ground, looking worse for wear.

“Sure, give or take a few decades,” Johnny snorted.

“Just get out of here befo-” Danny was cut off by a blast to the side that sent him flying. He shrieked as his back hit the asphalt.

“Kid!”

“Go!” he ordered, fighting through the pain to sit up.

Johnny looked conflicted for a moment, then summoned his bike.

As the two rode off, Danny turned to face the direction the blast had come from.

“So you are the one called Danny Phantom?” a man said as he walked out of the shadows.

Danny’s first impression was that the man didn’t look like a hunter. He was taller and thinner than Danny and probably in his late twenties. He wore a tank top and athletic shorts, but no shoes. His dark brown skin was offset by pale gold hair and silver eyes.

Glowing silver eyes.

“You’re a ghost,” Danny groaned. Great, just what he needed: Infighting.

The ghost laughed. “You date yourself, demon. If you can’t recognize me, you must be less than two hundred years.”

“Pretty sure the suit says the same thing, but go off I guess,” Danny snorted as he stood. “Wait, did you just call me a demon?”

The man raised his hand and Danny took to the air to dodge a blast of silver energy.

“What? Not even going to start in on your evil plan. What kind of villain doesn’t monologue?”

“The only evil villain here is you,” the ghost hissed as he shot blast after blast at the flying halfa. “We are here to cleanse this town of you and your demonic vassals.”

“First of all, they're not my vassals, I just don’t bother kicking them back to the Ghost Zone as long as they don’t cause trouble,” Danny said, creating a shield to absorb the blasts. “And second, what’s with all the dem-Wait, we?”

A blast hit him in the back and ANCIENTS! OW! THAT HURT! THAT VERY MUCH HURT!

He barely caught himself before he hit the ground and quickly summoned another shield, this time creating a sphere to wrap around him. He glanced back to take in his new opponent.

For half a second, he thought it was Dani. Then he realized the short, white-haired woman actually looked like she was in her mid-forties, had vivid yellow eyes, and was Asian.

He blamed the pain. The excruciating pain.

“Oh goody, two for one special, must be my lu-”

Something slammed into his shield from above just as the two’s blasts hit it and it shattered.

His back hit the pavement and he must have blacked out because the next thing he knows he’s being held aloft by an angel.

“Maybe next time you fall from heaven, get better aim,” he whimpered.

The black-haired, blue-eyed, winged ghost gave him an unimpressed look and opened her mouth, but was cut off by Goldilocks.

“Adelaida, humans.”

His captor glanced to the side and her raven-like wings turned invisible.

Danny turned to look as well and saw Sam and Tucker running up, looking nervous.

“Divya, take care of them.”

Oh hell no!

“Phantom!” Valerie snarled, flying in to hover over his friends.

Good, she’d protect them.

“Have you really moved on to attacking unarmed civilians?”

Or not.

“Unar-They’re ghosts!”

Valerie looked at her wrist. “My tracker says otherwise.”

“Your tracker doesn’t pick me up half the time!”

“You think they’re overshadowed?” Sam asked.

“They’re glowing!” Danny huffed, gesturing towards Adelaida.

“I don’t see it,” Tucker said.

“It’s alright,” the Asian woman — Divya supposedly — said, walking towards his friends.

To his surprise, all three humans started to relax.

“No.” The halfa scowled. “No. No, we are not having another mayor incident.” He raised his hand and fired.

Adelaida shrieked as he hit her wing and they flickered into visibility.

He kicked her away then fired at Goldilocks and Divya, revealing their pale gold and white wings respectively. “See, ghosts! Now get those two out of here.”

Valerie hesitated, then swooped down to grab Sam and Tucker.

“What? Hey!”

“Put me down!”

Danny turned to the ghosts to see them regrouping.

Adelaida looked furious as she stepped forward. “I am ending this.”

“Adelaida,” Goldilocks warned.

“The humans already know of us, Buhle. It is time to put the demon down.”

He nodded and stepped behind her, Divya following his lead.

Adelaida braced herself with her wings and feet and took a deep breath.

Danny only just had enough time to realize what was about to happen and throw up a shield before her ghostly wail hit. Hers looked much like his own, though neon blue instead of his own toxic green. It also didn’t seem as powerful as his considering he was still standing, even if cracks were quickly forming on his shield. He wasn’t sure if it was a power thing or just that she was holding back.

He hoped it was a power thing as he braced his feet. He let the shield fall just as his own wail rang out.

Green sonic waves clashed with blue, pressing back and forth against each other with the green slowly gaining ground. Then the blue faltered, a bit of shock lacing her voice, and the green waves steamrolled through.

Adelaida, Buhle, and Divya went flying and Danny cut off the wail. He fell to his hands and knees, using every bit of his willpower to hold onto his ghost form.

“Phantom!” Sam shouted.

“Well, that’s one way to remove ghost paint,” Tucker chuckled nervously.

Danny gave a panting laugh, spotting his once more white hair falling into his face.

He tried to look up at the ghosts, but he was exhausted and his back was hurting more than ever before as the adrenalin ran out. He was a sitting duck, just barely holding onto his ghost form.

Wonderful.

He felt something come near and Sam shouted, “Get away from him!”

A hand settled gently on his back and… Oh. Oh! Oh, that felt good. He looked up and was surprised to see Divya standing over him, her eyes glowing the same color as his own.

“So young,” she cooed.

“Impossible!” Adelaida gasped.

Danny turned to see Buhle supporting her, both staring at him with shock.

“None have been born in three hundred years,” the silver-eyed ghost said. “He does not even have his wings.”

“They’re growing in now,” Divya replied. “That is probably our fault. We invaded his territory.”

“He can not be,” Adelaida said, shaking her head. “He works with demons, allows them to harm humans.”

“I don’t let anyone hurt anyone,” Danny huffed. “The others are only allowed to stay if they behave themselves.”

“Demons are selfish creatures. They can not be trusted,” Divya said softly.

“Says you,” Danny huffed. “Johnny and Kitty are fine as long as they’re not fighting since only the tourists are stupid enough to flirt with one of them by this point. Ember likes playing open mic night, Youngblood just wants a playmate, the Casper High shades just like to get egg creams at the old-school diner, and Boxy is harmless usually. Seriously, you guys are ghosts, what’s with the delusional ghost hunter rhetoric?”

“Excuse me,” Valerie growled.

“It’s okay, I know you’ve got your reasons. I still love you,” he said cheekily, winking at her.

She and Sam pretended to gag.

“We are not demons.”

Danny turned to Buhle with a snort. “You glow and have wings.”

“Precisely,” he huffed, stretching out his wings.

“Humans don’t have wings.”

“We are not humans, but we are not demons.”

Divya rubbed the hand on his back up and down. “We are like you, hun.”

“I’m a ghost.” Half-ghost, but details.

Unless…

She shook her head. “Poor thing, so lost and confused.”

“Okay, time to go back to the fighting,” he groaned, but didn’t try to get up. Whatever she was doing to his back was worth the baby talk.

“We are not demons, ” Adelaida spat. “We are angels.”

Danny stared at her blankly. “And I’m an atheist.”

“We are the souls of those who have passed who remain tied to this world by selfless reasons,” Buhle said in a calm voice. “We are the equal and opposites of those who reside in the darker realm, who linger due to selfish desires. We work to protect life from such creatures and bring joy to the humans of this plane.”

“So… a good ghost.”

“There is no such thing as a good demon!” Adelaida snapped. “Are you always this frustrating?”

“Yeah.”

“Absolutely.”

“Constantly.”

“It’s a gift.”

She turned to Buhle. “He can not possibly be an angel.”

“I told you, I’m an atheist. Pretty sure Tu-my friend told me that’s a big no-no in heaven. Speaking of…” Danny turned to Sam. “S-Goth human, aren’t real angels supposed to be eldritch abominations? Six wings and seven heads or something? Constantly on fire? I swear someone once told me that.”

“That-that’s not entirely accurate,” Sam chuckled as Tucker laughed. “But you’ve got the right idea. They’re actually pretty terrifying. That’s why people tend to freak out when they see them in the stories. It’s awesome.”

“Cool.” He turned back to the two angel ghosts to see Adelaida pinching the bridge of her nose and Buhle looking very done. “So where’s the rest of your wings and heads.”

Divya laughed and patted his head. “You young ones are always so entertaining.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This is based on an old story of mine. And by old, I mean really old. I don't think I was even on this site when I wrote it since I can’t find it on my blog. I started getting into some new Danny Phantom stuff and felt compelled to write something along the same lines. This is just a one-shot so I doubt I'll write more for this, but I've got a bunch of ideas for this world so I needed to get some of it out.

[askawelfarecaseworker]

SEATTLE — Amazon workers in Alabama on Friday rejected unionization, a major victory for the e-commerce giant in a high-profile, high-stakes battle that will have ripple effects across the nation for workers and the labor movement.

Amazon, the second-largest private employer in the United States behind Walmart, has successfully staved off attempts to unionize at its U.S. warehouses for more than two decades. The vote Friday, in which the company won over workers at its year-old Bessemer, Ala., warehouse by more than a 2-to-1 margin, was a massive blow for labor organizers who saw the facility — and Amazon broadly — as ripe for organizing.

A union victory could have triggered a wave of organizing drives at other Amazon warehouses, potentially giving workers more flexibility to demand concessions from the company on things such as breaks, safety and the pace of work. But the loss throws cold water on that, and allows Amazon to add and cut staff at its warehouses as it wants.

The result is also a setback for high-profile supporters including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and President Biden, who tweeted a video saying workers should be able to make their decision in union elections without pressure from their employer, without mentioning Amazon by name.

“The history of struggle is that you don’t always win the first time out," Sanders said in an interview with The Washington Post. “You may have to come back and do it again.”

And that’s just what labor proponents promised to do.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said during a union news conference after the vote count. "Whether Jeff Bezos likes it or not, this organizing drive is going to open the floodgates to more collective action.”

(Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The union that sought to represent the Bessemer workers, the Retail Warehouse and Department Store Union, said it will challenge the results, claiming Amazon used tactics to mislead and intimidate workers that were illegal.

"They lied and tried to game the system,“ RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum said.

Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener rebutted those claims.

“These fabrications are tiresome but expected,” Herdener said in a statement. “You’re going to hear a lot of untruths from the union now because they have to explain the lopsided result and their answer can’t be Amazon pays more than $15 an hour, offers health care from day one, up to 20 weeks of parental leave, and a safe, clean work environment in state-of-the-art fulfillment centers.”

The winners and losers of Amazon’s warehouse union vote

The unionization effort in Bessemer quickly mushroomed over the past few months into one of the most closely watched labor battles in recent history after workers filed their notice to hold a unionization vote last November. In the following months, Amazon barraged the 5,805 workers eligible to vote with text messages and fliers posted on doors inside bathroom stalls.

Amazon set up an anti-union website — the now defunct DoItWithoutDues.com — to discourage workers from joining the union drive. And before the voting period, it held mandatory meetings for workers on company time, called captive-audience sessions, to show videos and run through PowerPoint presentations that disparage unionization.

Meanwhile, the union stationed organizers outside the warehouse to answer questions and hand out leaflets to workers as their shifts ended. It held rallies in Bessemer with politicians such as Sanders and actors including Danny Glover to stoke enthusiasm for the drive.

Votes tallied Friday against unionization totaled 1,798 of the more than 3,000 total votes cast, while 738 voted for the union. The margin of victory is larger than the 505 challenged ballots, which would have been counted only if they could have determined the outcome. The labor board voided 76 ballots for a variety of reasons.

The union drive inspired workers at other Amazon facilities to consider their own organizing efforts. More than 1,000 workers have contacted the RWDSU to find out what it might take to launch campaigns at their facilities. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters recently approached 400 to 500 workers at Amazon facilities in Iowa to organize.

Organizers for the GMB Union in the United Kingdom, too, have been keeping an eye on Bessemer as it targets two warehouses there for possible organizing drives.

National Labor Relations Board rules give the union and the company five business days to file objections contesting the conduct or results of the election. The RWDSU plans to file unfair labor practices claims that, if successful, could lead the labor board to toss out the election results. If the board chose to hear the union’s claims, it will need to schedule hearings for that.

It’s unclear whether the union will succeed in winning a challenge. If it did, the entire election process could start again. The RWDSU could also pursue legal challenges in court.

Among the multiple charges the union intends to file with the NLRB are claims about a generic U.S. Postal Service mailbox that popped up in front of the warehouse just after voting started.

The union has complained about the mailbox, arguing it could lead workers to think Amazon has some role in collecting and counting ballots, potentially influencing their votes.

The Post reported Thursday on emails, obtained by the union through Freedom of Information Act requests, that show Amazon pressing the Postal Service to install a mailbox urgently just as the seven-week mail-in balloting began.

The union also complained about a financial offer Amazon made to lure unhappy workers to quit, arguing that the company provided an improper incentive to weed out pro-union workers.

Amazon has said the mailbox provides a convenient way for workers to vote, and the pay-to-quit offer is extended annually to warehouse workers across the country.

“It’s easy to predict the union will say that Amazon won this election because we intimidated employees, but that’s not true,” Amazon said in a blog post. “Our employees heard far more anti-Amazon messages from the union, policymakers, and media outlets than they heard from us. And Amazon didn’t win — our employees made the choice to vote against joining a union.”

Throughout the union drive, the company noted that its Bessemer workers earn a starting pay of $15.30 an hour, well above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. (Alabama has no state minimum-wage law.) And the company added that pay, along with health-care, vision and dental benefits and a retirement plan, offer employees more than comparable jobs provide.

Amazon’s opposition to unionization, though, had more to do with concerns over potential workplace rules that could have limited its ability to rapidly hire and cut workers to meet shopping demands that spike and recede throughout the year, former company executives have told The Washington Post.

Amazon‘s efforts to persuade workers demonstrates the difficulty unions face in organizing drives, said Rebecca Givan, a labor studies professor at Rutgers University. She called the union loss “lopsided, but not surprising.”

“It’s really, really hard to win an organizing drive,” Givan said. “The employer has almost unlimited resources and the ability to bombard workers with messages of fear and uncertainty.”

Will Stokes, an employee at the warehouse, said in a news conference held by Amazon that the company’s campaign against the union presented information fairly. He said he decided to speak out against the union because he thought conditions at the warehouse were being inaccurately represented in news articles. He said most of the misinformation was coming from the union.

“Amazon is not perfect, there are flaws, but we are committed to correcting those flaws," Stokes said. “We just feel like we can do it without a union. Why pay a union to do something we can do ourselves?”

The election process also evolved into a reflection of the times. Rather than voting in person at ballot boxes, as is typical of union balloting, workers voted by mail over a seven-week period, a decision by the NLRB to protect Amazon workers and its staff from contracting the coronavirus. Although some workers supported unionization over concerns about a brutal pace of work, the RWDSU also framed the fight around issues of respect and dignity, saying the battle is as much a civil rights struggle as a labor one.

While many of Amazon’s European warehouse workers are organized, the company has faced only one other union vote in the United States. In 2014, a small group of equipment maintenance and repair technicians at its warehouse in Middletown, Del., ultimately voted against forming a union, following a drive led by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The union’s Appelbaum expressed no regret for the campaign, even with the lopsided vote.

“I think the timing of the election was right," Appelbaum said. “I think there’s a moment in American life right now that this campaign captured. What we have seen is the revulsion to the extraordinary inequality in our society personified by the staggering personal wealth of Jeff Bezos.”

A pro-union worker at the warehouse, Emmit Ashford, said at the union news conference that the fight against Amazon will continue.

“This experience has bonded us,” Ashford said. “Our time will come again.”

[trombonesinspace]

Typhoid Mary: feminist femme fatale?

“Season 4 was going to be Typhoid Mary, Alice Eve [who played the role in Iron Fist], we were doing a kind of...I had a much different version of her than what Raven [Metzner] had done in Iron Fist. I was kind of rebooting what she was going to be like, and we were going to do a, you know, kind of a warped love story/murder mystery kind of femme fatale, but kind of a modern-day, feminist version of it, as opposed to kind of the older, sexist kind of femme fatale archetype.”

-Erik Oleson, in conversation with Steven DeKnight, SaveDaredevilCon 

As I said yesterday, I have some thoughts about this! If you want some opinions nobody asked for, about a storyline that may never come to pass, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dive in.

A femme fatale is a character type with quite a history, that can take various forms. She is always an attractive woman who brings ruin to the man who gets involved with her. But sometimes she is deliberately manipulative, while sometimes she is more a victim of circumstances. She may be evil, or she may be sympathetic/tragic. But whatever her moral alignment, she has two defining traits: sexual allure, and some form of negative consequences for the hero as a result of his involvement with her.

A woman who schemes against the hero, and succeeds in harming him, but without using feminine wiles? Not a femme fatale. The Marvel TV universe has featured several examples on different shows: Madame Gao, Mariah Dillard, Alexandra. And, ironically, the version of Typhoid Mary who appeared in Iron Fist. (We’ll get there.)

A sexy woman who tries to manipulate/damage the hero, but fails? Also not a femme fatale. I wish I could give some examples, but sadly I can’t think of any, in dramas at least. Our current media culture loves a sexy manipulator, no writer ever seems to introduce one into a dramatic story without making her succeed in her schemes, to some extent at least.

Which is unfortunate, from my perspective, because I loathe sexy manipulators. It’s a character type I really dislike, whenever I encounter her. As soon as she shows up, I know the hero is going to fall for her bullshit like a chump, and I’m going to end up respecting him less as a result. I could try to unpack my feelings about this a bit more, but that would probably make a post all on its own, so for now I’ll leave it at that.

This doesn’t mean I hate all femmes fatales—it really depends on her motivation and her behavior. If she isn’t trying to harm the hero, and it happens due to circumstances, then I might like the character, but the story becomes a tragedy. Which is not necessarily bad. Just, you know. Tragic.

Anyway! Let’s talk about Typhoid Mary.

Mary Walker is a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities), and high-level combat skills. In the comics, she is also a mutant with mental powers. She appeared in the Daredevil comics starting in 1988.

In this original version, her personality fragmented due to childhood abuse, leading her to vow as an adult that no man would ever hurt her again. Her personalities are: Mary, who is timid and gentle; Typhoid, who is adventurous, lusty, and violent; and Bloody Mary, who is even more violent, sadistic, and hates all men.

Mary becomes romantically involved with Matt Murdock, who is cheating on his girlfriend, Karen Page, to be with her. At the same time, Typhoid is trying to ruin him, having been hired to do so by the Kingpin. Matt can’t tell they’re the same woman, because when she switches personalities all her bio signs change (voice, scent, heartbeat, etc) so much that he can’t recognize her. (Uh, sure.) She may also be using some of her mutant powers to confuse his senses. I haven’t read the comics, I’m relying here on what I could learn from the internet.

Eventually Typhoid drops him off a bridge, but then Mary finds him and gets him to a hospital, saving him. Karen is with him when he wakes up, but he breaks her heart by calling out for Mary.

This storyline...does not thrill me. As I said, I haven’t read it, but comics writing about mental illness is generally neither nuanced nor accurate, and comics writing about women circa 1988 is also not great, by today’s standards. And comics Matt’s disastrous love life is legendary—cheating on your girlfriend is bad, Matt! Don’t do it! 

I have, however, watched season 2 of Iron Fist, where we get a different version. This Mary Walker is a US army veteran, special ops, who was captured by the Sokovian military. Her personality fragmented due to the brutal abuse she received from her captors for nearly two years, until she finally escaped. She got a medical discharge from the army after being diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Her personalities are: Mary, who is innocent and naive; and Walker, who is a ruthless, coolly efficient mercenary-for-hire. The existence of a third, ultraviolent personality, previously unknown to either Mary or Walker, is revealed near the end of the season. 

Mary meets and befriends Danny Rand, while Walker is hired by his enemies to stalk him, and eventually capture him so they can steal his Iron Fist powers from him. She later changes sides, getting hired to bring down Davos, the season’s main villain, by Joy Meachum, his former ally.

There are clear parallels to the Daredevil comics storyline, albeit in less extreme form—Mary befriends the hero, but isn’t romantically involved with him; her more violent personality works against him and fights him, but doesn’t try to destroy him. 

I enjoyed this version of the character more than I expected to, for a couple of reasons. For one, she is never the out of control, “crazy” stereotype of a person with mental illness. Both Mary and Walker are more-or-less functional adults, managing to live a strange hybrid life, aware of each other’s existence even though they don’t share memories.

But what I especially like is that she isn’t sexualized, at all. It’s incredibly rare, in my experience, to see a young, female antagonist opposing a male hero, and not have her be sexy. Older women are exempt from this obligation (see my list of examples above), but the young ones always vamp it up, and I am so tired of it. I am not opposed to sexy women, but I am very opposed to the requirement that all women must be sexy. (Unless they’re old.) Male antagonists aren’t required to be alluring, so why should women be? (Yes, I know why. I just don’t like it.)

There’s also a lot of potential YIKES in sexualizing a woman with a severe mental illness, which was caused by (among other things) repeated sexual violence. Could it be done in a way that isn’t super problematic? It’s possible, sure. Am I assuming that most television writers would give the subject the respect it deserves? NOPE! 

I’m really glad they chose to just not go there. Walker is extremely good at what she does, takes no shit from anyone, and (almost) never gets riled up. After everything she’s been through, nothing in her present life has the power to faze her, and none of the men around her have the power to intimidate her. It’s pretty great!

She isn’t the least bit coy or seductive, and, equally refreshing, none of the men try to sexualize her or hit on her. Everyone Walker talks to knows she is a highly skilled professional, and they treat her accordingly. Or, when someone does disrespect her, it’s never gendered as far as I can remember, and it stops as soon as she calmly states what she’s going to do to him if it doesn’t.

As for Mary, although she has a more feminine appearance than Walker (hair down and loose, makeup), she is also not sexualized. Her friendship with Danny, who is in an established relationship with Colleen Wing, is platonic, and no one else tries to hit on her that I remember.

So this is the version of Typhoid Mary that Erik Oleson was going to reboot, into a femme fatale. Only, you know. A feminist one. 

I...have some questions. What does that even mean? What does feminism mean to Erik Oleson? Let’s be real, the idea of a woman becoming an ultraviolent, sadistic man-hater as a result of sexual trauma would have been seen as feminist in some circles, back in 1988 when that version was written. So what, exactly, did he have in mind?

As I said before, sexual allure is a necessary component of a femme fatale. So she was definitely gonna be sexy. And you know now how I feel about sexy female antagonists. As for the “warped love story” part...Matt wouldn’t be cheating on Karen, since they aren’t together (please, for the love of mercy, don’t have them get together right before he meets Mary, we did that once and I do NOT want to see it again), but I am still not a fan of Matt/Mary as a couple.

Her Dissociative Identity Disorder raises some serious issues around consent, and even if the show chose to ignore that, there’s still the issue of past sexual trauma. Unless Oleson’s reworking of the character was going to include a completely different back story, a Matt/Mary relationship would mean Matt unknowingly having sex with a woman who has suffered brutal sexual abuse in her past. Not to mention, having sex with her that only one part of her personality actually wants.

Is it possible for someone with Mary’s past trauma and present mental illness to have a positive sexual relationship? In reality, of course! In the hands of writers with only a layman’s knowledge of psychology, on a show that loves to torment its hero, I wouldn’t bet on it. How do you suppose our poster boy for Catholic guilt would react when he inevitably finds out the truth?

Plus, aside from any issues around Mary herself, Matt starting a relationship with anyone other than the handful of people who already know his secret identity, means a whole new round of Matt lying to someone he cares about. Does anyone really want to see that? I know I don’t. Sure, maybe he’d tell her eventually, but how long would they have to date before he decided to trust her with the truth?

I’m not opposed to the Mary Walker from Iron Fist appearing in Daredevil, if the writers could come up with a new story for her (i.e, don’t just have her repeat all the same plot beats with Matt that she already did with Danny). But bringing her in as a femme fatale really doesn’t sit well with me. We’ve already seen Matt in an ultimately destructive relationship with a sexy, violent, morally grey woman. I really don’t want to watch Round 2: now with multiple personalities!

Of course, maybe we never will. The quote at the beginning of this post is from just a couple of weeks ago (July 25 2020), so Erik Oleson still seems to think it’s a fine idea. But obviously we don’t know yet if there will ever be a season 4, or who the show runner will be if there is. He may never get to make the story he was planning.

So yes, I realize I’m merely speculating about a completely theoretical story that may never happen. But I wanted to write this anyway. I had a strong “ugh, no” reaction to the idea of a feminist femme fatale Typhoid Mary, and I wanted to go deeper and pick apart my reasons for not liking the idea.

To the three of you who have read this all the way through to the end (this post is nearly 2000 words, yikes), thank you for indulging me! These are, as always, my own opinions, and YMMV. 

[damianwaynerocks]

Ghosts in Gotham

Danny Phantom / DC Comics

Dedicated To: @psychovigilantewrites​

Description: The Batfamily has been through their fair share of the supernatural. That’s why they originally weren’t worried whenever ghosts started showing up in Gotham City. Until one day, something happens; Batman is captured and taken into the Ghost Zone. With no way to go in there themselves, with no way to fight the ghosts inside, the bats decide to call the person who can; Danny Phantom. Together, Danny takes Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown and Damian Wayne into the Ghost Zone before the Batman is lost forever.

Word Count: 3523

Ch 1 Ch 2 Masterlist

Chapter 3:

_

Danny could deal with a lot.

He'd dealt with dying. He'd dealt with becoming a ghost. He'd dealt with ghosts trying to kill him. He'd dealt with finding out that his dad's best friend wasn't only a halfa like him, but that he wanted to get with his mom. He'd dealt with ghost prison. He'd dealt with finding out he'd been cloned. He'd dealt with finding a future in which everyone he loved was dead and he himself was evil. He'd even dealt with girls.

He thought he could deal with anything.

But being stuck a small space with Damian Wayne and Tim Drake?

He wasn't so sure he could deal with that.

"You incompetent creature, why on earth are you listening to a C-average oaf instead of me?"

"Because the 'oaf' has been here before. We haven't."

"I possessed more intelligence than you and Fenton combined whenever I was four years old, and I have memorized the Infi-map. I am completely capable of commanding this voyage."

Danny's eye twitched at the arguing. It was worse than he and Jasmine. "Does it ever end?" he asked Stephanie through gritted teeth. The blonde sighed.

"Damian feels like he has to prove that he's superior to Tim," she explained. "It's not my place to tell you exactly why, but it's true. And he knows exactly how to get under Tim's skin."

"So.. no?"

"No."

Danny groaned. "It's giving me a headache." He perked up as he saw the island in front of him. "Hey, guys," he said, "We're here."

They had reached the lair of Clockwork. Clockwork was the master of time and could see into any timeline and all of the possible outcomes. Danny had the idea of asking him if he could show them the moment in which Bruce Wayne had disappeared, in the hopes that they could see which ghost it was.

It was a long shot, but it was the only idea Danny could think of.

Tim and Damian had stopped their arguing, unbuckling their seat belts as Danny landed the Speeder on the grounds of the lair.

"So this guy can tell us who took Bruce?" Stephanie asked as she opened the door, stepping on to the ground. Danny nodded.

"Yeah. I can't promise he'll help, but it's our best bet."

The foursome walked towards the massive clocktower, Damian walking in step with Danny as he gripped his sword. Danny knocked on the door, and it opened with a creak.

"Hello, Danny," a voice said. "And hello, Bats." Clockwork floated down. He was a small ghost, purple in color with a darker purple cloak.

"Whaddup, Clockwork," Danny greeted. "Long time no see." He heard Stephanie laugh at the pun behind him and then heard her grunt as Damian elbowed her.

"It has not been long to me, Danny," Clockwork replied. His eyes drifted over the group. "What do you want?"

"I assume that you know, Time Master," Damian answered before Danny could open his mouth, stepping forward until he was right beside a swirling vortex, although his eyes remained on the ghost. "We are looking for my Father, and Phantom says you can help."

"Damian Wayne," Clockwork said curtly. "Son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al’ Ghul. I understand that you are worried about your father, but I would suggest you step back before you see something you don't want to."

Danny was surprised to see that Damian obeyed. He narrowed his eyes. Clockwork almost seemed... nervous? "What aren't you telling us?"

"You are indeed a smart boy," Clockwork chuckled, "I hope you also can deduce that you were not brought here on accident. I was originally going to go and tell you myself, however, I have seen that it would be better for you to have Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne at your side."

"What's wrong?"

"Something has happened," Clockwork turned around, clasping his hands behind on his back as he floated further off. "The Observants have underestimated your power," he turned back around, locking his gaze with Danny's. "The power you have not yet gained."

Danny's face paled. "You don't mean-"

"That is all I can say," the ghost interrupted. "Leave now. I have work to do. I have to stop a little boy with a powerful watch from destroying his timeline."

Danny, however, couldn't move. He was frozen, his eyes wide. There was no way. He was locked in a thermos, with no possible way for a ghost to escape.

Although, that ghost wasn't just any ghost.

"What do you mean by that?" Damian demanded. "Tell us more. Now."

Clockwork looked at the boy with humor in his eyes. "Mr. Wayne, you should not threaten me." He waved his hand. "Now go. You do not have much... time."

Danny shook his head and turned around, walking towards the exit in a trance-like state. With a glance at Clockwork, the others followed, with Damian at the rear. Before he could leave, Clockwork called his name.

"Damian, listen closely," he said, shifting into an older ghost as he spoke. "You will one day get an offer. It will be a tempting offer, one that you will not want to refuse," his eyes darkened. "Do not accept it."

Damian blinked, before strutting outside to follow the others, not responding to Clockwork's warning.

Tim, Stephanie, and Danny were already on the ship as Damian walked out. As he opened the door to step in, he tuned into the conversation.

"So, you're telling us that an evil version of you exists outside of time, and it has Bruce," Tim said slowly. Danny nodded.

"We call him Dark Danny. In the alternate timeline, he- or, I, I guess -watched our family die. He couldn't handle the pain and guilt, so he had Vlad Masters- bad guy, by the way, deck him if you ever see him at a rich-person party -turn him into a full ghost, getting rid of the human side completely. It drove him mad, and without his human side, he was the most powerful ghost in the Ghost Zone. He destroyed the world."

"How did you defeat him?" Damian asked, pulling a capri-sun out of his cooler as he listened. Danny ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know. Dumb luck, honestly. I guess I have a power that he didn't get until years later, and it knocked him off his game so I could take him down." He grimaced. "I probably wouldn't have beat him if I hadn't surprised him. He took down all of the other ghosts in the Ghost Zone by that point,"

"He must've taken out the Justice League, too," Stephanie mused, crossing her arms. "You said you didn't see them anywhere, right? The only reason they wouldn't have been fighting him is if..." she trailed off.

"We can defeat him," Damian said, crushing the capri-sun in his hand as he finished. "If Phantom can defeat him, then with our help, we can, too."

"Yeah, but like I said, it was only because I surprised him," Danny pointed out.

"Then let's surprise him again," Tim said. He took out the Infi-map. "Danny, who's your worst enemy here? If we can get them to help, and that might knock Dark Danny off his game."

"Pariah Dark," Danny answered instantly. "But that's a terrible idea, trust me," he paused, thinking. "We do need backup, and I know of at least two who could help." He turned his body intangible before Tim could respond, and flew out of the Speeder. He landed in front of it, and putting both of his fingers in his mouth, he whistled. "Come here, Cujo!"

It took a few seconds, but a small green dog zipped in front of Danny, jumping in his arms and knocking him over. Danny smiled widely as he scratched behind Cujo's ears.

"Hey, little guy!" he laughed as the dog licked his face. "I missed you too! You down for an adventure?" Cujo barked, wagging his tail. "I'll take that as a yes," Danny said, phasing back into the Speeder.

"Guys," he said, setting the dog down. "I'd like you to meet Cujo, the best boy in the entire Ghost Zone."

Damian's eyes lit up behind his mask, kneeling down and hugging Cujo as the dog barreled into him, not paying attention as Tim spoke.

"Don't get me wrong, he's adorable, but he doesn't look like he can pack a punch," he said, watching the dog fondly.

"Trust me, he's a fighter," Danny assured him. Tim nodded.

"If you say so, but man, I wish I had a dog," He walked over to where Damian was, scratching Cujo's back. Damian scowled, pulling the dog closer.

"Get back, Drake, Cujo clearly prefers me over you."

"Damian, come on, you have so many pets and I don't have any-"

"You have Bart."

"Bart is not my pet-"

"He is the human version of an Australian Shepherd minus the intelligence-"

As the two bickered, Danny looked at Stephanie. "Damian likes animals?" Stephanie laughed.

"Oh you have no idea, he has a dog, a cat, a cow-"

"A cow?"

"His name is Bat-Cow!" Damian snapped from where he had begrudgingly let Tim hold the dog.

"I love everything about that," Danny laughed. "That's the best name." Damian looked at Tim with a smug look on his face.

"See, Drake? Bat-Cow is a great name."

"I never said it wasn't!"

Danny started to ask Stephanie a question before he heard a crash and the Speeder lurched to the side.

"We've been hit!" Tim yelled, jumping off of the floor and grabbing the Speeder's controls, trying to steady the craft. Danny merged out of the Speeder and narrowed his eyes as he saw the culprit.

A gray ghost in black armor with flaming hair sneered, his arm smoking from where he had shot the Speeder. "Whelp," he growled.

"Nice to see you too, Shorty!" Danny said in a mock-cheerful tone. "Here to kill me? Because you didn't have to shoot the ship, you could've just yelled 'I am Skulker, and you are my prey! Prepare to die!'" he lowered his voice as he imitated the bounty hunter. "And then I would say something witty back, and I would pound you into the ground."

"You aren't the only prey this time, Ghost Child." Skulker answered with a menacing grin.

"You after the Bats?" Danny asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you were trying to kill them, you did a crappy job of it. That blast didn't kill anyone."

"That's the point. I think it'd be fun to beat the proteges of Batman, so they need to be alive and able to fight." he pointed downwards, and Danny followed his gaze, before swooping down to follow.

Somehow, he hadn't noticed that the Speeder was plummeting down to the island below. While the Specter Speeder was durable enough to keep from dying on impact, he didn't want them to crash.

He hurled himself in front of the Speeder, and crossing his arms, made a force  field that surrounding the Speeder. Danny grunted at the exertion, gritting his teeth as he tried to keep the force field surrounding the heavy ship.

The ship still crashed with a loud bang, leaving a large crater around it, but the ship itself was intact. Danny dropped his arms and fell to his knees, exhausted.

The door opened, and his three companions stepped out. "Nice one!" Stephanie praised, and Danny gave her a thumbs-up as he tried to catch his breath. He felt somebody nudge his shoulder, and he saw Damian standing above him with a capri-sun in his hand.

"Drink this," he said, handing Danny the drink. "Do not waste it. I can destroy you."

"Thanks," Danny panted as he poked the straw into the pouch. Damian nodded stiffly.

"Hate to interrupt," Tim said, helping Danny to his feet. "But that that Iron Man wannabe is headed this way."

Danny finished his drink and threw it over his shoulder as his fists lit up with a green aura, ignoring Damian's huff of protest at the littering.

Skulker chuckled as he cracked his knuckles. "Well, look at that," he sneered, "Not a scratch on you! I'm impressed."

"You? Impressed? Who would've thought," Danny said, narrowing his eyes.

Tim pulled out a bo-staff, twirling it around as Damian unsheathed his sword. Stephanie moved to stand beside Danny as she gripped her eskrima sticks.

"Oh, you will soon be impressed yourself," Skulker said as his arms morphed into guns. "You see, I-" he was cut off with a grunt as Danny rushed forward and sent a strong right-hook into his face.

Skulker flew back a few yards before finding his feet again. He glared at Danny. "That was low even for you Ghost Boy. Interrupting me I monologue."

Danny shrugged. "What can I say? It’s the same reason why I’m failing Chemistry; I have a short attention span.” He grinned. "But he doesn't!"

While they had been talking, Damian had managed to get behind Skulker. He jumped into the air, drop-kicking the ghost, sending him to the ground with a thud. Danny picked Skulker up and gave him an uppercut, launching him into the sky.

Skulker shook his head, steadying himself, and shot a barrage of ectoblasts at the four heroes below. Danny made his body intangible while the others, used to being shot at, dodged the blasts with ease. Tim shot his grappling hook at Skulker, wrapping the cord around his leg and pulling him back to the ground.

Tim swung the cord, launching Skulker to the side where his body was met by two hits of Stephanie's eskrima sticks. Skulker merged through the cord and landed on the ground, his teeth grinding together in fury.

"Enough!" he shouted, and sent a shock wave from his arms that blew them back. "I am sick of your pathetic attempts at besting me, whelp! When will you learn that you cannot best the Ghost Hunter!"

"Uh, kind of hard to learn that after I've beaten you, like, every single time we've fought," Danny retorted, putting his hands on his hips with a smirk.

Skulker's eye twitched. "My employer said to bring you in alive, but I don't think he'd mind you all missing a few limbs." His arms morphed into missile launchers, and he held them out at the four.

"Phantom, you possess electrokinesis, correct?" Damian asked quietly, tensing his muscles. Danny nodded.

"Yeah." He met Damian's eyes and smirked as he realized what the younger boy had in mind.

Damian grabbed on to Danny's arm, and, turning them both intangible and invisible, Danny carried Damian into the air, right above Skulker. One of Danny's hands crackled with electricity, and the tip of his fingers brushed against Damian's sword. The blade lit up like a taser. Damian and Danny exchanged a glance and, using Danny's shoulder for leverage, Damian jumped, free-falling towards Skulker.

By the time Skulker saw Damian, it was too late. Damian jabbed his electrified sword into Skulker's armor.

"Oh, crud," Skulker muttered as his armor crackled with electricity, before short-circuiting and launching him into the sky and out of sight.

"Nice one, Damian!" Danny floated to the ground, a wide smile on his face. He raised his hand for a high five. "Up top!"

"Tt. The act of high-fiving is such a ridiculous notion," Damian muttered, but he smacked his hand against the other's anyways. "You did quite well yourself."

"That guy-" Tim popped his shoulder back into place, wincing. "-does not pass the vibe check."

Stephanie snorted. "That guy is the vibe check, Timbers."

Damian sheathed his sword. "I assume that we all have gathered that his employer was Dark Danny?" It was more a statement than a question.

"Oh, for sure," Danny said, before stumbling as Cujo barreled into him. Danny huffed as he lifted the dog to his face. "Where were you, big guy?"

"Are you sure this dog can help us take Future-You down?" Stephanie asked with a raised eyebrow. "A fat lot of help he just was."

"I think he was just sleeping," Danny said as he sat the dog down. "I promise he'll be useful."

"Ship looks pretty good, considering," Tim said from where he was looking at the Specter Speeder. "I think whatever he hit us with just killed the engine. It should start back up."

Danny frowned, a finger on his chin as he pondered aloud. "So if Future-Me has employed Skulker, then he's gotta be somewhere that Skulker has access to. His lair, maybe? But I doubt it. They'd need to be somewhere with some pretty high-tech stuff if they're keeping Batman hostage."

"Are there any technology-related ghosts?" Stephanie asked. Danny didn't answer at first as he watched Tim switch the Speeder on.

"Yes," Danny finally answered. "There is, but I doubt he knows who he's working for. Skulker probably doesn't know either." Danny paused, and the smallest hint of a smile ghosted across his face as another thought struck him. "And I bet Skulker's girlfriend knows even less than that."

_

"So you're tellin' me Skulker's working for Future You? Who took away my voice and my beauty?" A ghost with pink, flaming hair in a high ponytail asked. "Now why the heck would you do that for? I thought we were cool."

"We are. This guy is me from another timeline. He isn't me." Danny explained to Skulker's girlfriend. Ember McLain, the Ghost of Song, crossed her arms, her lips turning into a frown.

"No way he would work with someone who wronged me like that. He would never."

"He doesn't know," Tim spoke up. "He probably just offered him money, or whatever currency you use, in exchange for taking Danny and us."

The Infi-map had taken the four to Ember's lair. If anybody could convince Skulker to stop, Danny had reasoned, it would be her.

"With you, Skulker, Cujo and Wulf on our side, we can beat him," Danny said. "Seeing Skulker and I work together might trip him up," he paused. "You do want to beat this guy, right? I mean, he will end up destroying your voice." Even though Ember might not care about the human world being obliterated, she would definitely care about the same thing happening to her voice.

Stephanie and Damian had stayed in the Speeder with Damian. Stephanie's eyes were wide behind her cowl. "Damian, that's Ember McLain," she whispered. "Remember that song Remember from a couple of years ago? The one Jason wouldn't stop singing on patrol? She sang it! And she's a ghost!"

"Of course she is a supernatural being, Brown, I told you she had the voice of a siren," Damian whispered back.

"I'll talk to him," Ember agreed. "He'll listen to me. You guys go find Wulf, and we'll meet you at Technus' place."

"Great." Danny smiled. "Thanks, Ember. I owe you one."

"Well, I might just take you up on that sometime, Ghost Kid."

"So, Wulf," Tim began as the two walked back towards the ship. "He's like a werewolf? You said?"

"He isn't a werewolf, but he looks like what you'd expect a werewolf to look like," Danny explained. "He's a beast, literally and figuratively. And his claws can tear open a portal to our world, so once we get Batman, we can get out of the Ghost Zone fast."

"Great. Where is he?"

"That's the fun part," Danny replied as he got into the Specter Speeder. "We have to break him out of prison. And the people who own it do not like me.”

[shinyspooks]

The Trolley Problem

 listen,,, @lexosaurus I know @roseverdict already wrote a fic (which, btw, completely upstages this one and is 10x fluffier) I still had to just. write this one ashosdfskl

You can read it here on Ao3!

Despite Amity Park’s best efforts, word of Phantom’s space obsession eventually reached the GIW.

The GIW, upon receiving this information, had the realization that this was the perfect opportunity for them to turn the town against Phantom and capture him. And so, they set up a trap.

On Monday afternoon, as soon as Phantom appeared in the park, they set their plan in motion. Phantom stiffened as they emerged from the bushes, immediately on guard.

“What are you doing here? You want me to kick your butts for the 28th time?” Phantom asked, already poised to fight. Thus, he was very confused and wary when the GIW didn’t start shooting him after his quip. Something was up.

“Rumour has it that you have a secondary obsession with space. We have simply come here to see if that’s true.” One agent said. Even at the simple mention of space, Phantom flickered, his (aptly named by the townspeople) ‘star freckles’ momentairly breaking through. But it was only a flicker, as Phantom was already way to far into ‘hero mode’ due to the GIW’s presence for him to switch over to ‘space mode’ so easily.

Everyone else in the park was now paying complete attention to the situation now that Phantom’s space obsession had been mentioned, most of them worried about what the GIW could have planned for their hero. Some people had even gotten closer, ready to argue against anything the Guys In White could say.

“And so what if I have a space obsession?” Phantom said, crossing his arms, “ It hardly seems like something you’d like to learn about anyways.”

“It may not be something we want to learn about.” The agent said as another agent brought forward an object covered by a cloth, “But it is something we can exploit.”

As he said this, the agent removed the cloth to reveal what, to the onlookers, appeared to be a normal rock. Some people relaxed in relief, thinking that nothing bad was actually going to happen, but others tensed further, sensing that the agent wasn’t done.

“This, Phantom, is a very rare space rock.” The agent really didn’t need to say that, as Phantom had already recognized it as the asteroid that had been stolen from a nearby museum three days ago. He flickered again, stronger this time, but didn’t go after the rock, knowing that this must be some kind of trap. He forced himself to focus, the freckles fading off his face as he made a conscious effort to not look at the rock and stay in hero mode.

The agents, noticing this, grinned. The plan was working perfectly. It was time for phase 2.

“Why should I care about some rare space rock you guys have?” Phantom had barely finished his sentence when the agents whipped out two guns. One pointed at the space rock.

The other at the crowd.

Upon seeing a gun pointing their way, the citizens who had been watching immediately scrambled, trying to run away, only to find that the couldn’t. Glowing walls that they knew must’ve been created by the GIW shot up around them, cutting off all their escape routes. This was planned. The GIW wanted them to be involved.

“What are you doing?!” Phantom shouted, showing a rare amount of anger, “You’re endangering innocent people!”

Yet, as he said this, his eyes briefly stared at the asteroid, which was also being held at gunpoint. The faint outline of the star freckles appeared, then vanished again.

It suddenly struck the citizens as to what the GIW’s plan was. They also all instantly mentally agreed that it was a stupid plan, as Phantom was sure to save them, and there would be no damage, other than the GIW’s wounded pride and arrest. 

At least, they hoped there would be no damage.

“Have you ever heard of the trolley problem Phantom?” The agent asked, and at his command, both guns fired.

Danny, of course, knew that he must save the people. Who would choose a rock over lives? And yet, even though he had decided this already, time still seemed to slow down. He could hear both of his obsessions screaming at him. And as he dove towards the people, his space obsession screamed all the louder. 

To the point where…. it almost hurt.

~

Later, as the GIW were loaded into a police car, Danny found himself standing over what remained of the destroyed asteroid. The people he had saved earlier stood nearby, watching him carefully. He hadn’t said a word since he saved them. Eventually, one of the braver citizens slowly approached him.

“Phantom?” They asked, cautiously, “Are you alright?”

Danny couldn’t blame them for being cautious. He had just gone against one of his obsessions after all, and Amity Park had seen beforehand what happens to some ghosts when they go against their obsessions. The usual result being violence. Lots of anger and violence.

“I’m not about to go on a violent rampage if that’s what you’re asking.” Danny said. From the corner of his eye, he could see some people’s shoulders slouch in relief, but others, including the person who had approached him, still looked concerned.

“I’m more worried about how you’re doing emotionally than that, Phantom.” The person said, “So I’ll ask again, are you okay Phantom?”

“No.” Danny answered truthfully. While his hero/protection obsession was happy, and he knew that even without it he had done the right thing, he had felt his space obsession break, just like the space rock. He finally looked up at the person who had approached him, and the other people who had followed their lead and gotten closer. He gave them a sad, clearly fake smile.

“But it’s just a space rock right? I’m sure there are many others in the world.” He said, trying to brush off how much he cared about it. Despite his attempt, which wasn’t very convincing to begin with, the people knew the destruction of the asteroid must’ve affected him greatly, as even at the mention of space, there wasn’t even the slightest flicker of the ‘star freckles’. But before they could offer him any comforting words, Danny, who couldn’t handle the eyes on him anymore, took off, flying away from the group. They watched him go.

“Poor kid.” Someone said, “He looked so sad. I hope he recovers from this soon.”

Everyone present silently agreed, hoping that upon his next appearance, Phantom would be back to normal.

But he wasn’t back to normal by his next appearance. Sure, he made some witty quips as he fought the ghost, but they were weak, and he didn’t seem to be enjoying himself as he said them at all. He didn’t stick around after the battle was over like he’d recently started doing. Someone shouted something space related at him, but despite Phantom definitely having heard them, he showed no reaction. Seeing Phantom so sad, and with no sign of his space mode, the town began to worry.

And thus began the worst week of Amity Parks life.

~

After a whole week of Phantom’s new behavior, and no sign of his space mode, the worried people of Amity Park went to the Fenton’s. The Fenton’s were the obvious choice, as they were the only local ghost hunters who have a truce with Phantom that they could go to for information. (No one knew who the Red Huntress was, and besides, the Fenton’s weren’t just ghost hunters, they were also ghost scientists.)

Maddie and Jack, like everyone else, were also worried for Phantom, but at least they had an explanation for his behavior. But of course, they couldn’t fit the whole town in the Fenton household for the explanation, and they really didn’t want to explain it more than once. And so, they did the most obvious thing to do, and held a town meeting.

“As we all know, last week, Phantom went against one of his obsessions.” Maddie explained, “Although he did do the right thing by saving the people, and he probably knows that there are many other space rocks in the world, his space obsession broke, so scientifically, he’s reacting appropriately.”

“We have recently discovered that not all ghosts become violent when they go against their obsession.” Jack said, “Some of them get overcome by overwhelming levels of sadness instead of rage. We believe that this is the case with Phantom.”

“Thankfully, it appears that having multiple obsessions has stopped Phantom from being emotionally overwhelmed.” Maddie added, “Instead of breaking down, he’s instead put all of his focus into his hero obsession to avoid the pain of his broken obsession. In doing so, he has, we’ll say, ‘locked up’ his space obsession, which is why he hasn’t reacted to any mention of space recently. We believe that, should Phantom’s space obsession react to a positive thing about space, he should go back to normal.”

“Going against his obsession has left Phantom down in the dumps!” Jack proclaimed, pulling out a whiteboard and marker, “Which is why we need to cheer him up!”

And so, Mission: Cheer Up Phantom! Began.

~

Everyone in town had their own ideas on what to do. Some people made intricate models of solar systems, others made rocket ship replicas to give to Phantom as gifts. A group of teens started wearing space themed clothing, and soon enough everyone else was too. People made banners and art that could be easily be seen from Phantom’s viewpoint in the sky. There was even a #BringBackSpaceMode going on Amity Park’s Twitter!

And yet, despite all this, it still wasn’t working. They had yet to see even a flicker of Phantom’s space mode. 

A few highschoolers had the bright idea to ask Danny Fenton for advice. After all, he did like space, almost as much as Phantom! Surely he would know some space related thing they could use to cheer up their ghostly hero!

They were very disappointed and confused, however, when he just shrugged and gave them a book on space before walking away, not saying a word. It was a little odd, but they eventually chalked it up to Fenton just being Fenton, and let it be.

So, basically, no one knew what to do. None of their ideas were working, and short of calling in NASA, there wasn’t much else they could do. 

Then, three days after Mission: Cheer Up Phantom started, after a ghost fight, a group of young kids, probably aged around 6 to 10, called Phantom’s name. Even in his saddened state, Phantom wasn’t going to ignore a bunch of kids, and so he floated down.

“Mr. Phantom! We heard you were feeling sad, so we all came together and made this to cheer you up!” One boy said, as the others pulled an object out of their toy wagon. 

“It isn’t exactly like it used to be, and we think it’s still missing some of the pieces, but it’s together!” Another kid said, and then they presented their gift to Phantom.

It was the space rock. It was messingly glued together, and definitely didn’t look anything like it did before, but it was the space rock.

For the first time in two weeks, Phantom’s face lit up, the star freckles reappearing, and shining brighter than ever before. 

“You put this back together, for me?” He said, landing fully on the ground and leaning down to hold the delicate rock. The kids nodded. He looked up at them and smiled.

“Thank you.” He pulled in the group for a hug. People who had been nearby cheered, happy that their hero was, well, happy again. 

~

News quickly got around that Phantom was back to normal. And yet, despite that, people didn’t stop with the space stuff for another whole week. They weren’t taking any chances, and they wanted to make up for the time that was missed during ‘The Weeks of Sadness’. 

No one noticed how Fenton seemed to wear concealer for all of Space Week.

[darks-ink]

Commission for @pyre-9! A crossover between Danny Phantom and Psych.

---

Absentmindedly crossing the street, Shawn considered the situation he found himself in. Working a case all alone, in an unfamiliar city. No Gus to rely on.

Sure, he could handle the investigation himself, but it just wasn’t the same without Gus. They were a team for a reason!

He continued walking. According to the people he’d asked, his destination should be glaringly obvious. The Fenton household was apparently rather recognizable. It was also a bit of a mess, based on the warnings people had tried to give him. “Don’t go there,” they’d said, until he explained that he was an investigator, that he needed to talk to Danny Fenton.

A bright light caught his eye, and he stopped to take it in.

Well. People definitely hadn’t been wrong about the Fenton house being easy to find. What a sign!

Shawn quickly made his way over, running over the details of the case again. What he wouldn’t give for a Gus, who could keep all this stuff straight for him. But, alas, Shawn had come to this city for a food festival, not a murder investigation, and Gus hadn’t been able to come. Maybe if they had known that Psych would find a private client, Gus would’ve been here, but that obviously hadn’t been the case.

No point in reminiscing about it, though. Game face on, and go!

He rung the doorbell, plastering on his serious detective face. This was a murder they were dealing with. Serious business!

The door swung open, a teenager looking out. Male, messy black hair, visibly tired. Surprised to see him.

“Good day, Mr. Fenton,” Shawn introduced himself, a grin creeping onto his face. “I’m Shawn Spencer, from psychic detective firm Psych. And you are Danny Fenton, witness. Can we talk?”

“Uh…” The boy glanced behind himself, grimacing. Strange behavior. Suspicious. “Sure, I guess, if we can talk outside.”

Freaking out, almost paranoid. Very suspicious. But no clear reason… “Why?”

“You clearly haven’t heard about my parents,” Danny snipped back. Definitely tense, definitely freaked out about something. “They’re… kinda crazy. Ghost hunters. Very paranoid about strangers.” The boy paused, then tacked on, “And they will jump in and start blathering on and on about ghosts.”

Well, that seemed to line up about right with the advice all those other people gave him. “Right. Of course. Outside, then?”

Danny nodded, stepping outside and closing the door behind him. “So, um. You’re here for that murder, then?”

“Yes. You were the only person who witnessed it all happen, Mr. Fenton. What can you tell me?”

Narrowed eyes. Still suspicious, still suspecting. This kid was hiding something, that was for sure. “Aren’t you supposed to already know that? Since you’re a psychic, and all that?”

Ah. A skeptic. Shawn paused in walking to turn towards the boy, placing one hand against his own temple.

“I’m having a vision! Hmm…” He frowned slightly, turning his head down like he was processing it. “Yes, I see… Mr. Fenton, let my rephrase my earlier question. Who else was there, besides you and the victim?”

“A couple people, I guess.” Danny shrugged, playing off the fib. “No one was really paying attention to the victim, I think, besides me.”

Shawn hummed. The last bit was the truth. “How well did you know the victim?”

“I didn’t,” Danny answered truthfully. “I didn’t know him.”

He was switching wildly between honesty and fibbing. Remained suspicious.

“You are aware of the way the victim died?” Shawn asked, and Danny nodded. “Did you see anyone near the victim?”

“Um, a couple of people, I guess.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. Definitely a nervous tic, that. “It was kind of chaotic.”

The first part was so-so, but the latter was the definitive truth. This was someone used to lying, although to someone less trained at picking apart said lies. How strange.

One thing was clear, however. There was definitely something going with this kid. He made an effort to answer all of Shawn’s questions, but fibbed on a select number of them.

Well, it was better than the little his client had given him, he supposed. The man had only been able to offer Shawn a name, and a useless one at that. Seriously, he knew that he was supposed to be psychic, but who could find a person with just the name Phantom to go off?

“What can you tell me about the prime suspect?” Might as well go for gold and ask the kid, right? If this “Phantom” was there, then Danny might be able to tell him a little more about the guy. “About Phantom?”

Danny grew, almost impossibly, even more fidgety. “How much do you know about him already?”

“Just tell me the whole story. You’re the witness, after all.”

“Right. Um.” The hand went back to rubbing his neck. “Well… He’s a ghost. Phantom is generally considered to be the protector of Amity Park, fighting off other ghosts, but not everyone agrees with that. Some people think he’s just a pest, because he’s a ghost, and all ghosts are bad.”

Always with the ghosts, huh? The kid sounded like he was telling the truth—or believed he was telling the truth—but he remained worried, remained fidgety. His secret was related to this Phantom person.

“Ghosts, huh?”

Danny laughed, relaxed visibly. “Yeah, I know right? Although I guess they’re not that surprising for a psychic.” Well, that was very pointed. “Amity Park is the ghost capital of the US for a reason. We’ve got tons of them, at all times. It’s almost impossible to stay in this city and not see them.”

How encouraging. How delightful. Why had Shawn even come to this city? The festival hadn’t even been that good!

“Hm. Well, thank you for your time.” Shawn stopped walking, offered a hand to Danny. “You were a big help today.”

“Yeah… Good luck with the investigation, Mr. Spencer.” The kid took the offered hand and shook it. Danny’s hand was almost concerningly cool in his own.

He watched the teenager turn back around, walking back in the direction they had come from. In his mind, Shawn was running through possible theories. One thing was clear to him, however. Danny Fenton was no ordinary witness. In fact, he might be a suspect. Might’ve worked with this “Phantom”.

He needed more information.

---

A flick of movement caught Shawn’s eye and he stopped. The sidewalk had been completely empty; it was getting late.

Was it just him or did the air feel colder, all of a sudden?

Someone was next to him. Someone who hadn’t been anywhere near him, before that tiny bit of movement.

Shawn turned to look. A kid—a teenager—male, with astonishingly white hair and overly bright green eyes. Floating. Glowing.

Well. Wasn’t that something? Ignoring the discoloration—the wig and fancy lenses—it was easy enough to recognize the kid.

“Mr. Fenton,” Shawn greeted him. “Back again?”

Danny flinched, then started fidgeting. Pulling on the edge of the white gloves he was wearing. And wow, wasn’t that an outfit? “I… Call me Phantom when I look like this.”

Did he just— Did he really just go and confirm himself as the prime suspect?

Shawn opened his mouth to point this out, but Danny cut him off.

“Look, I can explain what happened, okay? What you asked, earlier, about who was present… It was just the victim, me, and the ghost I was chasing. Skulker is enough of a pain normally, so I was kind of focused on keeping up with him. And yeah, he passed kind of close by someone, but I didn’t really think too much about it, since Skulker doesn’t usually care about anyone but me. But then the guy started collapsing, and I realized that Skulker had sliced him up.  A distraction for me, I think.” Danny shrugged, an unsettled expression on his face. “I tried to help, but there was— there was nothing I could do. And I heard people coming, so I… I distanced myself and shifted back, and said I saw the whole thing go down.”

Not a lie in the slightest, as much as Shawn hated it. “And this… Skulker?”

“I caught him.” Determined, harsh. No hesitation. “First thing I did when everyone left. I have him captured still. Not sure what to do with him now. Can’t exactly hand a ghost over to the police, can I?”

“Well, I can’t argue with that.” He supposed it was a job well-done. It’s not like the client will care that Shawn wasn’t the first to figure out who the perpetrator was; they wouldn’t have listened to Phantom anyway. “I will go inform my client, then. If they want more they can take it up with you.”

Shawn turned around, satisfied, to continue walking towards his client’s house. So the kid was floating, glowing. So the temperature had dropped when he’d approached Shawn. So what?

A cold—freezing cold—hand caught his shoulder. Shawn jerked, but the fingers dug into his shoulder, forcing him to turn back towards Danny.

“You’re not really a psychic, are you?” Danny asked, in a tone of voice that made it clear it wasn’t really a question.

Shawn shrugged off the hand. “Like you don’t have your own secret to keep.”

“Touche,” the kid said, grinning slightly. “Guess we’re at a stand-still.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.” Shawn straightened himself up. Ignored the niggling feeling of danger that emanated from Danny.

“What, so we keep the other’s secret for our own sake?” Danny hummed, thoughtful. “I guess that that’s alright.”

Danny moved back—like a step backwards, except he just… glided. Floated? “See you around, Mr. Spencer.”

And then he was gone, like he’d never been there in the first place.

Shawn took a slow breath, a bracing breath. Turned back towards the client’s house. He could tell them it was a job well-done, and be satisfied with that.

And he would never ever come back to Amity Park, food festival or not. Ghosts? Never again.

[five-rivers]

The last Ectober prompt really inspired me.  In fact, it inspired me so much that I wrote a dark alternate ending to my Masquerade/Laboratory story.  Here it is.  

Warning: Dark.

.

Pollux twisted and narrowly dodged the thermos's capture field. How had Jazz known? How had she found out? He had tried so hard!

Danny's dream had been right all along.

He went intangible, and dove underground, where Jazz couldn't follow him, and didn't come up until he was several streets away. He wiped tears out of his eyes. Failure wasn't a new experience for him, but it wasn't one that he liked, and he couldn't go back to Fentonworks anymore. No more Jazz. No more Mom and Dad. No more Sam and Tucker.

Hopefully, Father wouldn't be too angry.

He shot towards home.

.

Although Pollux, like Danny, could push himself to speeds of over a hundred miles an hour, his distance traveling speed was more sedate. He did not return home until late at night, and the scene that met his eyes when he did was arguably worse than what he had fled from.

Police everywhere. Father arrested. Danny in an ambulance.

Pollux dithered. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what had happened.

Father would. He had to rescue Father.

Invisible, he swooped in, and plucked Father from the car. He flew away a safe distance and set Father down.

"What happened?" he asked.

Fathers response was unintelligible.

Oh. Pollux knew using that medicine had been a bad idea.

He chewed his lip, thinking. Father could not give him instructions. But Father had taught him well.

First, he needed to get Father to their safehouse, their hideout, then he would come back for Danny.

Danny fought at first, but Pollux got him calmed down. He read his corcore and found out what had happened on the way over.

It was hard to believe Father had attacked Danny like that. Danny's actions were understandable, in context, and so, so clever, but Father had been brutal.

It made Pollux feel uncomfortable.

Danny clung tight to Pollux as the flew to the safehouse. It was deep underground, and had neither doors nor windows, nor any way to access it except by phasing. It would not be suitable for Danny long-term, with his increased reliance on his astronomy Obsession, but for now it was safe.

They could stay here until Father got better.

.

Father did not get better, and Pollux was angry at him.

There was no way for Pollux to drain and reset the bracelets without putting Danny into stasis, and Pollux refused to put Danny into a stasis he could not revive him from. Danny had been shocked several times, even though he worked very hard to avoid using his powers. Danny was always so weak after being shocked. He always had nightmares, right after.

Father should have included a back-up option, a way for Pollux to take off the bracelets.

On the other hand, Danny seemed to be adapting to his new situation. He was always finding ways to help out around the hideout. He cooked, he cleaned, he tinkered in the hideout lab, and he was always so attentive, so affectionate. His mind was clearer. More focused.

He still sometimes pined for Amity Park, which sent Pollux into a depression of his own (he missed it). But those moments became rarer.

Father was not adapting.

.

Pollux stood over Father's unconscious body. Father had been getting worse, and worse. More and more hostile to poor Danny. Yesterday, he had attacked Danny again, and Pollux had made a descision. Father had to go into stasis.

As the stasis capsule hissed closed, Pollux promised he would follow what Father had taught him. That he would continue his research into how ghostly artifacts affected hybrids. That he would work to bring their family together.

.

Danny knew what was happening to him.

But he couldn't be upset about it, not while Pollux was here, because that would make Pollux upset. He couldn't make Pollux upset.

Slowly, at first, but then more quickly, Danny's Obsession had focused on and warped around Pollux. Pollux was the only one he could help, the only one he could make happy, the only one who could offer his Obsessions any relief.

He was training himself to be exactly what Pollux wanted. He was physically changing, too, to better fulfill his Obsessions. It scared him.

But only when Pollux wasn't there.

.

Pollux carried the artifacts into the hideout lab very carefully.

He had noticed Danny growing smaller, growing softer, and it had made him happy. His core had realized that Danny was safe, and he no longer needed to fight, that Pollux would protect him.

But the change had given Pollux an idea, a theory about how he might remove the bracelets. It was an artifact he and Father had once tested on another clone.

Danny rushed over from where he had been polishing a machine. Pollux didn't even know what that one did, but it made him happy to see Danny so industrious. Danny looked at the box he had brought, thoughts bright and curious.

Pollux ruffled Danny's hair.

"Are you ready to get those bracelets off, Cas?" asked Pollux. He alternated between calling Danny Danny and Danny Castor these days. Pollux liked the nickname, and Danny didn't seem to mind.

Danny nodded vigorously.

"Okay," said Pollux. He patted a nearby examination table. "Sit here, then."

Danny complied eagerly, and looked at Pollux with an air of expectation.

Pollux put on a pair of thick gloves, and opened the box of artifacts. From within, he plucked a soft black-furred teddy bear with shiny glass eyes. He gave the bear to Danny.

Danny looked at it, confused. But then the bear's eyes began to glow, and his closed halfway. The bear began to grow. Danny began to shrink, grow younger. When Danny and the bear were the same size, Pollux pulled the bear away.

The bracelets slipped off over Danny's newly small hands. Pollux tsked at the scars they left.

Danny blinked himself back to wakefulness, and looked down at himself. Something passed through him, something huge and epic that even Pollux could only see the surface of. Then- it was gone. Danny was brighter, softer, and more childlike than ever before. He smiled up at Pollux, and hugged him tightly.

Pollux's world revolved around Danny.

Danny's world revolved around Pollux.

A binary star.

Perfect.

[lexosaurus]

I Love You

My fic for day 5 of DP Side Hoes Week (yes I’m a day behind). 

Character: Jazz Theme: Hospital

This oneshot exists within my Everything Was White fic series [ao3]. You do NOT have to be following Everything Was White to understand this fic, this one exists as a prequel in the timeline and I give enough context in the text for anyone to be able to understand it. 

Okay, enjoy!

---

Jazz sat on the armchair, her gaze blank. Hazy. She hadn’t moved since she sat down some time ago. Time moved without reason, and she wasn’t sure how long it had been. Her back hurt and her lips were chapped, but she hardly noticed her discomfort.

The only thing that mattered was the person laying on the bed before her.

The person she hardly recognized.

Four weeks. That’s how long he had been missing from their lives, that’s how long the Guys in White had him. Twenty-eight days on the dot.

She could never forget his eyes as he was dragged out the door. They were wild, desperately staring down their parents who were both pinned down by government agents with guns trained to their heads. He screamed, struggling against his captures. 

But it wasn’t enough. 

Because in the end, he was thrown in the back of a white van. All while Jazz stood on the stairs doing nothing. 

She should have freed him. She could have helped. But she was too weak. 

Too weak.

Her eyes stung, and she wanted to cry. Break down. Sob. But she had already used up her stock of tears hours ago, when she finally saw him for the first time since he’d be transferred out of critical care.

He was frail, tiny. Nothing but skin and bones. His body was scarred, torn, encased in gauze and casts. Doctors fluttered about, talking in hushed tones as they analyzed her brother’s body. They tried not to show it, but Jazz knew they were baffled by him.

There was talk about his injuries. He hadn’t woken up yet, at least not completely, but Jazz was already told of the more...drastic injuries.

The Y scar on his chest.

The paralysis.

The starvation.

No one knew what the permanent effects were going to be. No one knew how he was going to fair once he woke up. But there was one thing they all knew for certain, a truth that none of the Fentons had said out loud yet: 

Danny was not going to be the same anymore.

She crumbled, allowing her head to fall into her hands. Apparently, she still had more tears to give. A sob tore its way from her throat, pulling with it a wave of emotions that Jazz had just spent the last few hours desperately trying to repress.

She was tired. So, so tired. And yet, this nightmare refused to end.

“Danny, I—I’m so sorry.” Jazz’s voice was raw. The naked truth was hanging right there in front of her, the consequences of her complete failure. 

She should have been there for him during the ghost fight. The one between him and Skulker that ultimately led to his revelation right there high in the skies in front of the entire town. She could have helped him.

She should have known the Guys in White would then come surround their house and take him.

She should have tried harder to find him and break him out of the government compound. They tried so hard, but they couldn’t find the stupid building.

She should have practiced her questions better in court. Maybe then the jury would have decided sooner. She could have gotten him released before he was hurt so bad.

“I’m sorry.”

He didn’t respond.

“I love you so much, Danny. I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t respond.

---

“You alright there, son?” Jack asked. He tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

It didn’t seem to matter. Jazz doubted Danny even heard their father’s question. She was honestly questioning if he even realized they were in the room.

His eyes wandered around the room as if he were still trying to take in the walls of the hospital. He woke up four days ago, and yet every day had been the same blank wandering gaze. 

Jazz hoped it was just the pain medication the hospital was giving him. She desperately clung onto the belief that her brother would snap out of it one day and would come home and he would be back to normal.

Back to how he was before.

“Your mother and I are going to meet with the surgeon.” Jack put an arm around Maddie, pulling her into his side. 

Her face was white, streaked with red as if she’d been crying recently, and the bags under her eyes had never been so pronounced. But Jazz couldn’t blame her. After all, she probably looked more or less the same.

“Stay with Danny, alright? We’ll come grab you after.”

“Sure, Dad,” Jazz said, putting on a smile she hoped was comforting.

Her mother muttered something that Jazz didn’t catch, and then both parents were gone. 

And Jazz was alone. With Danny.

Again.

She turned back to face him. The doctors had said that he’d sustained significant brain damage, and they weren’t sure yet how much communication he would be able to do. He was too drugged up still, too out of it. 

He couldn’t speak, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t understand her.

Or maybe that was her hopeful side talking again. She shouldn’t get her hopes up. She would only be hurt in the end.

“Hey, Danny,” Jazz tried. Her voice was thin. Dry. She tried to wet her lips and spoke again. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I hope you’re comfortable. If you were wondering, you broke your spine. I mean, I’m sure you already knew that but—” Her voice cracked. “—you know. That’s why you, um, might be uncomfortable right now. It’s the brace.”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at her.

Just continued staring at the ceiling.

Jazz wondered if anything was going through his mind. If he had any questions. She would if she were Danny. 

She tried to imagine the sort of things he would say. His voice, crackling through the throes of puberty, as he poked fun at her in that annoying way only a brother could accomplish. She tried to envision a world where he could still do that.

And she tried not to think about the fact that there was a good chance that she’d never hear his voice again.

“Your SCI was incomplete, you know. So there’s still a chance…” Jazz shook her head. 

There she was getting hopeful again. 

“Everyone really missed you, Danny. I—I really missed you.”

He blinked slowly. In her imagination, Jazz heard him say “I missed you too.”

“I love you.”

He didn’t respond.

---

“What band are we in the mood for today?” Jazz asked, scrolling through her playlist.

Danny was starting to come to. He seemed to be able to hold eye contact, albeit not for very long, and his minute facial expressions showed at least some understanding of what was happening around him.

Although, he still hadn’t spoken yet.

Jazz glanced brightly down at him. Now that she knew he was conscious of her presence, she couldn’t afford to show up at the hospital in sweats with her tear-stained face anymore. She had to be there for him. She had to be strong.

Maybe she had been too weak to help him before. Maybe back then, she had failed him.

But she would be damned if she wasn’t strong enough to help him now.

“What do you think? MCR? Blink-182?” she asked. “I got these band names from Sam, by the way. So if she lied to me about what music you listen to now, don’t blame me.”

Danny just stared at her with his owl-ish expression.

“Here, if you want, you can choose.” Jazz held her phone screen out in front of him, watching as his eyebrows scrunched up ever so slightly as he gazed up at the screen.

Jazz felt her smile falter for a split second before she pulled her phone away and straightened herself up on her chair.

She had to be strong.

“It’s okay, I’ll just choose one.” She tapped the screen and set her phone down. 

The sound of over-compressed guitars filled the tiny bluetooth speaker on the windowsill, and Jazz beamed down at Danny, waiting for that tiny flicker of recognition to hit his face.

And, to her delight, some of the fog in his eyes momentarily lifted. He looked over to Jazz as if he were seeing her for the first time, the shock and disbelief seeping through the blank slate that was his expression.

Jazz was hardly able to keep the glee out of her voice. “You like it?”

His eyes flickered between Jazz and the bluetooth speaker. Back and forth again before settling back on the ceiling.

“Well, I’ll have to thank Sam for the recommendation later! She can’t wait to see you, you know. The doctors are only allowing family in your room right now, but maybe next week if you’re feeling up to it, Sam and Tucker can stop by. I don’t want to make any promises right now, but you never know.”

Danny’s eyes slowly traveled around the ceiling.

“Are you thirsty?” Jazz asked. “Hungry? Well, you’re probably not hungry. Doctors have been monitoring your nutrient intake a lot. I’m glad, too, because you have some color in your face again.”

His eyes shut, and a content smile twitched on his face.

Jazz couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked so peaceful.

“I love you, Danny.”

He didn’t respond. 

---

Danny was home now. That should have been a good thing. 

It should have been.

And it was. In so many ways, it was wonderful having him home again.

But in so many other ways, it wasn’t.

Jazz had been under some illusion that once he made it home, things would go back to normal. Sure, he would be in a wheelchair until his PT started, and he might not be able to turn into a ghost for a few weeks either, but her brother would be home. 

Except, Danny never came home. Physically, he did. But mentally he was still trapped somewhere far away.

He was talking now at least. He’d started talking the week before he’d left the hospital. He wasn’t able to speak in full sentences, at least not without pausing, and he wasn’t able to really understand long sentences either, but this was a start.

Jazz wanted to hope that things would get better, but hope was a dangerous drug.

After all, even though he’d started speaking again, he still refused to talk about what happened to him. Anytime Jazz would try to bring the conversation up, he’d clam up and close off for the rest of the day.

And that hurt. It hurt so bad. She so desperately wanted to be there and support him, to help him talk through the trauma he’d experienced, but he just didn’t want to.

But that was okay. It had to be okay. She had to be strong.

She stood in front of his door, pausing only to compose herself before knocking.

He didn’t acknowledge her knock, but Jazz wasn’t expecting him too. He was trying to isolate himself, and Jazz wasn’t going to let him.

She’d already failed him once. 

“Good morning, Danny!” Jazz bursted into the room, her voice chipper despite the fact that she hadn’t slept last night.

She doubted that Danny did either.

Danny was lying on top of his comforter, already dressed. Their mom must have gotten him situated before shutting herself down in the lab.

Their parents seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

“Come on, get up. I come bearing an activity!”

“Too early,” Danny grumbled.

Jazz ignored him, sauntering into the room brandishing a large, easy piece jigsaw puzzle she’d just ran out to buy that morning.

It was hard to find one for kids that wasn’t either a princess castle or a race car scene. Fortunately, the store had one on sale that had colorful, cartoon baby ghosts covering the image.

“Either you get up, or I drag you up. Either way, you’re doing this puzzle with me.”

“Puzzle?” Danny asked.

Jazz tried not to stare as he struggled upright, only swooping in to set his pillows upright behind him. “Yeah, puzzle.”

She set the box down in front of him, pulling off the lid and revealing the large pieces in front of him.

“That’s...so Boring.”

“Well, the doctors still want you avoiding screens for a little while longer. I figured this was better than staring at the wall.”

Danny eyed the box, his face impassive. 

“Here, wait.” She went out into the hallway, grabbing a large piece of cardboard from the wall. “I brought something to make the puzzle on. Figured it would be easier than the mattress.”

“Okay.” He picked up one of the pieces, inspecting it slowly as if he couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

“So…” Jazz plopped herself down on the mattress next to Danny and put the cardboard over their laps. “What do you think we should do first?”

Danny gazed blankly down, his eyes trailing between the cardboard and the puzzle piece in his hand. He blinked, and then put the puzzle piece down on the cardboard.

“Okay, we can start with that one!” Jazz chirped.

“No…” Danny ran his hand through his hair. “No that’s not...need to sort.”

“Oh?” Jazz grabbed another piece from the box. “So what should I do with this one then?”

Danny gazed quizzically over at Jazz, grabbing the piece to inspect it. “Edge,” he finally said, setting the piece down on the opposite side of the board from the first piece.

“So we’re sorting the edge pieces from the regular pieces?” 

Danny hummed, grabbing another piece from the box.

“Sounds like a good plan!”

They worked together in near silence after that, Jazz only stopping every so often when she could feel Danny’s attention slipping to ask him to help her sort a piece. It was almost cute how determined he was to complete the task correctly. It almost reminded Jazz of the quiet determination that would slip onto his features in the moments just before he transformed into Phantom. 

Solving the puzzle was a whole different beast. If Jazz were honest, she wasn’t sure if they would have been able to finish in one sitting. Danny still tired far too rapidly throughout the day, and he still slept for more hours than he was awake.

But finally Danny snapped the last piece into place, completing their simple blob ghost picture.

“Nice job!” Jazz put her hand up for a high five.

Danny blinked, slowly processing the motion, before his brain caught up and he gave a little smirk, a tiny eye roll, but met Jazz’s hand all the same.

She put the cardboard with the now completed puzzle on the floor before sitting back against the fluffy pillows. Breathing out, she allowed herself to sink back into the cushions for just a moment.

She was so tired. 

Her brain swirled, and she wanted to sink deeper into the darkness. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t allowed to.

“Are you asleep?” Danny asked.

“No.”

“Oh. Okay.”

A quiet trepidation settled over the pair. Jazz could feel the unspoken questions hanging in the air like forbidden fruit ripe for picking. But the apples were just out of reach, and she knew the branches wouldn’t sink lower until Danny was ready. 

But he had to come home first. He would never be ready to tell her what happened until he finally came back to them. And Jazz didn’t know how long that would take.

“I love you,” Jazz said.

Danny didn’t respond.

---

Thanks for reading!