#I like the idea of Sam having to confront just how much she pushes Danny

[madametamma]

A while ago, I posed the question ‘Where do fans stand on Danny having an obsession?’  With different answers all around. 

Some said they don’t like the idea that Danny has an obsession because it takes away his agency and makes his choices less meaningful if he’s forced to do what he does.

Some said they loved Danny with an obsession because that can lead to angst potential.

Others said it depended on the story.

What about all of the above?

Danny seems to be slacking off in ghost hunting lately, at first it was just, “I haven't gotten a full night’s sleep in a while, let me take a break.” But that was quite a few days ago and his sleep schedule has gotten back on track so there’s no excuse for him to be cutting patrolling short tonight, or for him to ignore what could possibly be a villainous plot going on in town, Sam insists!

Tucker points out that said villainous plot is just a new hot dog shop opening up in town which she waves off.  She insists Danny could be doing more.

Danny replies that if his ghost sense goes off, he’ll do his job, but it’s nice to take a few days off.

Sam leaves Danny and Tucker to play games while she hops on her scooter to patrol the city by herself. As she zooms through the streets she mutters “I wish the one with actual superpowers on this team was more obsessed with with doing this job than me.”

When the friends meet up the next day, Danny is much more vigilant.  Sam’s pleased although Tucker is bummed that Danny doesn’t want to see a new movie after school in favor of patrolling the city. 

For a little while, everything is good.  Danny is taking his job as a hero seriously, ghosts are getting beaten and taken back to the ghost zone, crime is noticeably going down in Amity.

Tucker points out to his friend that he might want to do something about those bruises on his face and Danny waves him off.  Hazards of the job. Sometimes the ghosts get a few good shots in.  He’ll just say it was Dash, if anyone asks.

By next week, Danny was noticeably skipping more classes than usual.  His excuse being ‘ghost fighting’ and Sam warns that he should be more careful.  Even his clueless parents are going to notice.

Later that night, Sam’s house gets a call from Jazz.  She thinks she knows what the conversation is going to be about and prepares some excuses on Danny’s behalf, but is thrown off when she confronts her about not seeing Danny since Yesterday.”

“He staggered home at 2:00 AM last night, looking like he got run over by a truck! me, mom and dad tried to talk to him but he looked so exhausted, the only thing we could think to do was send him to bed, thinking we would talk again in the morning but he was gone when we woke up.  We haven’t seen him since then! Sam, what is going on?!” Jazz cries.

At that moment Danny flies in through her window, ectoplasm seeping through an an enormous gash on his abdomen. 

“Can I get a patchwork?”, he mutters, groggily. Sam hangs up the phone in shock.

She goes to work, stitching up his wounds.  Danny murmurs some explanation of why it’s not that bad and how he’ll just need a minute before he’s ready to keep going, as his eyes droop and head nods in his exhaustion.  She tells him that he can just take a nap here until he’s well enough to go home but he disappears the instant she’s finished.

[daddyplasmius]

hand on my stupid heart flashbacks

this is a No One Knows AU & Full Hazmat AU where Danny ended up in the Ghost Zone & didn't go back into the human world initially because he thought he was dead. by the time he realized he is, in fact, at least half alive, he'd already been missing for at least 2 weeks. will probs never finish homsh sorry. i wrote this a couple years ago in a haze & just haven't been able to finish it because i can't replicate the style, which i find is what i love about this fic the most. it wouldn't be the same without it. posting the flashback introsーwhich are meant to be read between chapters/the actual plot, starting after chapter 1ーcuz fuck it. excuse typos & shit, i never properly edited it, as i forgot it existed immediately after i wrote it original description of homsh: Danny Fenton has officially been missing for over a year. Maddie & Jack Fenton refuse to give up on their son. Sick and tired of the police running them in circles, and the case getting colder by the day, the Fentons turn to their last resortーPhantom. 800~ words (full unfinished fic is 20k~)

-

When Danny woke up surrounded by thick, green fog, and couldn’t breathe without swallowing heavy air that was more like water than anything, he was sure he was dead. The portal glowed behind him, illuminating the pitch darkness around him in soft, yellow, warm light.

He almost went back.

Almost.

He was dead. His parents were ghost hunters. They had drilled into his head from the moment he was born that he could never, ever panic in death. That he would accept it. That he would not be scared. So he would be prepared to be brave in the face of death and would not become a ghost.

He panicked. He did not accept it. He was terrified. And so he woke up in the Ghost Zone.

-

Danny went back through the portal when he saw some ectopuses acting… strange. Like they had an idea in their heads. Like they had a plan.

Which was weird, with animal ghosts. He had only been in the Ghost Zoneーmom and dad called it that, he rememberedーfor a couple weeks. Or, he had already been there for two weeks. Or maybe time worked differently and he was there five minutes, or four years orー

The ectopuses went through the portal and, despite everything, Danny went after them.

While he was busy reeling at being home, the ectopuses immediately attacked dad. Danny was horrified. Jack was overwhelmed. Danny stepped in, in a moment fueled by sheer adrenaline and stupidity, snatching a Fenton Thermos™ off a shelf and releasing his shaky invisibility. The ectopuses didn’t stand a chance. And when they were safely in the Thermos, he slowly turned around to dad, ready for the confrontation. Ready for the “what happened to you?” and the “where have you been?” and the “we’ve missed you”.

Dad scrambled to shoot at him.

Danny fled.

His parents didn’t recognize him.

-

The Lunch Lady attacked when Danny was mourning Halloween.

He’d waited all year. He made a costume that summer. He wouldn’t get to go trick or treating with Sam and Tucker this year. Or any year. For the rest of his lifeーor existence. Whatever.

The Lunch Lady appeared in the school and demanded in straight fury, “Who changed the menu?”

Everyone pointed at Sam.

Danny hadn’t known just how powerful ghosts could be. His parents never told him the specifics. Just that they were dangerous.

This ghost grew and her aura hit him like a hurricane, almost physically pushing him back. It was so strong that the students in the Casper High cafeteria seemed to feel it too.

The Lunch Lady was a much harder opponent than the ectopuses. She levitated meat. She used it as a weapon, and seemed to bring it back to life. She created weird meat creatures that grew sharp teeth and claws out of bones. They were mindless, attacking everything that got too close to the ghost. Danny would have run away without hesitation, if Sam hadn’t been in the crossfire.

Danny fought the Lunch Lady. It was a long struggle, but he caught her in the thermos after over an hour. When he turned to Sam and Tuckerーboth of whom he had to save due to Tucker trying to jump into the fightーall three of them bloody and bruised, he cringed. But a part of him hoped. Desperately.

Surely they would know him on sight.

“Wh-what are you?” Sam gasped at him finally.

Danny flinched as if she had struck him. “J-just… your friendly neighbourhood phantom.”

-

Danny didn’t know what possessed him. Oh. Pun not intended.

He just barely caught the Fentons leaving in the GAV, dragging suitcases behind them. He couldn’t help himself. What on Earth were they doing?

They were going to Vlad Master’s mansion for their college reunion.

It was a whole thing. But something was off. Besides all the adults reminiscing about the 80’s.

Danny sensed ghosts immediately but he couldn’t see anything. Unfortunately for him, Vlad could also sense him. It was two days of Danny staying invisible, and Vladーthe halfa? Is that what Danny is?ーtrying to kill Jack. Somehow, Danny managed to fight off Vlad, not turn back, and without the Fentons getting hurt. His secret intact.

VladーPlasmius, also learned about Phantom. And Vlad hated him. The manーghostーwhatever, seemed to only care about one thingーpossession. Of money. Of things. Of people. He was more ghost than Danny had ever seen. Vlad’s obsession was overwhelming.

Danny couldn’t believe someone so much like himself could be so disturbing.

[underforeversgrace]

healing the wounds we hid - 6

title: healing the wounds we hid

Finally, the sequel to broken trust and the wounds hidden behind! (Refresh here on AO3 or here on Tumblr)

Story Summary: Now that his father knows, Danny's life is changing for the better. Jack encourages him to let his friends and the rest of the family into his small word. Unbeknownst to Danny, Jack is secretly worried about how Maddie will react to the news upon her return to Amity - and how to confront Vlad once Jack learns his true identity. Amidst it all, an enemy lurks and plots their revenge.

Chapter 6 of 11: Lying to You

AO3

Tumblr Chapter One

Tumblr Chapter Seven

~~~~~~

Jack heard Sam’s laughter as he hung up the phone, before the trio joined him in the kitchen. She seemed to be teasing Danny and Tucker about something, though Jack had no idea what. He smiled anyway. The two had become commonplace figures again in the Fenton home over the past week and Jack loved seeing the changes it brought to Danny. He smiled more, laughed more, even when he wasn’t around them. Even as Phantom he had more quips and grins.

As much as it pained him to know his son had been practically suicidal less than three months ago, it gave him immense joy to see Danny recovering from his depression and isolation so easily.

Jack resisted the urge to touch the bruises aching around his neck from Vlad’s hands as he wondered if Vlad would ever be able to recover the way Danny had.

“You two staying for dinner?” Jack asked, banishing the thoughts of Vlad from his mind.

“Is it okay if we do?” Sam asked.

“I’d like them here, at least while I talk to Jazz.” Danny added.

“You two know you’re always welcome here!” Jack said boisterously.

The three grinned and settled into their seats. They passed a look between them and the mood sobered.

“Actually, Dad, I need to talk to you before Jazz gets home?” Danny said, fidgeting in his seat. Tucker wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulders, giving him a comforting squeeze before letting go.

“Sure, kiddo,” Jack said, settling into the remaining empty seat. He’d have to remember to get one of their spare chairs when Jazz arrived.

“So, uh, we discovered something at school today,” Danny said. The tone of it left no doubt within Jack that it was related to ghosts and not at all with their classes.

“Are you alright?” Jack asked. That was always the first thing he always asked these days.

“I am. I’m just, uh… a bit more ghostly than I realized?”

Jack shrugged and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table, letting Danny continue at his own pace. 

“Dude, you know he isn’t going to care, in like, a bad way,” Tucker said.

“Trust me, as someone who recently found out you’re half ghost - this is so low on the totem pole for us in terms of new things we’ve learned, it barely registers.” Sam agreed.

“I know! I’m not scared or anything. It’s just… it’s still hard to be open with ghost stuff, y’know?”

“Danno,” Jack said, keeping his voice soft. “Talk to me.”

“We realized I’m able to eat emotions.” Danny admitted.

“Oh. Uh, okay. I’m sure we can watch a lot of sad shows or those scientifically inaccurate shows that make me mad, to make sure you’re getting enough… sustenance? Jazz has always been easily spooked by horror movies, anyway.” Jack said, trying to think of all the ways to safely bring up emotions of fear, anger, and sadness.

“Huh?” Danny said.

“Positive emotions, Mr. Fenton,” Sam piped up, rolling her eyes at Danny. “We realized Danny’s been eating less human food since the three of us found out the truth. He’s spending more time with all of us - who feel positive emotions about him - and he’s been unknowingly absorbing it.”

“Oh!” Danny said, finally understanding the miscommunication. “I’m not like Spectra, who eats negative feelings. I’m the opposite. I guess I just never realized it because I was pushing everyone away.”

“Or it’s a new ghost ability,” Tucker added. When Sam and Danny looked at him in confusion, he shrugged. “Danny, you’ve already told us you’ve occasionally gained new ghost abilities. It might be new.”

“I hadn’t considered that,” Danny frowned. “I don’t know if -“

He was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming open. “Dad?!” Jazz called, a hint of panic to her voice. “I just saw your text, is everything okay?!” She asked, turning the corner out of breath, eyes wide as she took in the scene. She seemed to relax marginally when she saw Danny sitting there. “Sam! Tucker! It’s been so long!” She said, hugging the two of them and then Danny.

“Let me go grab one of the spare chairs,” Jack said, but Jazz stopped him before he got out of his chair.

“I’m fine standing, I’ve been sitting in class all day. So, family meeting?” She said, lingering behind Danny.

“Well, family plus Sam and Tuck.” Danny said, craning his neck slightly to look at her. “But I think you should sit down, Jazz. It’s kinda a big topic.” Danny was out of his seat before Jazz could protest, gently pushing her into the seat he’d abandoned.

“Okay?” Jazz asked hesitantly.

“Okay. Well. Uh…” Danny trailed off, sending a panicked glance to Jack.

Jack just shook his head slightly. “You’ve got this, son.”

"Is everything alright, Danny?" Jazz asked, turning in her seat to grab Danny's hand, concern painted across her face. She glanced over at Jack with an expression he couldn't read.

"So. Uh. Y’know, like, ghosts? How they're a thing?" Danny stumbled.

It took everything Jack had to not laugh at the 'are you serious right now?' look Jazz gave her brother.

Sam and Tucker, however, also saw the look and broke out in laughter.

"Hey, you try telling your sister you're half ghost! It's not easy!" Danny whined before going ramrod straight as Jazz's eyes widened. "I mean, uh, shit, uh, like… that isn't how I meant to tell you."

Jazz just smiled and stood, wrapping her arms around Danny, though she stepped off a little further to the side than necessary, completely blocking Danny from Jack’s view. A frown pulled to Jack’s face. Something about that felt… intentional?

He could only see Jazz’s back as she leaned down closer to her brother and whispered something too low for Jacks to hear, followed by Danny shouting, “You what?”

Jazz looked over her shoulder at her father, seeming to be gauging a reaction from him. He smiled at her, though he was sure she could see the confusion on his face.

“How long have you known?” Danny asked, pulling away from his sister, shocked.

Jazz shrugged, turning her attention back to Danny. “Since the Spectra incident.”

Danny groaned. “I swear to Clockwork, if Mom says she already knew when I tell her, I’m blowing something up!”

“You need an excuse to blow something up?” Tucker quipped.

“Wait,” Jack said. “Jazz, did you already know?”

Jazz sighed and turned around, wrapping her arms around herself. “Yeah. I found out by accident.”

“Dude, how in the hell do you still have a secret identity?” Tucker asked, laughing. Sam thwacked his arm, raising a finger to her lips in the universal sign of ‘shut up!’

“That’s a good question,” Danny grumbled. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you knew I was Phantom, Jazz?”

Again, Jazz watched Jack a moment before answering, and he finally realized why. Jazz had been - and still was - worried about how Jack would react. “At first, I wanted you to want to tell me. So I tried to give you space, help without it being obvious I was helping. After some time passed, though…” Jazz trailed off, biting at her lower lip. “I almost exposed your secret a few times. I’ve never been good at lying. Until this, I didn’t think anyone in this family was capable of keeping a secret. It’s why I haven’t been home a lot and signed up for all those extra classes and study groups.”

Sadness grew in Jack with Jazz’s every word. Had he and Maddie really made both of their children believe they’d hurt one of them for being a ghost? Made both of them afraid of their parents? So much so that Jazz, ever the level headed peacekeeper, who always worked to bring the family back together, decided that letting the family fracture further was the safest option?

Danny had pulled away to keep his secret safe. Jazz had pulled away because she wasn’t sure if she could keep her brother safe.

“I’m sorry,” Jack said hoarsely, staring at both of his kids - the two people he loved more than anything in this world, who he’d die for, who he’d protect until the ends of the Earth. They both looked at him in confusion, though Sam and Tucker looked at him with sympathy. They hadn’t been trusted with the truth either, so they probably understood some of what he felt.

But Jack hadn’t been trusted for much worse reasons. He hadn’t been trusted out of fear that he would torture and kill his son. “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

“Dad…” Danny said, moving around the table until he was behind Jack, patting him on the shoulder. “It’s okay.”

Jazz pressed her lips together into a thin line and said nothing. She didn’t contradict Danny, at least. They all knew this wasn’t okay, no matter how much Danny was trying to pretend it was.

“Thanks, son,” Jack said halfheartedly. “Well, now that Jazz knows, time to discuss telling the final Fenton.”

“Mom?” Jazz asked. “Are… are we sure that’s safe?”

He paused, staring at the wood grain of the table as he thought.

That had been one of the reasons he’d gone to see Vlad earlier. Maddie had to be told… and Jack needed a back up plan for if she took it poorly. To his immense relief, Vlad had agreed to help, though he had insisted the only reason he was willing to help was because he knew how brilliant Maddie was and she’d connect the dots between Danny’s accident and Vlad’s own.

If the worse came to pass, threats of child protective services being called on the Fenton home should work, and Jack would publically decimate their research as flawed and made up to discredit her or any crazy theories she may spread - including the possibility of her own son being half ghost, if she tried to go to the media with it.

Danny couldn’t leave Amity and Jack would always stay with his son. If it got too bad… Vlad was rich enough to make Maddie disappear and make it look like she left, abandoned their family and their ‘freak’ of a son.

Jack and Vlad had set several contingencies in place, and none of them would he ever admit to either of his kids. As much as it hurt him, as much as it made his heart stutter in grief, if he had to make a choice between his wife and his son, he’d choose Danny, every time.

“Everything will be fine,” Jack lied. “I was afraid at first, too, but I know Maddie, she loves you two. I have no doubt that she’ll accept you, Danno.”

A look passed between Jack and Jazz. The look in her eyes told him that she knew he was lying. The look she sent Danny after told him she’d lie and protect him too, no matter the cost.

Danny seemed to buy it, relaxing slightly at his side. “Guess we should plan how to tell her?”

“Do you want us there, Danny?” Sam asked.

“If nothing else, you can eat our good vibes!” Tucker grinned.

“I’m sorry, eat what?” Jazz asked.

“Oh, your brother recently learned he eats feelings.” Tucker said with a shrug, like it was the most uninteresting thing he'd ever heard. Despite the situation, despite learning that his daughter also feared he'd carve up Danny, Jack grinned, because his son's friends accepted him - and his secret - with open arms.

Jazz sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she took a few deep breaths. “Okay. Okay, that’s fine,” she said before grinning at Danny and ruffling his hair. Danny sent his sister a relieved grin before swatting her hand away, whining about ‘ew, sister cooties!’ and then returning his attention to his friends.

“I think I’d like you guys there for that one, too,” Danny said, his eyes lingering on Tucker and the two sharing a shy smile.

Well, Jack had always wondered which one of his friends Danny would end up dating (if not both of them), and he supposed he’d just gotten his answer.

“I’m thinking we tell her here,” Jack said, deciding he needed to give his son the talk later. Dating is dating and needs to have the talk! “Over dinner. I can disable all the ghost defenses like we did for the time we tested your powers, if you’re worried.”

Danny nodded. “That sounds like a good idea to me.”

Jack could see the fear in his son’s face and he tried to smile, tried to hide his own fear, reassuring himself that he and Vlad had a plan, had it worked out if the worst came to pass.

Danny eventually realized they needed the spare fifth seat and when Jack went to get it, said he would handle it. He was all smiles as he transformed into Phantom, flying intangibly to the other room and back, grabbing the chair. Jack was calmed by the display - his son, in front of people who accepted him, showing off his powers, showing off the thing that had made him so afraid for so long.

If anyone else besides him noticed that Danny’s ears remained slightly pointed when he reverted back to his human half, they kept it as quiet as Jack did.

The pizza finally arrived shortly thereafter and they all settled in to eat. Jack couldn’t help but smile, content as he watched the teens eat and chat. They joked around and goofed off, they talked about school. Danny’s chair was closer to Tucker’s and Jack didn’t miss the smiles the two shared as they discussed video games while Jazz and Sam discussed various activist organizations.

There was an ache deep in his bones as Jack prayed, beyond all hope, for this to become their new normal - his family restored, his son’s friends at his side. So, silently, quietly - Jack prayed.

~~~~~~

Agents Byte and Bit were ready when Operative O showed up, a week later as he’d said. Byte was O’s equivalent in the chain of command on the technological side.

“Byte. Bit.” Operative O greeted.

“O,” the two tech nerds greeted in unison.

“Judging by your presence, I am assuming Bit failed to restore any of the lost data?” O asked, cutting straight to the point as he scowled at Byte.

Bit shuffled slightly, moving slightly behind his boss.

“Unfortunately, when Phantom triggered an electrical surge, all electronics were fried and, as Bit has no doubt explained, we do not keep any offsite backups for security reasons. In layman’s terms - the information has essentially been burned to ash. There is nothing to be done for it,” Byte said, holding himself up straight, trying to look stern and intimidating despite being half a foot shorter than O was.

O growled. “This conversation could have been an email, then. Why did you request a meeting?”

The prosthetic hand clenched into a fist at his side as it sensed his rising anger and O tried to relax it subtly. The prosthesis was extremely experimental, fueled partially by mortal electricity and partially by ectoplasm. It was a genius construction of the two, but ectoplasm was well known for reacting to emotions - and it showed every time O had strong feelings.

Which was quite annoying in times, such as now, when O couldn’t get the fist to relax, which made him frustrated, which just caused the fist to clench tighter. This is all Phantom’s fault! O growled internally, his hatred rising as he gave up on trying to make his hand do what he wanted. He felt like he had no control over his own body, all because that stupid ghost kid had fought back.

“Because we found something else we think you might like,” Byte said, unaware of O’s internal struggle.

“Did you capture Phantom yourselves?” O asked sarcastically.

“No. But we may have an idea to help you catch it. Bit, show him,” Byte said, stepping out of the way.

“Uh, here, look, Operative O,” Bit said, sliding into his seat and pulling up… something with a lot of numbers and shorthand on it that O couldn’t interpret. “We’ve been studying Phantom since its escape. We’ve noticed some changes in the routine it follows in the weeks since the incident, and there have been a few notable ones that may benefit us.”

“Fascinating,” O drawled. “Point?”

“Well, to put it simply…” Bit said, pulling up another file, this one so simple even O could understand it, even if he couldn’t believe it. He didn’t even notice the self satisfied smirk on Bit’s face as he took in O’s shock.

“You’re sure?” O asked in disbelief, rereading the text. “How?”

“We’re not sure, but we’re guessing Phantom has enough intelligence to realize it needed help after escaping our facility and figured out how to get some.”

“And how is this supposed to help me recatch him - I mean, recatch it? This would just complicate things further.”

A devious grin crept onto Bit’s face. “Because we’re noticing Phantom’s been falling back onto this ‘support’ more frequently recently. But this help won’t be available in a few nights,” Bit explained, handing a piece of paper to O, smirking as though he’d just handed over the keys to the Ghost Zone.

And, while that wasn’t what he’d handed O, there was no denying it was a strong second prize. A rare smile crept onto Operative O’s face. “You’re sure?” He asked, glee in his voice. 

“Positive,” Byte confirmed for his agent, lips curved into a cocky smile.

“Perfect. I’ll go brief K and -“ O began, cutting himself off and grimacing at his error. “I mean. I’ll go brief M and get us ready to roll, when the time comes.”

Bit and Byte looked at him sympathetically, but he ignored it - he didn’t do pity, especially pity aimed at him. He was fine.

He wasn’t the one who bled to death under tons of concrete.

O took one final look at the paper before crumpling it in his good hand.

Phantom was about to learn - the hard way - that he should’ve killed O in that blast too. And this paper was going to help O teach the freak that lesson.

[tobesoalive]

latch (Sam Kiszka x reader)

hey guys here's the little Sam enemies to lovers smut that was requested! idc if it’s a bit cheesy, I had a ton of fun writing it so please please please send in more requests! I love helping your ideas come to life! 

Warnings: Smut (Oral-f and m receiving, fingering, penetrative sex, unprotected sex)

Friday had finally rolled around and you were more than ready. After a long week of classes and work you were more than ready to have some fun tonight. You and your roommates were going to have some people over tonight to celebrate your second year of college almost being over. You had come up with the idea last weekend and quickly made a list of who all should be invited. There was one person on the guest list that you were dreading to see, no other than Samuel Kiszka.

You had met a kid named Danny Wagner in your first class freshman year, and you two became fast friends, sharing many of the same interests and hobbies. Together you and Danny were a dynamic duo, and you always made each other laugh. People often thought you were dating, but he already had a beautiful girlfriend back home. Danny also had another person constantly attached at his hip, Sam Kiszka, you’d almost think they were the ones dating.

Sam was a lanky kid with sharp features and an extremely annoying god complex. He really thought he was the absolute shit and that everyone was in awe of him. Quite honestly many people were, but you saw right through it. You found him to be arrogant and rude, and you were always disappointed to see him when you went over to Danny’s place, even though he was his roommate. Sam would often show up unannounced at your place too, mostly with Danny, but a couple of times he showed up alone. You were always polite, inviting him in like the good host you are, and you two ended up watching a movie together, and much to your surprise, in these times he was almost tolerable. Almost. He would make a snide remark or joke that would infuriate you, but he wouldn’t stick around for long, usually having somewhere to be. That somewhere was usually the bed of another girl, but they probably didn’t just watch movies.

That was another reason you couldn’t stand Sam. Last year you had a crush on him and he would do the thing where he would play with your emotion, hang out with you and flirt with you only to immediately go and fuck random girls. It hurt you, a lot, but you eventually got over it, losing the romantic feelings, or rather pushing them deep down where you’d hope they’d never surface again.

Now people were going to be at your house in an hour and you haven't even showered. It didn’t really matter though, you weren’t all too concerned with what other people thought of your appearance, so what if your hair was a little wet. You quickly rinsed off in a cold shower, then changed into a simple outfit for the night, flared corduroys and a crocheted tank top.

That was the other thing, you’d think you were exactly Sam’s type, he seemed like he would be into girls who were more artistic and down to earth, but all the girls he hooked up with seemed like they spent most of their time thinking about themselves. Not that there was anything wrong with those girls, you weren’t the “pick me” type, but it seemed like Sam would care about that kind of thing. Whatever, you don’t even like him anyways, he’s more of a nuisance than anything.

You had finished a seltzer by the time people started arriving, the playlist you and your roommates curated playing throughout the apartment. Being with your friends always made you very energetic, and people always said they liked being around you. You could get a crowd laughing in no time. People were coming through the doors and when there were about 75% of the people there, your partner in crime finally arrived. “Wagner!” you shouted across the room in a dumb accent, already a little buzzed. “Where art thou good friend?!” Danny yelled back, matching your accent as you two finally made your way to each other, wrapping him in a friendly embrace. “Where’s your obnoxious sidekick?” you whispered into his ear.

“Don’t worry he’s here. I know how you were just dying to see him.”

“Oh aren’t I always?” you responded with a sarcastic smile

“I still think you need to give him a chance, you’d probably really like him.”

Before you could even respond, he was running up behind Danny and lifting him up by his waist.

“Well if it isn’t dumb and dumber!” you exclaim before Sam comes up and wraps his arm around your shoulder.

“Oh come on (y/l/n), you love me!”

“Haha good one Kiszka, now why don’t we do something I actually love.”

“And what would that be?” Danny questions.

“Take a shot and dance our asses off!” you yell. If you were going to deal with Sam you needed to be a little more intoxicated.

You gathered your roommates and the boys and took them to the kitchen and got out the glasses.

“To friendship!” you yelled

Right then you caught danny say something quietly, and it looked like he was saying “Or more than friendship”

That made you stop for a second before throwing your head back and downing the shot.

“Ok let's get back out there” your roommate says as she pulls you by the arm.

You spend about the next half hour dancing with all your friends, taking hits of joints and drinking. You and Danny did a silly little dance you had come up with last year when you would get drunk in your dorms and do dumb shit. Mid-routine he slipped and pulled you down with him, both of you laughing your asses off. You felt someone grab your arm and help you up as the song changed, “Latch” by Sam Smith blasting through the speakers, one of the best party songs probably ever. The person who had grabbed you wrapped their arms around your waist, swaying back and forth with you to the music. You loosened the stranger’s grip and spun around only to be met with the face of that little shit, Sam.

“C’mon kid can’t you at least try to tolerate me for one song”

“Who ever said you were intolerable?” you respond, admiring how the dim light highlighted his features.

He leaned in close to your ear and lowly whispered in it “You think I can’t see it. Whenever you’re around me you act like it’s charity work.”

You pull back to look him in the eyes and say “It wasn’t always that way. Now let's get back to what we were doing. I like this song more than I like you, which is quite a lot.”

He gives you a grin before you start moving your body against him, and by the end of the song he’s staring at you in complete awe.

Once the song ended you broke free from his grasp. “See you later Kiszka” you say with a wink, turning around and disappearing into the crowd.

Your stomach was in knots, and not from disgust. The moment you just had brought up a lot of emotions, mostly about your romantic feelings for Sam but also the resentment you felt towards him. Fuck, you were in deep now. Things would be so much easier if you never had to see him again and all of this could go away. But alas, you needed to suck it up so you could still have a close relationship with Danny. Plus in about twenty minutes Sam would probably be grinding on another girl. Screw it, you were going to have a good time with your friends, you didn’t need Sam to be happy.

The rest of the night you avoided Sam, giving him zero of the attention he was craving. A couple hours later people were leaving your home or asleep somewhere in the living room, bathroom, kitchen you name it. Thankfully though, your room remained empty, you needed some space to think.

Everyone was asleep and the house was quiet, you threw on a pair of boxer shorts and an oversized Led Zeppelin shirt, passed down to you from Danny. You went to the kitchen and drank probably a gallon of water, making one last pit stop to the bathroom to pee and brush your teeth. No matter how tired you felt you knew you'd thank yourself in the morning. Finally you were on the way back to your room when you stopped in the doorway. Sam was standing in there, looking at all your decorations and your extensive vinyl collection.

“You’ve changed some stuff since the last time I was here”

“Yeah, I like to rearrange stuff y'know? keep it new and interesting.” You remarked, rubbing the back of your neck and yawning, trying to hide your obvious panic. This is the last thing you were hoping for, being confronted one on one with the man himself.

“Are you cool if I stay here tonight? Daniel is passed out on the couch and I don’t feel like making the walk home alone.”

“Of course...did you want to sleep in here?” you ask before you could even stop the words from coming out of your mouth. Fuck, you were a dumbass.

“If that’s okay with you, sleeping next to a stranger wouldn’t be my first choice.”

“You never had a problem being in a stranger’s bed before” you mumbled, looking at the floor.

He didn’t say anything, just turned his head to stare at you for a second, his eyes seeming almost apologetic.

“Well you might as well get comfortable” you tell him as you turn off the lights and flick the lamp on.

“Do you have a shirt I could borrow? I don’t really wanna sleep in jeans and a sweaty shirt.”

“Would you like an old one of Danny’s or one of mine?” you tease him, grabbing out yet another old band shirt of his roommate’s.

While he’s changing you turn away and busy yourself with lighting some incense and pulling the covers back, to avoid seeing his bare torso.

“Can I throw on a record? I can never get to sleep in the silence.”

“Help yourself” you say, but he already has a selection in his hands, Michigan by Sufjan Stevens, one of your favorites.

“Wonderful choice, but I imagine you’re a bit biased.” you say to him, both he and Danny were from the same town in Michigan and had to let everyone know.

“I just wanted something calm and serene, compared to all the fast paced stuff we’ve been blasting for the whole night.”

“Well it was a party Samuel, you have to give the people what they want” you tell him as you climb into bed.

Sam grabs for one of the pillows and a blanket, but you stop him.

“Were you gonna sleep on the floor like a dog? I don’t give a shit whether or not we share the bed.”

“I just assumed...I didn’t wanna make you uncomfortable...or anything.”

“You might be surprised by this but I actually feel pretty safe around you” you confess to him. Fuck, you were still slightly intoxicated so your filter was off. It’s okay, he was still a little drunk too it seemed.

“Do you mind if I take my pants off?” he asks you with a sincere look on his face.

You can’t help but burst out laughing, finding his awkwardness and the absurdity of the comment quite hilarious.

“I’d prefer it to your rough jeans...as long as you’re wearing underwear.”

“C’mon I’m not that much of a freak” he says as he pulls down his zipper and clumsily kicks his pants off.

You couldn’t help but stare for a moment, he looked gorgeous quite honestly, long hair tangled, old shirt hanging off his shoulders and shark boxer briefs stopping at his mid thigh.

“Okay Kiszka, get in here before I change my mind.”

He pulls back the sheets and crawls in, laying his head on the pillow facing you.

“I’m sorry” he says, looking deeply in your eyes, seeming almost ashamed.

“About what?” you knew you shouldn’t feed into this, whatever was going on here was completely platonic and wouldn’t mean anything in the morning.

“Everything. Being such a dick to you. Leading you on. I promise that’s not me, I just, I honestly don’t know how to act around you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re just the one person who actually kinda intimidates me. Or at least my feelings for you intimidate me.” he sighs.

“Is that why you are always fucking other girls and telling people about it when I’m around?”

“God you’re not going to take it easy on me, are you?”

“Why should I?”

“You shouldn’t. With the way I’ve treated you I honestly don’t expect anything from you, I just couldn’t hold it in any longer and I thought this was as good of a time as any.”

“Sam, can I be honest with you?”

“Of course”

“I actually don’t hate you at all like you seem to think. I can’t stand you because I really do like you, but I gave up on anything happening a long time ago.”

“Well you did a pretty good job of hiding it” he says, moving a little closer to you to the point where your noses were almost touching, the feeling of his breath giving you goosebumps. The music hummed softly in the background as you thought for a second.

“Sam don’t hate me but we’re both kinda drunk and I don't wanna do anything right now. I wanna be there for it, like fully there.”

“I was actually hoping you’d say that. I wanna take in every detail and remember it all. You’re not just another drunken hookup.”

You can’t help but give a soft smile, your cheeks going red.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t be opposed to a bit of cuddling”

“Neither would I” he says as he wraps his arms around you, pulling you in close as you bury your head in his chest, taking in his scent.

Something overtakes you, and you tilt your head up and press a soft kiss to his collarbone.

“Goodnight Samuel”

“Goodninght kid” he whispers, pressing his lips to the top of your head, and you can feel him breathing in your scent as well, elated to finally feel wanted.

********************************************************************************************************

You wake up to sunlight streaming through your curtains, turning to look at your clock but instead being met with Sam’s chest.

You were sober enough last night to remember everything that happened, Sam’s feelings for you coming to light and vice versa. It made you almost giddy with excitement, not being able to wait until his eyes opened.

You played with his hair, running your fingers through it and moving it from his neck, replacing it with your lips. Soon enough he’s stretching his arms and yawning.

“Any reason you needed to wake me up at 7 am?” he asked you, looking down at you as the pad of his thumb brushed across your cheek.

“Just couldn’t wait to see you I guess”

“That's a first” he says sarcastically, once again staring deep into your eyes.

You could hear the birds singing outside and a refreshing spring breeze made its way into your room through the open window.

You stared at each other for a second longer before he whispered “Can I?”

You nodded your head yes and he dipped his head down to capture your lips in a kiss. It started off sweet and then your lips started moving in a rhythm, his hands grabbing your legs and pulling you onto his lap. He kept kissing you as your tongue made its way into his mouth, causing his hips to buck up into you. You pulled back and let out a soft sigh, basking in the feeling of him growing hard against your core. He took this as an opportunity to attach his lips to your neck, sucking at the delicate skin and leaving little nips.

“Can I take this off?” you ask him, hands grabbing at the hem of his shirt.

“Please” he groans against your neck.

You pull it off and instantly your hands run along the expanse of his smooth skin, admiring every freckle and mole, fingertips brushing across his nipples. You pull your hands away to pull your own shirt off, blushing a bit, slightly embarrassed to show yourself to him. He takes a moment to stare at the newly exposed skin, pulling you down into a kiss a moment later and mumbling “You’re absolutely stunning” into your lips.

“You’re not too bad yourself” you say with a smile spreading across your face, quickly losing it as you bite your lip when he starts to move his hips once again, his bulge rubbing deliciously against your already wet core.

“I need more of you” he grunts, obviously frustrated.

You tangle your hands in his hair and pull his head back a bit, looking down into his eyes before saying “then have me”, pulling him into a kiss.

In a swift movement he flips you both over, kneeling with his legs on either side of you.

“These need to come off” he says, tugging at the waistband of the boxers you slept in. As he pulled them off and the cold air hit your core, you couldn’t help but drink all of him in, admiring just how gorgeous he looked, as if he was sculpted by the gods himself. That moment ended when you felt his middle finger run lightly up and down your slit. You threw your head back and closed your eyes, concentrating on the feeling of his skin on yours.

“Please Sammy, I need you” you say, surprised at yourself for using that nickname with him.

He looks at you and smiles before lowering his gaze to your dripping cunt, furrowing his brows as he pushes his long finger inside of you. You mewl as he pushes it down to the last knuckle, letting you adjust for a moment before starting to slowly pump in and out.

“Fuck you’re tight. So much better than I imagined.”

“So you’ve thought about this before?” You smirk at him, turning your eyes to look at the sight of his finger pumping in and out.

“Quite a lot actually, I’ve thought a lot about how you taste too” he says before readjusting himself so his head is buried in between your thighs. It only takes a second for his tongue to find your clit as he inserts another finger and starts to pump a little faster.

“Fuck you’re good at this” you say as you let out a breathy moan, hands once again finding their way into his hair. That causes him to moan around your clit, sending vibrations through your whole body. You don’t know how much longer you’d be able to last, with Sam lapping at you like it’s his last meal.

You pull his hair, forcing his lips to part from your sensitive bud, pulling him into a sloppy kiss.

“I wanna taste you too” you say before getting up and kneeling on the floor in front of your brd, motioning him to sit with his legs over the side, facing you. You look up at him as you pull his boxers down, length hitting his stomach. You take a second to admire it, with its pink head, a large vein running up the bottom. It was a nice length, with quite a bit of girth to it, surrounded by a small patch of pubic hair. As you wrapped your hand around it you said “not to be weird or anything but your dick is gorgeous”, causing him to let out a light laugh that was quickly stifled when you wrapped your head around the tip of his cock. His fingers intertwined with your hair, lightly pulling it, not forcing you down on his dick like some guys do. You gently moved your head up and down, taking as much of him as you could in your mouth and using your hand to stroke the rest.

“Fuck I need to be inside of you” he groans, tugging at your hair, causing you to pull your mouth off his dick with a small pop.

“Can I ride you?” you question as you make your way back onto the bed.

“Fuck yes, I can’t promise how long I’ll last though” he says, pulling you in for another kiss as you line him up up with your entrance. You run his tip along your slit a few times before slowly starting to lower yourself down, taking your time to adjust to his size. Once he’s fully sheathed inside of you, he throws his head back, letting out a guttural moan.

“Fuck, you feel so fucking good, I’ve wanted this for a long time.”

“So have I” you say before starting to slowly move yourself up and down on him.

It’s lazy and sweet, not perfect or anything, but nothing about this situation really was. You wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Fuck” he remarks as he grabs your hips, fingers sinking into your skin,helping you move up and down on his delicious cock.

“You fill me up so perfectly, god you feel so good”

“I guess it was meant to be baby” he says with a grin, putting his fingers in his mouth then moving them down to rub circles around your clit.

“Fuck Kiszka, if you keep taht up I’m gonna cum.”

“That was my goal, I’m close too” he breathes out as he buries his head in your neck.

You clutch the back of his head as you start to move yourself up and down faster, fucking yourself on his cock.

“Fuck Sam I’m gonna cum”

“Me too babe, where do you want me to?” he asks shakily.

The only word you can muster out is “Inside” as you approach your peak, clenching around him once more before tipping over the edge.

It’s complete bliss as you ride out your high, feeling him give one last deep thrust into you before coating your walls with his warm ropes of seed.

You collapse against him, nuzzling your head into his neck, pressing sloppy open mouthed kisses as you both catch your breath.

He pushes your hair to the side, leaving his lips on your temple while he remains sheathed inside you.

“Thank you” he says, still regaining his breath and returning to reality.

“Don’t leave me” you say softly into his ear.

“I wouldn’t for the world, don’t you worry kid.”

You sit up and look into his soft brown eyes, taking in how much things have changed in the past few hours.

“I don’t hate you. Not in the least. I just hated the idea of not being with you.”

“Same here, but we don’t have to feel that anymore. I’m sorry for the way I treated you. You deserve the world, and I want to try my hardest to give it to you.”

“Thank you Samuel, I’ll try to do the same.”

You give him one last long kiss before pulling back, pushing his hair behind his ear and saying “C’mon loverboy, let’s go get some breakfast.”

[arashikitten]

Dark Danny Should’ve Come Back at Least Once

I think most of the Phandom can agree that The Ultimate Enemy was one of the best Danny Phantom episodes ever made, and for good reason. It was incredibly dark of a kid’s cartoon, especially one made by Bitch Hartman, and on top of that, it provided some very interesting lore and characters. We get to see Danny pushed to his absolute emotional limit in a way that I don’t think the show ever did before, save maybe for My Brother’s Keeper in season 1, and we get our first glimpse at Clockwork, who thanks to @five-rivers fanfic Mortified, has become one of my favorite DP characters. And of course, we get to see Dark Danny, or Dan.

But there’s one little thing about this episode that’s always bothered me: the very ending.

Because at the very end of TUE, we get a shot of the Fenton thermos that Dan is sealed away in rocking back and forth, before Dan’s face forms a massive dent in the side, his laughter echoing as the screen fades to the end credits.

You would think, with an ending like that, that Dan would come back in a later episode. That he would return in the series finale is this last big bad, this final demon for Danny to confront once and for all. 

But that’s not what happens. And it kinda pisses me off.

Dan should’ve come back. We should have gotten at least one more episode with this guy, exploring more of his character, more of his side of the story, anything at all. And you know what would be a great way to do this?

Vlad.

Imagine this, if you will.

Dan makes his escape from Clockwork’s lair, dead set on finishing what he started. Eventually, he discovers Vlad’s portal (let’s say that Vlad decided to rebuild his here) and, upon coming face to face with the man who made him like this in the first place, freaks out. Dan makes an attempt on Vlad’s life, and Vlad just barely manages to escape.

Once Vlad is sure this strange new ghost won’t find him so easily, he realizes that this new ghost had Danny’s insignia on his chest, and puts it together that Danny must be involved in this somehow. 

So Vlad makes his way to Amity Park to confront Danny about this new ghost. Danny assumes that Vlad is there to try to kill Jack or whatever, the two get into a massive fistfight, before Vlad finally tells Danny that he’s only here because a strange new ghost wearing Danny’s insignia popped out of his portal this morning attempting to kill him a second time.

And Danny freezes. He goes from snarky and flippant to sheer, raw terror that has Vlad actually worried. Danny demands to know what this new ghost looks like, and Vlad’s concern turns to fear when Danny’s face goes white with horror because this is the same kid who went up against Pariah Dark without a second thought, who has faced countless ghosts who’s powers could be considered godly with a fearless smile on his face, and Vlad may not have much respect for Danny but he knows what the kid lacks in intelligence he more than makes up for in bravery. 

Meaning that whoever this new ghost is must be incredibly powerful, incredibly horrific, and incredibly dangerous.

Danny tells Vlad to go to Danny’s house and tell them to put the ghost shields surrounding the town up, to not try anything funny, and don’t. Leave. The Shields. No matter what.

For once, Vlad decides to take Danny’s lead. He appears on the Fenton’s doorstep, Armani suit ruffled and hair disheveled, telling them that there is a very powerful ghost making it’s way toward Amity Park and they need to put the ghost shields up now, or risk a Pariah Dark-level threat again. 

Then Vlad makes his way toward the edge of town, because he still hasn’t gotten an answer from Danny as to who exactly that ghost was, and he’ll be damned if he can’t get an answer.

Meanwhile, Danny is just outside the ghost shields, waiting for Dan to arrive. He’s absolutely terrified, because what if Danny isn’t strong enough this time? What if he fails again, like he almost did before Clockwork turned back time? Would Clockwork do that for him again? Would he have to watch his future burn down this present that he’s taken so long to keep up?

Then Dan arrives. Right as Vlad makes it to the edge of the shield. 

And Vlad watches with awe as the two fight. He watches as Danny holds his own against this ghost that had almost decimated Vlad barely 2 hours prior, watches as Danny outmaneuvers, outsmarts this menace, watches as Danny fights tooth and nail in a way that Vlad is sure he’s never seen before, and he realizes that Danny has been holding back. Maybe not at first, maybe not during those first few months, but definitely for a while now, because Danny is holding his own now when Vlad couldn’t.

But then that leaves the question as to why? Why is Danny going all out now? Why was he so scared of this new ghost? More importantly, when did Danny encounter this guy? 

Because he had to have fought this ghost at least once before, to have had that reaction to Vlad’s description. 

And then, he hears the other ghost’s voice, one that sounds like a strange mixture of his and Danny’s, and he hears him say “It doesn’t matter what you do, Danny. You might’ve stopped that explosion, but there are still so many other things that lead to me. A car crash, an unlucky ghost attack, the ecto-filtrator, Vlad getting lucky, all of them could still happen. Your friends, your family, all gone, and you still turn into me.”

And suddenly, everything makes sense. That ghost that Danny’s fighting, that ghost that attacked Vlad, that is Danny, or it was, before something twisted him into an unrecognizable monster, and Vlad has a creeping suspicion that it has something to do with him.  And he realizes that Danny is so much more than he ever gave him credit for. He sees Danny, fighting his own future with a hope that Vlad would call naive if not for the fact that Danny had already thwarted whatever horrible future lead to this at least once before, and he understands that he was wrong about Danny.

Because this? Fighting against the personification of all the worst parts of yourself not once, but at least twice? It would require a maturity, a strength of will that Vlad knows he himself lacks, and he comes to the stunning realization that for all the childish quips and petty pranks, Danny is far more mature than Vlad ever was, far stronger than Vlad ever was.

And then, Danny does the ghostly wail.

And if Vlad was surprised before, then he's absolutely terrified now. That’s enough power to destroy an entire city, that single wail, and the sound is a bone-chilling scream that rubs the older halfa wrong in every way possible because that sound should not come from someone as young as Danny.

And now Vlad is caught between two realizations: that Danny is so much stronger than Vlad could ever be in every sense of the word, and that the only reason Danny is that strong is because he has to be, because he’s a child being forced to go against all manner of ghostly and cosmic horror all on his own, and Vlad suddenly feels intensely guilty because he should’ve been helping Danny, and instead he’s done nothing but make his life harder.

At that point, Jack and Maddie arrive. They freak out because Vlad is so close to Phantom and this other extremely powerful ghost, what the hell is he thinking!? And Vlad is trying desperately to get them to leave, because Danny looks exhausted and Vlad might be an ass, but he’s starting his redemption arc now and that means making sure Danny’s secret, and by extension Danny himself, is safe from his parents. Vlad knows what it’s like to be on an examination table, knows how terrifying it is to have doctors looming over you with knives and bright lights while you have no idea what’s going on, and he’ll be damned if he lets Danny (who he again reminds himself is very much still a child) go through that with his own parents.

But it’s too late. Danny detransforms right there on the street, in full view of Jack and Maddie and everyone else who’s gathered there (Dan’s been sucked back in the thermos at this point).

Danny turns around, covered in scratches and burns and bruises, blood in his mouth from where Dan punched him in the lip, left arm hanging in an unnatural angle, and he sees everyone: He sees Vlad, icy blue eyes so similar to Danny’s own filled with uncharacteristic worry.

He sees Sam and Tucker, both with wide, scared eyes, and he can just barely see the faint shimmer of tears gathering in their eyes.

He sees Jazz, face pale and her knuckles white as she grips the Fenton peeler with all her strength.

He sees Valerie, her helmet down and exposing a flurry of emotions ranging from shock to anger to horror to pain.

He sees his mom and dad, clinging to each other as they stare at Danny, at their son, and come to the realization that their son is dead, their son is a ghost and he has been for a while now and how did they never notice? How could they not notice that they had been shooting at their own son for at least a year now, that their boy had been putting his afterlife on the line for them while also trying to keep up with school, and evade capture by the GIW, all at the same time?

And Danny is scared, he’s so scared, because his parents look horrified of him and they think he’s a monster, and they hate him, because why else would they be looking at him like that?

He feels his fathers arms wrapping around him and he’s sure, he’s so sure that they’re about to haul him off to their lab to be pinned down and dissected by his own parents, because they saw Dan, they saw what he would become, they saw what he is now, they know now. But then his mom and dad start apologizing, because they never noticed, and they should’ve, they should’ve seen that Danny’s low grades and missed curfews and skipped classes were because he was putting his life on the line for everyone in this town over and over and over again. They apologize for not making him feel safe in his own house, because how many times did they rant about dissecting their own son right in front of him? How many times had Jack and Maddie shown Danny a dissected blob ghost and effectively told him that he was the next one on the list? How much hell did their own son have to go through on his own, because his own parents couldn’t see what was right there?

And Danny finally realizes that no, he’s not going to end up on a dissection table, that his parents do accept him as he is now. 

But there’s still this lingering fear because they don’t know. They don’t know what Danny might turn into, and he can’t keep that from them anymore, because Dan is a secret he can’t keep anymore.

Jack and Maddie are confused when their son pulls away, and for a moment they’re worried that Danny’s upset with them, that he’s angry at them, because why wouldn’t he be?

Then they see this nervousness, they see how he’s shaking and tense, and they might not always be able to read the room that well but they can tell that there’s something else going on here that Danny wants to tell them, even if he’s scared to.

So Jack and Maddie ask Danny if he wants to talk about whatever it is back at the house, and Danny says yes, but Vlad, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz should also be there, because Danny needs some level of support and he knows that Vlad won’t stop pestering him about Dan until he tells him.

Valerie steps in at this point, finally getting over her shock to demand to know what the hells going on, was Danny Phantom the whole time? Who was that other ghost? Why did that other ghost say that Danny would turn into him?

Sam and Tucker, who have been through the emotional wringer watching their best friend fight his evil future self, then reveal his identity to his parents, are kinda pissed at Valerie, because Danny’s already stressed out enough as is, she doesn’t need to be adding on to it. A fight almost breaks out between the three of them, which only stopped when Vlad of all people, steps in saying that while Valerie does have a right to know what’s going on, all of this yelling will do nothing but cause problems.

The three simmer down, and they all head over to the Fenton’s house, where Danny tells them everything: the portal, Pariah Dark (Vlad suddenly finds a particularly interesting spot on the floor), and Dan. He tells them about how Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker died in an explosion in that timeline, how that timeline’s Danny turned to Vlad to take him in, how Alt!Danny asked Vlad to remove his human half so he wouldn’t feel that pain anymore. How Alt!Phantom had been driven insane by the separation (he leaves out the part where Phantom fuses with Vlad’s ghost half: he’s not sure Vlad wants him to tell them about his halfa status), killing his human half before destroying most of humanity. How Danny had been forced to fight Dan a year ago, when he had attempted to blow up his friends in family in this timeline to ensure Dan’s recreation here.

When he’s finally done, about an hour and a half later, Danny looks around the room: at Valerie, at Vlad, at his best friends, at his sister, at his parents, and he sees not only acceptance, but respect. Pride. Because they saw that Danny was willing to look his fate in the eye, and say that he would change it no matter what. They saw him fight tooth and nail to protect them, they saw him defend them from his own demons with a bravery most grown adults don’t have, much less a 14 year old boy.

And they accept him.

[kinglazrus]

Deep Wounds Ch. 2 - What Now?

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Word count: 4069

It takes ten minutes for everyone to change and clear out. During that time, an invisible Danny floats in one of the shower stalls, his gym bag clutched to his chest, one hand clamped around his mouth. If it hadn't been for Dash's shout of "No!" he might not have hidden in time. Danny only had a few seconds to snatch up his bandages and bag—but not the gauze—before the first person entered.

It was Tucker, thankfully. He gaped when he saw Danny and quickly waved for him to hide. Just in time, too, since Elliot was only a few steps behind.

Now, Danny can only hear a single person shuffling about.

"It's clear," Tucker whispers.

Danny floats through the door of the shower stall, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees the empty change room. He drops his invisibility and dumps his stuff on the floor in favour of clutching his side. "Why didn't I stay home today?"

"Because you want to graduate this year and you can't afford another absence." Tucker grabs his gym shirt off the floor, revealing the forgotten gauze pad, and sighs at the new stains. "I really liked this shirt."

"Sorry, man."

"Dude, you are literally bleeding. Shut up. You don't need to apologize. Just be glad I got my shirt off before Elliot could see the damn thing." Tucker grabs the gauze, rolls it into a ball, and tosses it toward the garbage can. "Ten points!"

The gauze bounces off the rim and falls to the floor.

"Zero points," Danny says.

"Rude."

"Hey, I'm bleeding, remember?"

"That only gets you a pass from saying sorry, not common decency."

Danny's shoulders shake as he laughs. It hurts, making his left side throbbing, but trying to hold it back hurts worse. "Ow, ow, ow," he says, gasps of pain interrupting him. Curling over, he hugs his side even tighter, fighting back a sharp cry. The tension in his body doesn't help, but the pressure on his side feels good.

"Sam on her way?" Danny asks.

"She's grabbing the first-aid kit from my locker. I'll fix you up this time. We all know I have steadier hands." That A-plus in home ec isn't for nothing.

"Thanks," Danny mumbles.

"Yeah, dude. We've got you."

After Sam arrives, Tucker redoes Danny's stitches in record time. Half of the lunch hour has passed by the time Danny gets patched up, but he doesn't feel hungry anyway. Tucker takes his and Danny's bloody gym shirts and stuffs them into the first-aid kit.

"I need to refill on some supplies at home," Tucker explains. "I'll get rid of these there."

"Good idea. My mom found a pair of jeans I forgot to throw away after a fight with Skulker. I had a hard time explaining that one away," Danny says. The "I tripped into a window" excuse probably only works once, anyway. "But we have another problem."

"Dash?" Sam asks.

Danny nods. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"He was acting weird when gym ended. Wouldn't let anyone come inside until we pushed him out of the way."

"Huh." Danny certainly didn't expect that. Dash might be a downright bully anymore, but he's still not prone to random acts of kindness. "That's... weird." It doesn't make up for him tearing Danny's wound back open, even if it was an accident, but it's something.

"I think we might not have to worry about him," Sam says.

Danny stares at her, incredulous. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, actually. He could have done anything when he saw the rest of the class coming, including telling everyone that you were hurt. But he stopped them instead."

"But this is Dash."

"That's surprising coming from you."

"What does that even mean? You guys and Valerie are being so weird today. Come on, Tucker. Back me up." Danny looks at Tucker, fully expecting him to be on Danny's side.

Tucker doesn't respond right away. Biting his thumbnail, he stares ahead at the floor, deep in thought. That alone is enough to send Danny for a loop. When Tucker does answer, Danny's jaw drops in disbelief.

"I'm with Sam on this."

"For real?"

"Yeah, man. We don't even know what Dash thinks he saw, anyway. What happened when he walked in?" Tucker asks.

Danny tells them, sparing no detail.

"Oh, wow."

Sam shakes her head. "I'll say. I can't believe you wailed at him."

"Almost. I almost wailed at him. It was a baby wail at most. More of a hum," Danny says. He was just so surprised when Dash walked in. Danny's instincts took over and all he could think about was getting Dash out of there as soon as possible. He is lucky no one else came running.

"That already will have freaked him out. If we go around making a big deal about it and getting in his face, that'll make things worse." Sam stands up from the floor, stretching her arms over her head. She looks completely unconcerned, so does Tucker for that matter. Both of them are content to let Dash be. "Let's wait to see what he does. If he starts spreading rumours, we'll know right away, and then we can confront him."

"On the other hand, he might go to you, Danny, first," Tucker adds. He takes a bottle of Aspirin from the first-aid kit and presses it into Danny's hand before zipping the bag up. "He might not do anything."

The bottle of Aspirin rattles as Danny twists the lid off. "I can't believe you guys are okay with this." He dumps a couple of pills into his palm and tosses them back. Wordlessly, Sam passes him a water bottle. One quick swig is all he needs to help the pills go down. "He could be telling everyone right now."

"He could," Sam admits. "But he won't."

Sam and Tucker get up to leave, and Danny's forced to follow, or else get left behind. He trails after them, stiff, sore, and aching. The pills won't kick in for a while, and he loathes having to walk now. If he could get away with it, he would spend the rest of the day floating through the halls.

Tragically, he has a secret to protect. One that is very much at risk right now, despite what Sam says. Wherever she and Tucker are getting their confidence from, Danny doesn't share it. He just hopes they're right.

Dash tries to hold it in. He really does. The sound of Danny's anger bearing down on him, reverberating through the change room, hasn't stopped rattling around his head. But as lunch nears its end, the words burst out of him.

"I think Fenton is in a gang or something," Dash says.

The table falls silent.

Kwan freezes in place, hand halfway to his mouth, and a piece of meatloaf falls off his fork. "You... what?"

"I think Danny is in a gang," Dash repeats, softer.

His friends gape at him, equally confused. Mostly. Star doesn't even look up from her math homework. In fact, Dash thinks she's smiling, but he ignores it.

"Kwan, I thought you said Danny was the one who got hit during gym class," Paulina says. She pushes her lunch aside and leans across the table, lifting a hand to Dash's forehead. "Are you sure you got it right?"

"I'm fine, Paulie." Dash ducks under his hand and hunkers low to the table. When no one else moves, he gestures for them to come closer. Kwan does so immediately. Paulina rolls her eyes but obliges.

"I'm good," Star says.

"Okay, so, I checked on Fenton after dropping him off, 'cause he looked kind of bad, and I guess, I don't know. I felt... whatever. It doesn't matter. But like, he had this huge cut."

Paulina grins and leans in closer, finally looking invested. "You felt kind of 'whatever?'"

Dash scowls. "Seriously, Paulie?"

"You're the one who said it!" Paulina smacks the table, a fit of giggles bursting from her. It's her "I've found some juicy gossip" noise and Dash hates it.

"Did you even hear me? Huge cut and all that?" Dash says.

Kwan shrugs. "I don't know. His parents build a lot of crazy stuff, don't they? He probably hurt himself on one of those. Did you see that new gun they were toting around last week? It melted Mr. Lancer's car!"

"Oh, my God. I totally saw that. I felt so bad for him," Paulina says.

Dash frowns down at the table while the conversation plods on. True, everyone knows the Fentons have some crazy inventions. But everything they make, they make to hurt ghosts, not people. Everyone in town has been caught in the Fentons crossfire at one point or another. Dash still remembers the disgusting taste of the Fenton Foamers. Like warm, month-old key lime yogurt. Disgusting, but ultimately harmless.

And Danny didn't just have a little cut. It was huge. Dash only got a brief look at it, but that short glance told him everything he needed to know. Something, or someone, had hurt Danny. Rather than going to the hospital—because no trained professional would do such a sloppy job—Danny fixed it himself or got his friends to fix it. The injury had to be new, too, since it was still bleeding.

But stitches could bleed if you ripped them, didn't treat the injury right. Judging by the placement, Danny's stitches must pull every time he moves his arm.

Could one of his parents' guns have done that?

Now that Dash thinks about it, he doesn’t remember ever seeing Danny get hit with his parents' weapons. Not their guns, at least. They have that dumb boomerang thing that he's seen smack Danny on the back of the head. Actually, that one hits Danny a lot.

Dash's frown deepens, etching into his face. Why on Earth would one of Danny's own parents' inventions hurt him so much? Unless...

"Hey, guys?" Dash asks, interrupting Star mid-sentence.

"You found more proof of Fenton's gang activities?" Paulina asks.

"What if, like, someone's hurting him?"

"You mean one of his gang buddies?"

"No, Paulie, I'm serious. What if someone is hurting him?"

The table falls silent once more, but this time, his friends' expressions are serious rather than disbelieving.

Kwan lowers his voice. "Do you really think... I mean, Fenton?"

"Well..." Star taps her chin. "Where was he hurt?"

"Here." Dash taps his ribs on his left side, under his arm.

Star nods. "Okay. Are you sure he couldn't have, you know...." She trails off, but Dash already knows what she means.

"No way. He could hardly see the cut, much less do it himself. And it was bad."

"So he was hurt, badly, in a place that no one else would normally see. He didn't miss any school, so he probably didn't go to the hospital. Was it recent?"

Dash nods. "There was blood. Too much to just be because of the stitches."

Star drums her fingers on the table, nodding slowly. "I think you could be right."

The A-listers glance around the table, meeting each other's eyes. None of them say anything, but the same question lurks in all their minds. Now what?

In the days following the change room debacle, Danny avoids Dash like his life depends on it. Which it might. Any time he sees Dash in the hall, he turns right around and walks away. When they're in class, Danny stares straight ahead and refuses to look Dash's way. In gym class, Tetslaff lets him sit out, finally. Having Danny blackout on her after she forced him to play must have spooked her because she benches him before he can even ask not to play.

"No student of mine is gonna pass out on my watch. Twice," she says.

It won't last forever, but Danny will take what he can get, while he can get it.

But the thing is, Dash doesn't try anything. It's surreal. For the past four years, Danny has grown accustomed to Dash's constant harassment. Even when it dropped significantly in sophomore year, Dash never stopped. He threw erasers at Danny during class, tripped him in the halls, called out teasing names every chance he got.

"I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird, right?" Danny asks Tucker on the third day.

Already done his lunch, Tucker is thoroughly engrossed by his phone and doesn't look up as he replies. "You think everything is weird lately."

"Because it is."

"Missing your quality time with Dash?" Tucker flashes a quick grin in Danny's direction before returning to his phone.

"Har, har. You are so funny." Danny would have to be some kind of masochist to miss Dash's badgering. It's just... strange, not to have to watch the halls for him in that way. It doesn't make Danny watch any less—in fact, he finds himself looking for Dash more than before. So that he can run away if he gets close. Except Dash isn't even trying, and that annoys the hell out of him.

Tucker sighs, finally putting down his phone, and rests a hand on Danny's head. "Such a hopeless young soul. Can't even understand your own heart."

Danny slaps the hand away. "Says the guy who asked out every girl in school because they all made him feel the same way because it turns out he's super ace and didn't actually feel anything for any of them."

"And what an emotional journey that was." Tucker faces Danny head-on. "Look, Danny. If it's bothering you that much, then go talk to him. Feed him some excuse about what happened. Just remember that there's a reason Sam and I think it will be okay."

Danny ponders Tucker's advice for the rest of the day. The weekend starts tomorrow, which gives him two whole Dash-free days to think about the situation. Maybe a little time to himself as what he needs. He goes for a flight after school rather than walking home with Tucker; being in the air always helps clear his head.

He soars far above the city until he is little more than a pinprick to everyone far below. At the peak of his flight, his phone rings. The caller ID shows it's Jazz.

"What's up?" he greets his sister.

"Taken over my room yet?" Jazz asks.

"When you've only been at college for a month? Of course." It made a great storage space. Danny turns over to float on his stomach and starts drifting down like a leaf, falling back and forth on the wind.

"Well, I'm gonna need it back this weekend."

"Dropping out already?"

"You wish. I got a tutoring gig: two sessions—Saturday and Sunday. I don't want to do the two hours there and back both days, so I'm coming home for the weekend."

"I can't believe someone is actually paying to spend time with you. Hope the loser doesn't rub off on them."

Jazz laughs. "Pretty sure any loser on my came from you. And it's four people. Actually, you know them."

When Danny comes downstairs Saturday morning and sees Jazz's students at the kitchen table, he stops dead.

"You have got to be kidding me," he says.

"Hi, Danny!" Paulina waves, far too perky for nine in the morning. Squished around the table with her, Kwan and Star offer their own small waves. Dash looks straight down at his textbook.

"Goodbye." Danny pivots and marches back toward the stairs. Forget breakfast; he didn't want to eat, anyway. He can still have a nice, relaxing, Dash-free day in the confines of his bedroom.

A cascade of whispers reaches his ears as he hits the first stair. The A-listers murmur too quiet for him to make out what they're saying, although he thinks he catches his name more than once. Maybe they're talking about how uncanny it is being inside his house. Or, perhaps, they're discussing the new school nurse, Tammy. But even as he thinks it, he knows neither theory is true.

A chair screeches in the kitchen, the plastic capped legs scraping against the linoleum. Danny throws himself up the stairs.

"Oh, Danny, wait!" Paulina's silky voice follows him.

He jerks to a stop at the landing, cringing. How mad would she be if he ignored her? It's funny to think that a few years ago his heart would have leapt at Paulina calling out his name, back when he had a crush on her.

His toes curl against the carpet as he hesitates; the pros and cons of ignoring her run through his head. Pro: he won't have to deal with whatever scheme she's up to, and Paulina is most certainly up to something. Con: she might sic Dash on him, and he's the last person Danny wants to see right now. But that's a moot point because Dash is already here. After some humming and hawing, he grits his teeth and turns back around.

Paulina hangs out the kitchen doorway, greeting him with a bright smile.

"Yes, Paulina?" Danny asks.

It should be physically impossible for her smile to get any wider, and yet it does. "You're having trouble in science class, right?"

Danny hesitates. "Maybe. Why?"

"So are we! We came here for a study session with your sister, since she was Casper's best student in thirty decades. You should join us!"

"Isn't Star acing all her classes? And I thought science was your best class."

Paulina rolls her eyes and huffs, but without any malice. It reminds him of the look Tucker gives his little cousins when they are being intentionally obstinate. Danny flushes, suddenly feeling stupid even though he doesn't understand why.

"Yeah, we're good at it, but the boys aren't. Duh." She says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Maybe it is. "It's easier to study in a group."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I like studying alone."

Paulina's smile doesn't fall, but it changes. Danny can't quite place what it turns into. Her mouth curves upward and her teeth are exposed; objectively, it's still a smile. But there's a new tension to it, one Danny only notices now, but he thinks might have been there the whole time, lurking behind the bright façade. His grip on the newel post tightens, the wood creaking beneath his finger.

At times like this, Danny wishes his ghost abilities included reading emotions. The look Paulina is giving him is important, he can feel it, even though he can't explain it. But it doesn't mean anything if he can't decipher it.

"If you say so." The moment shatters. Paulina withdraws back into the kitchen, leaving Danny alone and wondering if he missed something important.

Down the hall from him, Jazz's bedroom door opens. She emerges with an armful of books—old schoolbooks, Danny notes.

"Not hanging out with Sam and Tucker today?" she asks.

"Jazz, it's not even noon yet. I don't think Tucker's awake." Danny glances down the stairs toward the kitchen, mulling something over in his head. "I kind of want some alone time today. I know you're tutoring and everything, but could you make sure they don't bother me?"

Jazz frowns. "Is everything okay?"

"There was an... incident with Dash at school."

"Boy troubles?"

"Jazz!" Danny's entire face turns scarlet. "Please never say that about Dash." He lowers his voice. "It was ghost-related troubles."

Jazz's expression goes stony, her teasing smile replaced by a serious frown. "Do I need to take care of him for you?"

"Oh, my God, Jazz! Just keep him away from my room!" He marches the rest of the way to his room to the sound of Jazz's snickers and slams the door behind him.

When Paulina returns to the kitchen, Dash sits up straighter. She shakes her head as she reclaims her seat next to Star. Dash deflates again.

"I told you this wouldn't work," Dash says.

"Don't be so silly. That wasn't even plan A, although it would make things easier. Are you sure you didn't do anything to him in that change room?" Paulina asks.

Dash groans. "Please. Please never say anything like that again. It sounds so wrong."

"You're the one who took it that way."

Star and Kwan laugh at Dash's misfortune, watching him bury his face in his arms. When Star suggested they gather evidence, to confirm whether or not Danny was being abused at home, this wasn't what Dash expected. He pictured spy movie antics with them sneaking through the bushes dressed all in black, peeking through windows until they say something that proved—or disproved—their theory.

Things would go a lot easier if Dash could actually talk to Danny, but ever since that moment in the change room, he can't. He knows Danny has been avoiding him, which is better short term. If Danny walked up to Dash right now demanding to talk about what happened, Dash wouldn't know what to say.

How many times has he hurt Danny (pushed, kicked, body-checked) when he was injured? There's a possibility, however slim, that this was a fluke, the first time Danny has ever come to school injured. There have to be loads of reasons someone might not go to the hospital, such as bad insurance. Dash's cousin broke her nose once and let it heal crooked instead of going to the doctor since it was cheaper. He's heard stories of people sacrificing their health rather than paying exorbitant hospital fees. It's not impossible.

Except Danny's parents are inventors. They do projects for the government and can afford to throw money around for ridiculous ghost hunting contraptions. The Emergency Ops Centre only two floors above them must have cost millions. If that's the case, then surely his parents can afford a hospital visit for such a bad wound.

Dash doesn’t like to think about the alternative, but he has to. The alternative is the whole reason he and his friends are here.

That doesn't help with Dash's other dilemma, though. How is he supposed to talk to Fenton, now? Dash doesn't think he knows how to interact with Danny without some form of aggression. Even when he stopped outright bullying people, he never stopped with Danny. A push here, a shove there. It is instinct for Dash to stick his foot out if he sees Danny coming.

Danny even returns the favour, sometimes, growing bolder the older they became. Dash still doesn't know how Danny keeps getting into his stuffed bear collection, but it's not unusual for him to find one in his locker or sitting at his desk when he returns to class.

It's what they do. Dash can't help it. Any time he manages to trip Danny up enough that he gets a glare or a vengeful smile, it makes him feel good.

But he can't do that now. If Danny is actually getting hurt at home, Dash can't in his right mind keep agitating him. Just thinking about what he did to Danny's stitches makes him pale. He doesn't even want to think about what other wounds he's made worse over the years.

And he has. Dash knows this without a doubt. Thinking back on their interactions this year alone, more than five occasions come to mind where Danny grimaced, or flinched, or clutched some part of his body after Danny bumped his shoulder in the hall. It feels him with an indescribable dread, but the worst of it is he can't understand why.

He never knew Danny was injured; he can't be entirely to blame. Thinking that does nothing to assuage his guilt, though.

"Okay!" Jazz Fenton announces herself with a bright chirp. She clutches a stack of textbooks to her chest; books Dash recognizes from their classes. The idea that she stole them from the school flashes through his mind, but that's ludicrous. Jazz doesn't have a criminally minded bone in her body. If anything, she bought them, or the school gave them to her for being that amazing. Either option is more likely than her committing a crime.

Jazz slams the books down on the table directly across from Dash. She flashes him a brilliant smile as she sits and folds her hands over the table.

"So, Dash." She tilts her head. Her smile no longer looks kind. "I've heard some interesting things about you."

Previous | Next

[redrobin-detective]

Like You

Trequel to Half Of and The only ghost in Amity Park

“We need to talk, Fenton,” Valerie hissed, slamming Danny’s locker shut in his face. He pursed his lips and lowered his gaze but said nothing. Manson scoffed and stepped right up, putting her finger in Valerie’s face.

“He doesn’t owe you anything, Val so lay off. If he wants to talk to you, he will, not because you demanded it.” Val grabbed Sam’s wrist, strong but still such delicate bones. The goth flinched a bit as Valerie applied pressure.

“Only my friends,” Valerie hissed with a hard look over at Danny, “get to call me Val. But I guess we’re not friends if you kept something like this from me.”

“Val...erie, let her go,” Danny mumbled quietly. “We’ll talk after school, meet me by the equipment shed behind the football field.”

“Alone,” Val said, flicking away Sam’s wrist. “None of your adoring, enabling entourage, new or old.” 

“No way in hell,” Sam said, clearly resisting the urge to hold onto her injured wrist. “Like we’d trust Danny with someone like you.”

“What? Human?” Valerie asked back. Danny stuck his hands between them and forced them apart. Now that Val was looking, the entire hall was watching them. Whatever, they didn’t matter. 

“Cut it out,” Danny frowned, looking over both of them. “Sam, I’ll be fine talking to her alone.” He turned back to her with his blue eyes. As long as she’d known him, Danny’s had a presence about him. She took it as growing up in such a strange house and later her growing crush. But there was no way to explain away the icy, electric feel of his gaze holding her own. “3:30, equipment shed, just talking. Okay?”

“Fine,” Valerie said, turning and stomping down the hall so she had the last word. The rest of the day passed slowly as she gripped the sides of her desk and bounced her leg, thinking about Danny Fenton. How long had Danny been a ghost or half of one, how was that even possible? Had he always been that way and she simply hadn’t noticed? Her? The best ghost hunter in Amity? How much of Danny was real and what was just a cruel ghostly joke? That’s the question that burned the most. Danny seemed to be the only one who liked this new, more grounded Valerie. What would she do if her closest friend was just messing with her?

Finally, school ended and she stalked purposefully towards the equipment shed. Interesting choice of location, it was almost never used since most every day sports gear was stored in the locker rooms. Did he chose it because it was isolated? Danny didn’t seemed worried about confronting her alone, what abilities could he have that he wasn’t scared of her? That made her pause once the shed came into sight. She’d only heard about Danny’s powers, never having ever seen them firsthand. Valerie took an ectogun from her bag and slipped it in back waistband of her skirt. Just in case.

Danny was sitting on the roof of the shed, weirdly enough. It would be next to impossible to climb so he had to have flown. She’d already heard of him floating but the idea of Danny Fenton and superpowers still didn’t add up in her head. He was rubbing at a tear in his jeans when she approached. Danny gave a little awkward half smile that, a few days ago, would have sent her stomach into somersaults. Now seeing it just made her sick.

“Are you gonna hide up there all day?” She asked curtly, hands on her hips. 

“You could always join me up here,” Danny shrugged, getting more comfortable on the roof. Val raised a disbelieving eyebrow, eyeing the lack of handles and the broken splinters on the old shed. “We’re far enough away, no one will see you use your hoverboard.” Just when Valerie thought he was done being surprised. She gaped open mouthed at Danny who got nervous and rubbed his hands anxiously. “You uh you wanted to talk so I thought we ought to lay all our cards on the table.” He took a deep breath, “I know you’re the Red Huntress Val...erie.” 

“How!” She demanded, activating her board without thought to get to the roof. She grabbed Danny by the shirt and hauled him forward until their faces were inches apart. His body radiated a soft chill that brushed against her skin. He held up his hands in surrender.

“Since the start, Sam and I, we saw you in the park, remember? You caught us uhhhh,” Danny trailed off, looking away with a blush. It took Val a minute but she remembered one of her first outings with the suit, she was chasing Phantom and his stupid dog only to find Danny and Sam kissing in the bushes. She hadn’t cared about the love lives of losers at the time. It had only become relevant when she started catching feeling for Danny but he’d assured her multiple times that he and Manson weren’t a couple. “It wasn’t real, the kiss I mean. It was Sam’s idea, you surprised us and we didn’t have time to hide so you didn’t...” he trailed off.

"Didn’t, what?” She demanded. Valerie gasped when Danny simply phased out of her grip and assuming his previous position on the roof. She stared for a moment at her hands before looking up again at Danny who was back to fiddling with his clothes. There it was, irrefutable proof that Danny wasn’t human. It felt like her heart was being chipped away with a hammer. 

“Look, this has been kind of a hard week for me,” Danny groaned, raking his hands forcefully through his hair. “I get my powers outed, I need to convince my parents not to kill me the rest of the way, keep the ghosts off my back for a period, get the government to acknowledge my existence all the while dealing with everyone’s stares and questions at school.” He tucked his knees closer and flopped his face into them. “I said I would be honest with you and I’m trying but I’ve already had to give so much of myself this week and... I don’t know, what do you even want from me?”

“I want answers!” Valerie tried to demand but it came across as more whiney. She pushed back any tears that were threatening to come. “I want to know what was real! Was our friendship real? Our feelings? Are you even real? And if you knew I Huntress all this time then why... why would you even talk to me? Were you just playing with me? Spying on me? What did you want with me?”

“I’m real, Val, I promise,” He held out his hand and she reluctantly took it. His hand was chilly but there always where, it was also solid with knobbing bones and ropy muscles. Beneath it all, there was a sluggish but persistent pulse. She squeezed his hand, it was a human hand and yet it had also passed right through her. How could he be real and not real at once?

“As for what I wanted, just a friend really,” Danny said, keeping his head on his folded knees but turning towards her. She read nothing but sincerity in his eerily blue eyes. “Sam, Tuck and I, we have serious history. We know each other inside and out. But you, you were someone new. I loved hearing about your interests, your dreams, finding out who you were as a person beyond that jerk who made fun of me the second week of Freshman year for wearing my dad’s jumpsuit to school. I liked being able to be a normal person with you, I think I had started to forget with the whole ghost thing going on.”

“What happened?” Valerie couldn’t help but ask.

“Lab accident,” Danny said quietly, “Sam and Tuck were there, wasn’t pretty. Thought I was goner for sure. I survived somehow but I got some freaky powers out of the deal. There’s downsides but some sweet benefits,” he tilted his head back and looked longingly up at the sky. “Flying is the best.”

“Yeah,” Val couldn’t help but sigh in agreement. She could almost the feel the sensation of the wind whipping against her suit. Hear the roar as she soared through the clouds. It was hard to imagine Danny flying but his eyes shined with understanding she usually only saw in the mirror. “So why did you hang out with me knowing I hunted ghosts?”

“It just sorta happened, You obviously sensed that Sam and Tucker weren’t too happy about the risk.” No kidding, Val had gotten warmer welcomes from freezers. “But you were cool, Val. Plus you,” he paused and seemed to consider his words. “I felt like once we got over the hump you would get it in a way the other don’t. You know what it like to balance two lives, to have insane power at your fingertips, to feel like if you take even a second break that the ghosts will overwhelm the town. It’s just... a lot to deal with alone, Sam, Tucker and Jazz, they try to understand but they just don’t.”

He looked over at her, “I guess it was nice to know that there was someone like me out there,” he blushed, “and that someone uh liked me. For being me, y’know?”

“Clearly I didn’t know everything,” she grumbled watching as Danny winced. Val frowned, she probably wasn’t being entirely fair, she hadn’t exactly been honest with Danny either. 

“So you fight ghosts, huh?” Valerie couldn’t help was ask with a little smile. Trying to picture it. The Danny she thought she knew wouldn’t but this Danny... “Is that why you’re always running out of class?”

“Isn’t that why you leave?” He teased back hesitantly. “I’m honestly a little surprised no one figured me out before. I was really bad at hiding at first. Of course it’s only when I get the whole ‘secret identity’ thing down that I get exposed.” He huffed, the ends of his hair lifting out of his eyes. 

“Secret identity, so you can turn into a ghost?” Danny was silent. “Have I seen you out there?” More silence. “Have I... have I shot at you?” Everything seemed quiet save for their asynchronous breathing. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“It stung but not enough to keep me down for long,” Danny said, flexing his arms but his smile was strained. There was something about it that was haunting, familiar. She turned to look at the woods because if she stared any longer she’d realize which ghost Danny turned into and neither of them was ready for that right now. 

“So now what?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” Danny sighed. “I’m kind of taking it one day at a time. Mom and Dad are nervous, jumpy, I’m not sure if they’re more scared of me or of themselves and what they did. My sister and friends are being annoyingly overprotective. People who hated me last week are suddenly in my face asking questions and demanding demonstrations. The government wants to kill me but,” he snorted a little, and tilted his head towards her floppily. “I'm also talking to you about this part of my life for the first time. Lying was a necessity I never grew comfortable with, I think I could do with a bit of honesty.”

“Yeah me too,” Valerie said, straightening up and looking Danny in the eye. “I’m still not sure how I feel about this. I don’t like ghosts and I likely never will. I’m going to continuing being Huntress and keeping the town safe. But I’m willing to give you chance, give you time to open up completely. It’ll give us both times to come to terms with everything, and maybe then we can figure out where we stand.”

“I’ll take it!” Danny beamed, “I was worried you were coming here to off me with that ectogun you have stashed in your skirt so this is much better!”

“How did you-” She gasped.

He winked and tapped his forehead, “I’m pretty sensitive to ectoplasm, especially out here in the real world. Gotta admit sometimes when my energy was low, I sought you out. Did you know your suit radiates a low level ectoplasmic field, even when you’re not wearing it?” He twisted his face in thought. “Now that we’re talking-talking, I should warn you what side effects excess exposure to ectoenergy can cause.” He twisted his hand and a small green ectoblast formed in his palm briefly before dissipating. “If that worries you, my parents can hook you up with some sweet ghost hunting equipment that won’t contaminate you.”

“So I could have powers like you one day?” She asked carefully, looking over her hands thoughtfully.

“Maybe, I don’t know. Mine was a kind of one in a million accident, well, two,” he made a face. “That’s whole other story, don’t ask. But we could maybe find out together, Val,” he winced. “Valerie.”

“Val is fine,” she said quietly, still thinking too many things. “We have a lot of things to figure out but in the meantime, you can keep calling me Val.” 

“I’d like that,” he smiled. “So uh, do you want to come to movie night tomorrow? It’s at my house this week. I uh always wanted to invite you before but Sam, Tuck and I usually end up talking ghost stuff during the movie so we couldn’t before but if you’re interested... could be fun to have you there. We’re watching The Shining.”

“That movie is like a billion years old,” Val laughed with an eyeroll.

“It’s a classic, I was named after the kid in that movie!” Danny defended. “I’ll text you the details but its up to you. Either way, we’ll uh, we’ll keep talking. See you around, Val.” And just like that, he vanished. She swiveled her head around but Danny Fenton was truly gone.

“Jerk,” she grumbled but there was no heat to it. She heard a giggle above her and knew Danny, in his secret ghost form, was probably flying. And it was too nice a day to walk home. She activated her suit and took to the skies herself. Valerie didn’t know if Danny was with her or not, she just turned off her brain and fell into the motion of aggressive loops and high speed dives around her town.

 Everything had turned upside down with the knowledge that Danny wasn’t who she thought he was. But again, things had been crazy since the ghosts first came to town. So she and Danny were at a stand still, not friends and not enemies, not open but not secretive either. It was a weird state to be in but Danny was probably used to being in a state of half life himself. But she’d worry about all that later, for now it just her and sky. 

[ashtheshortstack]

Truth be Told

Rating: G Fandom: Danny Phantom

Sequel to dwelling on deceit

Tags: Valerie POV, Post-PP

Read on ao3

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Danny Phantom saving the world with his genius plan was something Valerie had to give him kudos for. Especially after he confirmed her suspicions and transformed back into Danny Fenton right before her eyes. She was a bit stunned to see it happen to say the least, but she knew. And was glad she was right.

The Danny she knew was just a dorky, awkward kid that she had ended up crushing on. It was… sudden. And she didn’t quite know how it happened. Little did she know she’d been fraternizing with the enemy. Danny did though. He knew she was hunting him. And yet… still pursued her. Still wanted to feel like a normal kid and date the girl he liked. She couldn’t imagine how hard it’d been for him. How hard she’d made it on him to constantly fight her knowing full and well he didn’t want to.

Dating Danny had been an uphill battle. As much as she liked him, she knew in her heart that he liked someone else more. Valerie wasn’t stupid. She could see the way he looked at Sam. It was selfish of her to confront the goth girl on the issue, but she wanted to hope that Sam would back off. She remembered when she overheard Sam saying that they’d give her a chance for Danny’s sake, but they knew. They knew this wouldn’t work out.

Jeez, Valerie owed Sam an apology. But… that would come later.

When she suited up, she hadn’t expected to find Danny so quickly. And surprisingly… alone? He and Sam had been attached at the hip since the Disasteroid. Valerie had noticed a small class ring on Sam’s finger every day at school when the two walked down the hallway with their fingers intertwined. Which was super lame and definitely not Sam’s color, but was fitting for Danny. She hated to admit that they were cute. As much as it made her want to gag.

He sat upon the town billboard. The one with the dumb “Amity Park: A Nice Place to Live!” slogan. Yeah, Amity Park was a great place to live if you enjoyed the constant ghost attacks. She was sure their town was going to become a tourist attraction not too long after the famous Danny Phantom saved the world.

“Do ghosts normally haunt billboards at night, Phantom?” she teased as she retracted her hoverboard beneath her feet.

“Night is the best time to haunt, Red, makes things spookier,” he replied, not turning to face her yet. His ever charming sarcasm oozed from his voice, but she could place a bit of hesitance in his tone as well.

Poor guy. Danny probably thought the worst of her. She hadn’t spoken to him since they had returned to school. He had spared her a few glances and nervous smiles between classes, but she hadn’t said anything. She hadn’t dared to pop open that can of worms. And yet, there she was… somehow finally finding her courage to speak to him. The boy she had hunted… the boy she had dated.

Her face softened as she smiled. “Hey, Danny.”

He looked at her then, those green eyes piercing and glowing. “Hey, Val,” he smiled. A genuine Danny smile that she had come to appreciate so much.

Valerie took a seat next to him, not sure where to even begin. But Danny took the lead, of course.

“So, how long is this truce thing going to last? I kind of miss you chasing me around with blasters,” he joked with a half hearted shrug.

Valerie chuckled, leaning back on her palms. “I didn’t know you enjoyed fighting so much..”

“Oh, yeah. Screaming in pain, getting caught in nets, even Skulker constantly telling me he wants my pelt on his wall: love it.”

“That’s a little TMI, Danny. I didn’t need to know that you were a masochist.”

Danny gaped at her. “That is not what I--”

Valerie cut him off with a burst of laughter. He pursed his lips, giving her a glare for teasing him but seemed to relax and join in the fit of giggles with her.

When the chuckles died down, Danny finally leaned back on his palms as she was. “You knew, didn’t you?”

She didn’t have to ask him to elaborate. Valerie already knew what he was asking. She looked up, gazing at the stars with a hesitant smile etching at the corner of her lips. “I had a suspicion. That was my fault, though, I shouldn’t have been so nosy and pried.”

Sighing, he shook his head. “No, if anything I was glad you knew. It’s hard explaining why I didn’t like Vlad Masters without a reason. Especially as a ghost.”

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t like him either.”

Danny snorted at that. “Pretty sure no one likes him anymore, Val. He tried to conquer the world by force and promised safety he couldn’t follow through on. Even my dad hates his old pal Vladdy.”

“Well, I didn’t like him anymore before that. And I tried so hard to play nice so he’d give me information. I think he tried to hint at your identity a few times too.”

Humming, he nodded. “Sounds right. Vlad always had a weird obsession with me.”

“What a freak.”

“A crazed up fruitloop.”

Valerie snorted at that. “I just--I want you to know that I’m happy for you. You’ve never seemed happier and I’m glad. You deserve it, Danny.”

He looked at her, those green eyes seeming to pierce her soul. He really was too kind. Too good, ablet a bit devious at times she knew. He always wanted what was best for everyone. Willingly sacrificed himself for the greater good so many times. And somehow, he was still the dorky unpopular kid at her school. The one she was mean to for so long because she thought that’s what she was supposed to do. Dating Danny had really opened her eyes to the person he could be. It didn’t surprise her one bit that he was Danny Phantom: the ghost hero of Amity Park.

“Thank you.”

The response was so genuine… it made her heart ache. There was a look on his face, however… something that told her there was more he wanted to say. Something in his eyes that didn’t sit well in the pit of her stomach.

“What is it?” she asked.

Danny swallowed, seeming tense. “I have to ask… how do you not hate me? I lied to you--a lot. You were dating me. You were dating Danny Phantom, the literal ghost you wanted to blast to bits and had no idea. Why didn’t you come here screaming at me?”

Sighing, she felt her shoulders sag. “After that stuff with Vlad… and after I figured you out, I had a lot of time to think about it. I was a little angry at first, I guess. But then I thought about how it must’ve been for you. You just wanted to be normal for once. It’d be lame of me to blame you for that. You knew I was literally trying to destroy your other half and yet you still wanted to be with me. I can’t hate you for that.”

He considered her, seeming to soak in her words. When he nodded with a smile, Valerie felt some relief. It wasn’t even a worry she realized she had. She hadn’t thought about Danny fearing how she’d react to him being Phantom. She was glad she could clear that up for him, at least.

Clearing her throat, Valerie quickly realized that sincere conversation was no longer for her. “Sooo, is Tucker seeing anyone?”

He blinked. “Aside from his PDA? No, not that I know of,” Danny paused and grinned. “Why? You interested?”

“I dunno. Dating Amity Park’s youngest mayor in history sounds enticing..”

“What? And dating Amity Park’s ghost superhero isn’t?”

She cocked a brow. “Yeah, but I heard he’s taken.”

“Again, that’s not what I meant.”

“Duh, I know what you meant.” Valerie paused, letting silence wash over her a minute before she sighed and glanced away from him. “We were never going to work, you know that, right?”

He cocked his head in a curious gesture. “What?”

“Danny, you’ve always loved her. Even when you didn’t know it. It was so obvious to everyone else. I just--I just thought I’d take my chances.”

Danny’s cheeks tinged pink (with a little bit of green mixed in, oddly enough.) “Valerie, I liked you. A lot. My feelings for you were real too.”

“‘Liked’ being the operative word. Danny, it’s okay. You don’t have to validate your feelings to me. I know you liked me. I just know you have had stronger feelings for Sam.”

He opened his mouth as if he were going to argue, but snapped his jaw shut quickly. Pursing his lips, he glanced away. “I do. I love her.”

“Have you told her?”

“No…?”

Valerie smacked him on the arm.

“Hey!”

“Why are you telling me, Fenton!? You should be telling Sam that!”

“I will!”

“When?”

“When it feels right!”

Valerie groaned, flopping her head back. “Ughh, you’re such a hopeless romantic. It’s almost gross.”

“Hey! You liked it when I tried to woo you!”

“Maybe so.”

He gave her a knowing look before turning away. “I don’t know how to tell her. I’ll get there, okay?”

Raising her hands in surrender, Valerie caved. “Okay, fine. But do it quick, someone may snatch her up.”

“Are you trying to steal my girlfriend, Valerie?”

“Hey, maybe I just want to homie hop. I’ll date Tucker next then steal Sam from right under your nose.”

Snorting, Danny shoved her gently. “As if. Pretty sure she loves me.”

“Uh huh. Maybe she’d say it if you say it first.”

There was a beat of silence, and Valerie worried she had pushed the conversation too far. But Danny surprised her instead.

He smiled at her.

“Can we be like this all the time,” he asked.

“Me threatening to steal your girlfriend?”

He barked a laugh. “No! Just--Just being friends.”

Valerie smiled in return, holding out a hand to him. “Permanent friends truce, then?”

Nodding, he took her hand. “Permanent friends truce.”

When she let go, Valerie turned to look over the streets. As stressful as it could be to live in Amity Park, there’s nowhere else she’d want to go. This was home. These were her people. And she loved her life. It took her a long time to see it. But Amity Park meant so much to her. It was terrifying to know her life was a risk. Her home was at risk. But Danny saved them. Saved her. Just like he always did.

“You want to be a member of Team Phantom?”

“Oh, God,” she made a gagging sound. “You guys have a team name?”

“Hey! We’re cool enough to have a team name.”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that, Fenton.”

[epickendall]

Halfa-Demon? part 7

In the Casper High library, Danny's older sister Jazz was studying for a history test in two days. But one thing plagued her mind as she tried to focus on her studies, and it was her worrying about her little brother's job. It has been about three months since he started working and affecting his life, like sometimes coming home late, having to leave at a moment's notice, and having a bit of an attitude. Yesterday, Jazz noticed Danny arrived home with parts of his clothes and hair wet.

Flashback

Jazz walked up to Danny and asked, "Danny, what happened to you?"

"Jazz I don't want to talk about it, "said Danny.

"Did Dash do this to you?"

"No, he's got nothing to do with this,"

"Then what?"

Danny sighs, "It happened at my job. A coworker accidentally dropped some water on me."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It is true Jazz. Now don't tell mom or dad about this, "Danny headed upstairs without listening to what Jazz had to say.

Flashback end

"What is going on with him?" Jazz thought as she flipped a page in a textbook. "What does he even do at this job anyway? It's not like he had any special talent that I know of. "

After a few more minutes of studying, Jazz decides to head back home, and when she gets back home, she sees Sam and Tucker at the front step.

Jazz walks up to them and asks, "What are you two doing here?"

"Waiting for Danny. Have you seen him?" "Sam said

"No, I haven't, Sam," said Jazz.

"Then he must have been at his job," said Tucker.

Sam groans "him and at that fucking job is getting on my nerves."

"Sam, relax; I'm sure you don't like this as much as you do."

"Then why does he quit then? What's so important about that job? "Sam turns to Jazz and asks, "Do you know anything about this job?"

"No, I don't," said Jazz.

"I think we should confront him about this and get him to tell the truth about this job."

"No way, Sam, that's not going to work. If we try to confront him, he'll just push us away."

"Do you have any better ideas then?" Sam crossed her arms.

"How about I call him and see where he is?"

"Try that, and he wouldn't pick up," said Tucker.

"How about I give it a shot," Jazz suggested.

She pulled out her phone and dialed Danny's number. The phone rang for a few moments before it was picked up.

"Hello, who is this?" said a female voice.

"Um, this is Danny's sister. Who are you, and what are you doing with his phone? " Jazz said as Tucker and Sam listened in on the conversation.

"oh…I'm the receptionist. Your brother left his phone here, "

"Okay, where is Danny?"

"He's out with the boss. He'll come back any minute or whatever. I have things to do, so I'm going to hang up. " And she does so.

"She sounds hot," said Tucker.

"Tucker," said Sam, with a hint of jealousy.

"Look, guys, just leave. I'm sure Danny is going to call back alright, "said Jazz.

"Fine, but this isn't over yet," Sam stormed off.

"See you later, Jazz," said Tucker.

Jazz sighs. Oh, Danny, what did you get yourself into?"

In Hell, Danny and Blitzo walk into the I.M.P. building carrying a large bag of guns and ammo.

"We've got a ton of great guns, Danny," said Blitzo.

"Well, I hope since you had to fight an imp over a colt python," said Danny.

"Yeah, but you save my ass though, and for that, I'm raising your pay."

Danny rolls his eyes. "Great."

As they walked toward the receptionist's desk, Loona Danny took his phone, and he was able to catch it.

"You left your phone, and your sister called," said Loona.

"Really, what did she say?" asked Danny.

"Nothing much, but next, keep track of your phone,"

"Great, now I have to come home to her questioning me,"

"Then you better lie like there's no tomorrow."

"Because the fewer people know about you and our business, the less attention we get."

"Hey, I'm trying my best, but I can't keep lying to my family and friends forever, Blitz."

"You may have to, and that is the risk I'm willing to take."

"Oh, you are so helpful," Danny said sarcastically.

Blitzo shrugs, "Now let's organize these guns."

[darks-ink]

Stalker - Ectoberweek 2019

Second AU idea that I’ve had forever that I could conveniently use for these prompts. Here’s day 2, Stalker!

Rating: Teen (swearing) Warnings: Stalking (I mean, duh), feelings of helplessness (caused by people not listening), and general life-ruining shenanigans. Also angsty in general. Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort Words:  6,035 Additional Tags: Alternate universe, One shot, Angst with a Happy Ending

[AO3] [FFN]

---

A hand landed on Danny’s shoulder, and he whirled around, muscles tensing. When he saw it was just Tucker, he relaxed again.

Until Tucker said, frowning, “Dude, how could you do that to me? You know how much I paid for that PDA!”

He spent a moment processing that, then swept Tucker’s hand off of his shoulder and turned around again. “I didn’t do it, man. How often do I have to tell you guys that I’m not responsible for his actions?”

“Oh, come on! Stop giving us that crappy excuse!” Tucker hurried after him, his footsteps loud in the emptying hallway. “Just tell me why you wrecked my PDA, man!”

Danny stopped. Turned around to face Tucker, leaning in close. Then he growled, “I didn’t destroy your PDA, Tuck. Tell me, was it me? Or was it that damn ghost that keeps pretending to be me?”

Tucker scoffed, pushing Danny away. “Whatever, dude. I’m done with your mood swings and all of this bullshit. You can come talk to me again when you’re sorted out your shit, alright?”

And before Danny got a chance to reply, Tucker left.

Well.

Shit.

There went another lifelong friendship, huh?

---

Danny felt cold crawl over his spine, and immediately stopped walking. A glowing being faded into visibility in front of him. A ghost.

It met his eyes, glowing green ones blinking back at him.

“Hi,” he said, hesitantly. After the activation of the ghost portal in the basement, his parents had doubled down on ghostly education. Their recommended course of action when encountering a ghost was to fight it, but, well. Danny wasn’t carrying any equipment, and he really wasn’t looking to anger this ghost, anyway.

The ghost blinked again, and didn’t reply.

“Uh.” Danny licked his lips, resisting the temptation to glance around. He didn’t want to look away. “Cool. Can I, uh, go?”

It blinked again. Then it tilted its head slightly, like a confused dog.

Danny shifted to the side slightly, like he was about to turn around, when the ghost opened its mouth.

“No,” it said, voice ethereal and echoing. It didn’t move to stop Danny.

“Oh.” He shifted back to where he had been when the ghost had appeared. “Alright, sure, okay.”

They stared at each other for a while longer, Danny growing increasingly restless. Why was it just looking at him? It insisted that he stay, but why? What was going on?

He had just reached the point where he was seriously deliberating the option to just sprint past the ghost when it spoke up again.

“You are Danny Fenton,” it said, simply. Its tone was hard to read with the echo.

“Uh… yes?” He shrugged at it, uncertain why it mattered. Wait. Had his parents pissed off this ghost, and was it now back to take revenge by attacking him? “I, uh. Am afraid that I don’t know who you are.” Belatedly he realized that he should probably try to be polite to avoid pissing it off, and tacked on, “Sorry.”

The ghost hummed, tilting its head the other way. Its hair, snow white and messy and somehow stirring in a non-existent wind, flopped along.

Then, suddenly, it smirked at him. Darted towards him, wrapping its tail around his waist and settling its hands on his shoulder. In his ear, it whispered,

“I’m Danny Phantom.”

Danny shivered, and he wasn’t afraid to admit that it wasn’t just the cold of its breath that had caused it.

The ghost leaned over his shoulder, grinning manically, and met his eyes again. The vivid green had made its face hard to recognize from a distance, the light throwing off his features, but from this close it was undeniable.

It looked exactly like him.

“What?” Danny blurted at it, frozen in place. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

It barked out a single laugh, colder than his own would ever be. “What do you think it means?” It grinned viciously, its cold fingers digging into Danny’s shoulders.

“I, uh.” He swallowed, throat dry. He didn’t know what it meant, and honestly? He didn’t want to think about it. “Think that you searched me out because… we have the same first name?”

“Oh?” It hummed, sounding like it was considering this, and unwrapped its spectral tail from around Danny. “Well, I suppose you’re not entirely mistaken.”

“Um. Good.” He was caught between wanting to look away, and not wanting to lose sight of the ghost. It was acting strange, and he couldn’t get a read on its intentions. “I mean, that’s good, right?”

The ghost finally let go of him, moving away to float in front of him. It hummed again. “Well, you’re not quite what I was expecting, but that’s alright. I think I can make this work.”

“Uh.” Danny blinked at it, trying to gauge its expression. “Make what work?”

It grinned again, wide and undeniably evil. Its fingers, clad in white gloves, twitched.

“You’ll see,” it said.

And then Danny’s world went black.

---

“Danny,” Jazz chided, clearly moments away from a worried rant about his safety and how couldn’t keep doing this, Danny!

Oh, like he had any god damn choice in the matter.

“Jazz,” he whined back at her, expression flat. “Look, whatever you think you know, you don’t, okay? It’s not real.”

She huffed, clearly annoyed. “I get it, alright, you want to keep it a secret. And I don’t blame you, with your parents being, well, our parents. But you can trust me, Danny. I know we bicker sometimes, but I’m your sister, and I care about you.”

“I know,” he said, ignoring the ache in his chest. She cared, but she wouldn’t listen. “Jazz, I know. But it’s not what you think. I’ve told you, and if you want I’ll tell you again. I’m not Danny Phantom.”

“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes, crossed her arms. “Danny, little brother, it’s not exactly subtle. You look almost the same, bar the white hair and the green eyes, and you even wear a color-inverted version of the jumpsuit Mom and Dad made for you. Your name is a pun on your actual name!”

“It’s. Not. Me!” he yelled at her, hands coming up to dig into his scalp. “Jazz, it’s not me! It has never been me! That god damn ghost just keeps pretending to be me! Why don’t you believe me?!”

“Because you’re a terrible liar, Danny!” She scowled at him, eyes narrowed. “And because Sam and Tucker told me, when I confronted them. And guess who told them? You did. So stop being such an ass, little brother, and let me help!”

He groaned as his fingers dug in deeper, fingernails carving into his skin. “I do want you to help, Jazz! I want you to help me get rid of this ghost that is ruining my damn life!”

She jerked back, eyes softening a little. “Danny. I didn’t-- Are you unhappy, being half ghost? Do you want to… get rid of it?”

“I-- Yes, fuck!” It wasn’t the right conclusion, but dammit, he would take anything to get rid of Phantom. “Yes, I want it to be gone! I want to just live my life again!”

“Oh. Well.” She cleared her throat, suddenly looking uncertain. “I, um. I’ll see what I can get out of our parents, and then we can… The four of us can sit down, discuss it?”

“I… I don’t know.” He shrugged, letting his arms slump down with his shoulders. “Jazz, I… Sam and Tucker don’t want to talk to me anymore.”

Jazz wilted a little at that, her eyes narrowing. “I… see. How come?”

“Because… Because Phantom was causing trouble for them,” he finally admitted, trying to sort through his words. To explain in a way that she would accept without having to lie. “And I can’t… control it. Him. And I don’t want him to hurt anyone anymore.”

“Oh, Danny.” She softened entirely, pulling him against her. “We’ll figure this out, okay? We’ll take care of it.”

---

When Danny woke up, it was to the nagging feeling that his life had just irreversibly gone off the tracks.

Then he remembered what had happened before he had passed out. Groaning, he pushed himself into a sitting position, warily glancing around him.

Huh. He was in his room, lying on top of his bed. Not under the covers, and fully clothed, but still. That wasn’t where he had been at all when he’d met the ghost.

“Um,” he said, uncertainly. Moved his legs off of the side of his bed, and experimentally flexed his hand. Something felt… off. Not much, but just enough to be noticeable.

And, above all, he worried. Phantom hadn’t seemed friendly, by any meaning of the word, and the fact that he’d passed out while the ghost was there… Well, it didn’t spell good things, did it?

He noticed his phone on his nightstand and flipped it open. No unread messages, no missed phone calls. So no one was missing him, at least.

According to the time he’d been unconscious for hours, though. That was… even more worrying. What had that ghost done to him?

He scampered over to the bathroom, swayed briefly, and came to a halt in front of the mirror. Swept his hands through his hair, leaned in close, pulled open his eyes to peer into them deeply. Nothing. No signs of any difference. No damage caused by the ghost.

Nothing to explain what had happened, or how he had gotten home.

Danny slumped in on himself. God, his parents were right. Ghosts existed, and they were malevolent, and he could’ve prevented all this if he had just carried one of those stupid weapons. Ugh!

Honestly, not knowing what the ghost had done to him might be worse than what it had actually done. Because if he wasn’t dead, and he wasn’t injured, well… It couldn’t have done anything too bad, right?

Yeah. Yeah, that sounded about right.

Phantom couldn’t have done anything to him that he wouldn’t have noticed already.

Hell, maybe Phantom had just knocked him out, and his parents or Jazz brought him home! Or maybe Sam and Tucker found him!

Yeah, that definitely made more sense. His parents—and Jazz, because she was basically another parent—would’ve hovered over him the whole time. But Sam and Tucker would’ve been sent home by now.

A yawn crept up on him, and suddenly he realized how tired he was. Man, did unconsciousness not count as sleeping? That’s dumb.

Well, it wasn’t like he was finding out anything more about what had happened with Phantom by staying up. Might as well catch up on some sleep.

It wasn’t like the ghost had done something dramatic to him. Something that he would have to deal with at school tomorrow morning.

Right?

---

“Alright. You said that Phantom likes to search you out when you’re alone?”

“Uh, yeah.” He shrugged under Jazz’ watchful eye. “He likes to taunt me, y’know? Really rub it in, how he-- it-- whatever has ruined my life.”

She nodded, her expression remaining thoughtful. It hadn’t quite lost that skeptical edge either, but for now she seemed willing to play along, so it was good enough for him.

Honestly, just having a single person willing to listen to him—to the actual him—was enough. It was more than he usually got, these days.

And wasn’t that a depressing thought?

“We can work with that,” Jazz said, suddenly, startling him out of his thoughts. “We can use that to prove that he really is a distinct ghost. At least for now.”

“To prove it to you, you mean?” He snorted, humorlessly. “Jazz, please, you’re a terrible liar.”

Jazz huffed, but it was lighthearted. “And so are you, little brother. But, fine, yes, this will prove that Phantom is not only a distinct ghost, rather than part of you, but will also prove that he is malevolent.”

“Alright, so… How do you plan on doing that?”

“I am not going to do anything.” She ran a hand through her hair, fingers pulling on a strand but not quite tugging on it—a lead-up to her standard nervous tick. “If I go anywhere nearby, Phantom might spot me, and, well. No telling what will happen then.”

He made a face. “Yeah, fair enough. I’m pretty sure he isn’t above overshadowing you guys, and if that doesn’t work, well… He’s hurt people before, I think.”

“Which is why we’re not going to give him the opportunity.” She fixed her expression into something determined. “So, you’re going out on a walk today. Tonight. Alone.”

“Uh. Okay?” He frowned at her. “So Phantom will come to me, but you won’t be anywhere close by. What’s the point of that?”

Jazz rolled her eyes, clearly exasperated. “You’re going to call me, Danny, so I can hear Phantom.” When he opened his mouth to reply, she shushed him and continued. “Instead of talking into it or hanging up, you’re going to put it in your pocket, preferably somewhere higher up. Maybe a jacket pocket? That way I should be able to hear the conversation between you and Phantom, especially if you switch to speakerphone beforehand.”

“Ah. Um.” He blinked at her, surprised by how thought-through it was, especially considering that he didn’t think she actually believed him. “That, uh, sounds good. I’ll… do that.”

Rather than take offense, like he had feared, Jazz laughed at his stammering. “Come on, Danny, I’m smart, remember? Just because I usually apply it to school doesn’t mean I can’t scheme.”

“Don’t call it scheming,” he corrected, immediately, somewhat abruptly. Definitely not because he wanted to dodge the topic of ‘Jazz being smarter than him, better than him in every aspect-- No! No, stupid brain, that was god damn Phantom speaking!

He jerked his head, forcibly shaking off the thoughts, and continued the initial thought. “Scheming is, uh. Y’know. Evil. We’re just… planning. Making plans! To fight back malevolent ghosts. Or-- a single, specific, malevolent ghost.”

Jazz cracked up even harder, swatting her hand at him with unknown intentions. Or, well. Unknown until she managed to catch his shoulder, because she patted it a few times, comfortingly. “Alright, alright, I get it. We’re making entirely couth plans to take down a malevolent ghost. No scheming.”

“Yes, exactly.” He nodded, forcibly, puffing himself up a little in mock offense. “We’re beacons of the light, Jazz! Represent the good of humanity.” Then he faltered a little, letting himself fall back into his usual slumped position. “And all that.”

“Right, right.” She was laughing, still, but seemed to be sobering up a little, at least. “When do you want to go out for this?”

“Eh.” He shrugged, patting down his pocket for his phone. “There is no specific time when it’s more likely for him to come out, so we might as well go for it now. Unless you had plans?”

Jazz rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked up into a fond smile. “You come first, Danny, you know that. You have your phone on you?”

“Got it right here,” he said, pulling it out of his pocket and flipping it open. “So, just to be sure. I’m calling you, and then when you answer, I just put it in my pocket and ignore it?”

She nodded, pulling out her own phone. “See if you can put it in your jacket pocket, if that’s not too obvious, and put it on speakerphone.”

“Yeah, got it.” He scrolled through his contacts, then called Jazz. “I’ll go and get a jacket, then. Uh. Am I supposed to hang up after he leaves, or something?”

“We’ll… see.” She made an uncertain face. “I guess it kind of depends on what he’ll say. If you’re sure that he left, you can answer the phone. But if he might still be around, you should just say something… not so obvious, like “there he goes”, and not acknowledge the phone. Or he might catch on.”

“Ah. That makes sense.” The call connected, and he clicked over to switch to speakerphone. “Well… Let’s hope that this isn’t the night that he just straight-up murders me.”

“Danny!” she gasped, startled.

“Joking, joking!”

“You’re the worst.” She scoffed, but couldn’t quite get the fond look out of her eyes. “Get going, or you might miss the ghost entirely.”

“Oh, please.” Danny rolled his eyes exasperatedly. “Like he would miss the opportunity.”

---

Danny hurried into the school, his sneakers squealing as he slid to a halt in front of his locker. Still panting a little, he quickly twirled the lock open. As he started shoveling his books into his backpack, he became dimly aware of a human presence behind him, and he prayed to god that it wasn’t Dash for once.

He turned out to be lucky, because Sam and Tucker leaned in around him, one on either side.

The feeling didn’t last when he took in their expressions, complicated and muddled. And not in a good way.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, feeling dread claw its way up his stomach. Had… Was this related to Phantom? Was it something it had done to him, when he had passed out? Were they really the ones who found him?

“You know what’s wrong,” Sam snarled at him, and he sincerely wondered if he did. “I can’t believe you would keep that a secret for so long, Danny! Why wouldn’t you have let us help sooner?”

Uh, that was a hard no. He definitely didn’t know what this was about.

He looked away from his locker to meet her eyes, trying to convey how much he didn’t know what she was talking about. “Sam, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on, are you really going to act like nothing happened last night?” Tucker scoffed from his other side. “After everything you told us? You showed us, dude, there’s no taking that back.”

“Showed you what?” he asked, emphasizing the last word. “I really don’t know what you two are talking about!”

“We’re talking about you being half-ghost,” Sam finally snapped at him, fury burning in her eyes. “That’s what we’re fucking talking about! Now will you stop pretending last night didn’t happen and talk to us?”

“I, uh. What?” He blinked, caught off-guard by the revelation. What-- Oh, god, Phantom. What had it done? “I’m not-- I’m not half-ghost, or-- or anything besides an ordinary human! Who told you that? Was it that damn ghost? Because I swear, there’s something wrong with--”

“You told us!” Tucker bit at him, now also angry. “Don’t-- Don’t pretend that you aren’t! You came over, last night, and you fucking showed us, man! Regular you, and your ghost form, and how your powers carry over and shit!”

“I did what?” How had--

Oh, god. He hadn’t just passed out. Phantom had-- had possessed him, had played around with him in his body.

“Oh,” he said, quietly, pressing his head against the lockers. “Oh man. That fucking ghost, I swear.”

“We won’t tell Jazz, alright? Or your parents.” Tucker nudged him, a worried crease to his brow. “We can figure this out, just the three of us. Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he repeated, blankly. “Yeah. We’ll… deal with it.”

“And any ghost that threatens this down will deal with us,” Sam added, anger settling into fierce determination. “Team Phantom will protect this town!”

---

“Daniel,” the ghost purred, tone playful, as it faded into visibility.

“Phantom,” he greeted back, fists clenched. He was powerless against it, still. He might’ve learned to defend against its overshadowing, but he couldn’t fight it. All of his parents’ inventions, no matter how successful, somehow never affected Phantom.

He was pretty sure the ghost had something to do with that, too.

“Nice evening for a stroll, hmm?” Phantom swirled around him, long spectral tail crawling over Danny’s spine and flicking his hair. “Pretty lonely, though. Friends weren’t interested in coming along?”

He snorted dismissively. “Yeah, wonder why that is?” He was about to add more, but realized that it might be too taunting for Jazz, and bit it back instead.

“Oh, hmm, yes, I do wonder.” The ghost flipped onto its side, one finger tapped its chin as it faked thinking. “You three were always so close… a friendship made to last a lifetime, no?”

This time Danny couldn’t stop himself from blurting at the ghost, “You gonna tell me what you did and why, or are you just gonna taunt me with it the whole time?”

The ghost clicked its tongue, chastising. “Danny, Danny. So impatient. See, that’s what you living don’t get. There’s no need to rush through life! After all, it’ll end soon enough!”

“Is that a threat, or just a general statement?” Danny narrowed his eyes at the ghost, for once glad that it was staying somewhat close. Hopefully Jazz could hear the whole conversation. “Because I really thought you were above threatening bodily injuries, Phantom.”

“Oh, please, like I would need to resort to such things.” The ghost rolled its eyes, flicking the tip of its tail in Danny’s face. “I would much rather ruin your life and force you to suffer living through it.”

“Great,” he said, flatly. “That’s really nice to know. Now, are you going to tell me what you did, or are you just here to waste my time? Like you said, I only have a limited amount of it, y’know.”

Phantom scoffed, then flapped a dismissive hand. “Well, I know when I am not wanted. Better leave you to your sad, lonely life, Fenton.”

“Yeah, that would be nice, thanks,” he answered it, dryly. “In fact, if you could fuck off entirely, that would be wonderful. I can take it from here.”

The ghost hummed, its vivid eyes narrowed at him. “I don’t think I will, Danny-Boy. Bye bye.”

Rather than go invisible, it flew off, and Danny watched it go. Then, convinced that it was really gone, he pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket.

“Please tell me you heard all of that.”

“I did,” Jazz’ voice answered over the phone, the sound slightly tinny. “And god, Danny, I can’t believe that this has been going on all this time, unnoticed.”

“Yeah, well.” He scoffed, bitterly, still looking in the direction Phantom had gone. “Apparently people are more inclined to believe him, rather than me.”

---

Danny swore as Dash knocked into him, sending a heated glare at the bully. Dash scowled back, then paled, suddenly.

“Oh, Danny!” he stammered out, raising his hands defensively. “Sorry, man, I didn’t see it was you.”

“Uh. Okay?” Danny rubbed his arm, frowning at Dash. “That hasn’t exactly stopped you before, has it?”

“Well, no, but…” Dash flapped his hands about, like he was somehow trying to convey his intentions without words.

It wasn’t very successful.

“You’re you, you know?” the finally settled on, like that was any better.

“Uh huh,” Danny said, nodding slowly. “Not sure if you’ve noticed, Dash, but I’ve been me my while life.”

Dash scoffed. “You know what I’m talking about, Fe-- Danny. But if this is your revenge for the bullying, I get it.”

“It’s not, but okay, whatever.” He was growing increasingly sure what this was about, but… “Didn’t know you were the hero-worship type, Dash.”

Inexplicably, the boy flushed, looking away. “Whatever, Fenton. Don’t push your luck.”

He stormed off, leaving Danny alone with his confusion. Man, what had Phantom done now?

Before he could spend too much time wondering about it, cold crawled up his spine, and he shivered with both cold and anticipation.

A ghost was here. Phantom, probably, because for all that the ghost liked to play with him, it refused to share with other ghosts. Must consider him its toy, which was a pretty fucked up thought, really.

Suddenly he was pressed against the lockers in the empty hallway, a hulking ghost pinning him with a single massive gloved hand. Its skin gleamed like metal, empty green eyes narrowed, and skull-like face grinning wide. Green flames licked out of the top of its head, a ghostly mockery of a mohawk.

Then Danny’s eyes caught on the hand that wasn’t pinning him. A huge knife, slightly curved and ecto-green, slid from the ghosts arm, and it didn’t hesitate with pressing it against Danny’s neck.

“I have you now, whelp,” it grunted at him, a tone of elation to the echoing voice. “I will-- Wait.”

“Gladly,” he muttered back, head tilted back as far as it could go. He was afraid to swallow away the lump caught in his throat, afraid that the motion would press the knife in too deep.

The ghost took its eyes off of him, and then, blessedly, slid the knife back into its arm. Turning the limb slightly, it peered at what appeared to be a screen, although Danny wasn’t sure what it was supposed to show.

He waited for a long moment as the ghost peered at the screen, then glanced at him, then back at the screen. Finally it declared, disdainfully, “You are not the prey I was promised.”

“Uh. Okay?” Danny said, feeling a deja-vu of the worst kind. Had he really swapped his regular human bully for ghosts like this one. “Um. I’m sorry to hear that?”

It peered at him, entirely green eyes narrowed. Then it made a humming noise, stepping back and releasing Danny entirely. “Yes, a shame for sure. There is no sport in hunting ordinary human beings. Run along, child.”

“Sure.” Danny pulled his shirt straight, then started walking away, glancing backwards a few times to make sure the ghost didn’t chase him. But it didn’t seem to change its mind, tapping on the screen on its arm and muttering to itself.

And all Danny could think, as he fled away, was how close he had just been to death.

Just because one damn ghost had turned Danny into its personal play-thing! Because it was so set on pretending it and Danny were one and the same, that everyone believed it.

A few hallways away from the ghost, Danny stopped. Stopped, and let it all sink in. Drowned in the rush of adrenaline and terror.

And, by god. He might not be able to fight Phantom, to stop it, but he was going to find a way to stop it from overshadowing him. Even if it was the last thing he would do.

Because… Because sooner or later, that damned ghost was going to kill him anyway.

And Danny wasn’t going to go down without a fight. That, he was sure of.

---

“You need to tell them,” Jazz said, voice simultaneously stern and patient. “They’re the ghost experts for a reason, Danny.”

“I know.” He wiped a hand through his eyes, tired. Exhausted, really, from months and months of this… this. “I know, Jazz. It’s just… hard. No one ever believes me.”

“I do,” she assured him, even though he wasn’t quite sure that she did. “And they will too, Danny. Haven’t you heard them talk about ghosts before? Insist that Phantom must be bad, because all ghosts are malevolent? They’ll believe you.”

Yeah. Yeah, they would have to, wouldn’t they? After all, they were the ones who constantly insisted that all ghosts were evil. That Phantom was just tricking the town.

The only reason he hadn’t gone to them before was because he was afraid that the ghost would interfere, somehow. That the moment he distracted his parents, it would attack them, hurt them.

Overshadow them, and make them believe that same lie. Make them hurt him, because they think that he is Phantom, too.

He swallowed, heavily, and nodded at Jazz. “Alright. Let’s… Let’s get it over with.”

They shuffled into the room, his parents sitting at the dinner table, quietly talking. Both quietened as he and Jazz came in, looking up.

“Mom, Dad?” he asked, voice loud in the sudden silence. “Can I, uh… talk to you?”

“Of course!” His dad grinned wide, encouraging, and gestured over to the empty seats. “What about, kiddo?”

Danny licked his lips, then glanced over at Jazz. “About… About Phantom?”

He could swear that he felt the mood drop at that. His parents both looked at each other, expressions complicated but not… not happy, not like they should have been. Didn’t they want their kids to talk about ghosts?

“Ah… Of course,” his dad finally managed, gesturing at the chairs again. “Come, sit down.”

Nodding, he did as asked, taking the seat furthest away from his parents. Jazz followed right behind him, taking the last seat.

He opened his mouth to explain, but didn’t get a chance to.

“We’re so sorry, Danny-boy!” his dad blurted, eyes big and pained. “We-- We suspected for a while, but we were just… We didn’t want to believe, and we hurt you for it, and we’re so so sorry, Danny!”

Danny snapped his jaw shut again. Blinked, caught off-guard.

“Uh. Suspected… what, exactly?”

“That you are Danny Phantom.” His mom folded her hands together so tightly he was sure her knuckled were turning white. Her hood was pulled away for once, her eyes visible, full of hurt. “It was… It should’ve been obvious. It was obvious. But we let you get hurt just because we didn’t want to accept that. And we’re sorry, Danny. We messed up.”

“I-- That’s not…” He swallowed, feeling like his throat was closing up. His parents were so emotional, so focused on apologizing, and he was sure that he would be dying of acceptance if he was, you know, actually half-ghost. “I’m not Danny Phantom. That’s what I wanted to talk about. I want you to help me stop him. Stop it.”

His parents shared another glance, and he saw that they were gearing up for another soothing speech about love and acceptance and he couldn’t-- he couldn’t bear to hear it, so he continued before they could speak up.

“I’m not alright? Phantom has been haunting me for months, pretending to be me. At the start he would overshadow me for hours on end, cementing in the lie. And by the time I could throw him off, it was too late. Because… Because people believe him, and not me. And… And if you don’t believe me, just ask Jazz! Because she heard him, now, taunting me when he’s sure no one else is around to overhear!”

He turned to shoot a begging look at Jazz, and she smiled back, soothingly. To their parents, she said, “He’s right. I heard him talk to Danny earlier today, and… and it was awful. Phantom is out to make Danny’s life a living hell, and he isn’t afraid of playing dirty to achieve that.”

“He’s getting worse and worse,” Danny agreed, drawing the attention back to him. “At first he was a pain, yes, making people believe I was half-ghost and all that, but it wasn’t… It was mostly just limited to me. Now he’s causing more and more trouble, and blaming it all on me, because everyone thinks he is me. Tucker and Sam are both so mad at me that they won’t even talk to me anymore, and I don’t even know what he did to them! And-- And before we know it, he’s going to seriously hurt someone, and we can’t wait for that to happen.”

“Well… dang,” his dad said, finally, voice far more quiet than Jack Fenton’s voice had any right to be. “That’s… quite the story, Danny. Of course we’ll help you, kiddo.”

“And I think I know just the way to do it.” His mom grinned, wide. “We’ll stop Phantom, and we’ll clear your reputation, in one fell swoop.”

Danny leaned forward, a smile creeping onto his face as excitement sparked in his chest, and said,

“Deal.”

---

The lab was empty, the noise of his boots scraping over the floor loud and echoing ominously. In front of him loomed the giant arch of metal that his parents had worked on for so, so long. The tunnel behind it was dark, the cables that through it barely visible even at the very start of it.

Danny swallowed, thickly, and pulled at the edge of one of his gloves. The material of the jumpsuit was uncomfortable, unfamiliar. But it was designed to protect. He couldn’t afford not wearing it.

He stretched a little, attempting to get the thick white material to settle better. Tugged on his black collar to stop it from cutting into his throat quite as badly.

Confident that he had stalled as much as he could afford to, Danny wandered over to the Portal’s computer console. He checked all its data, all its settings, assuring himself that everything was as it should be.

Cold ran over his spine, and Danny braced himself for what he knew was coming.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” the ghost snapped at him, visible the moment it passed through the walls of the lab. Agitated, it continued to fly laps, rather than pause in front of Danny like usual.

“What do you think I’m doing?” he taunted back, crossing his arms and leaning back against the Portal console. One of the panels was partly unscrewed, and he was counting on the ghost being too upset to notice—or just straight-up not care. Hidden behind it was a gun, in case Phantom lashed out.

The ghost snarled, suddenly coming to a halt in front of Danny. The green of its irises burned like flames, the glow around its body flickering wildly. “Who do you think you are, huh? Little smartass, turning my own tactics against me! I won’t let you! This is my game! I am the one in control, not you!”

“I don’t know,��� Danny said, cocking his head at Phantom. The ghost still had its spectral tail, the limb twitching in agitation. “Doesn’t really look like it, does it?”

It growled, suddenly shooting forwards and grabbing him. White fake-hazmat digging into white real hazmat. “Think you’re smart, do you? Ha!”

Phantom released him again, flying a circle, then landing on the floor. Its tail split back into legs, and it stood in front of Danny. Looked exactly like him but color-inverted, now, both dressed in hazmat.

“This is my game! I am the one who gets to make these choices! You are my plaything, my little human whose life I can ruin all I want! And now you’ve gone and cut off the ghosts! All of those delicious, trouble-making ghosts, whose presence I could blame on you! After all, if you had just been a little better at being a hero, you would’ve stopped them! Right, Danny Phantom?”

Danny rolled his eyes, playing unimpressed. Not that it was all that hard—he’d grown used to doing it whenever he had to deal with Phantom. “Yes, I’m sure your upset has nothing to do with the fact that I cut off your supply of ectoplasmic energy. Not like you need that to exist in the human realm, right?”

And then he leaned forward, pressing into Phantom’s personal space, like the ghost had so often done to him, and grinned. “Now who’s making do, huh?”

“Wha--” was all the ghost managed before a blue vortex burst into life behind it, quickly drawing him backwards and away from Danny.

Jazz capped the Fenton Thermos, a vicious grin on her face. She was flanked by their parents on either side, weapons drawn and aimed right where Phantom had been. Hidden in a secret nook of the lab, unknown to everyone. Everyone, including Phantom.

“Got it,” she said, flipping a switch on the Thermos to lock it. “And it’s not getting out again.”

Danny laughed, relief washing over him with a force he hadn’t known it could possess. He laughed, carefree for the first time in months. His eyes searched out the camera, the light on it blinking, proof that it had recorded the whole thing.

He smiled up at it, feeling lighter than ever before in his life, and said,

“And finally, finally, I am free! Phantom will never bother us ever again!”

[phantomphangphucker]

A Bottle Of Rum Named Chuckles - Phic Phight

Prompt Creator: @bibliophileap Prompt: A sibling is genuinely disconcerted by another sibling’s laughter. Summary: The Fenton parents are out of town so Danny gets his drink on, but he's a laughing drunk and Jazz comes home from university a little too early.

Warnings: Drinking, alcohol, unintentional self-harm, broken bones, impaling, blood, one instance of vore, Danny is very drunk

also on my AO3 at GothMoth.

Danny glides smoothly down the steps, today’s a day with the house to himself. Jazz? Off at college. Mom and dad? 4-day convention. Sam and Tucker? Well, they’re not really friends anymore. So today’s a day to himself, a rare one at that. So as Danny saunters over to the fridge he sticks his hand straight through the floor pulling out a bottle of rum. Spinning the bottle in one hand as he opens up the fridge and grabs some milk. Placing the bottle on the table, Danny turns around and goes to make himself some cereal, but is suddenly struck by an idea. Spinning back around, bowl of dry cereal in hand, Danny cracks open the rum and pours it into the bowl. “Hey if cheesepuff bacon smoothies are great, this ought to be better.”.

Halfway through his cereal he’s finding it hard to keep eating through his giggling. “It’s just” chuckle “god so” chuckle “like look at the fuck rocks man” chuckle. Rum cereal abandoned, Danny wanders the yard pointing at random rocks and wobblingly arranging them in poorly laid out constellations. Laughing and grinning he flops on the grass surrounded by his rock stars.

Eventually, the hot sun forces him inside as he opts to play some games. Not being bothered enough to move them from his room, he plays up there instead. He doesn’t really play Doom anymore, he’s more into single player stuff now. He does however, take the bottle of rum with him. After a few hours, Danny is solidly fucked up, so much so that he doesn’t hear his sister coming home early. She does however, hear some creepy ass giggling ringing throughout the house. “Christ did someone stuff one of those broken demon Elmo dolls into the walls or something?”. Jazz moves around methodically trying to find the sound just as Danny burst out into another fit of laughs and giggles. He managed to get a famous glitch in his game, one where the characters limbs and head fly and stretch out all over the screen. In his laughter Danny accidentally crushes the rum bottle against his chest, splashing the little remaining rum and glass all over himself. “Aw man....” Danny goes to stand but immediately pitches forwards slamming face first into his wall. Laughing even more erratically, cause he can see himself in the door mirror, Danny just slowly slides down to the floor. Laying in a heap of limbs and laughs.

Jazz meanwhile is standing awkwardly on the other side of his door, somewhat in shock. At first, she thought there was some weird new ghost after Danny but after listening close, “the ghost in you sure shows in funny ways” Jazz mutters quietly. With a soft though unnerved smile on her face Jazz goes back downstairs, looking to make herself some toast but promptly notices the milk jug and very disgusting looking half-eaten cereal. “What the hell was that made with?” She grumbles at the offending cereal, well aware of Danny’s strange taste, as she puts the milk away. “I wonder if his ghost half has anything to do with his tastes” she taps her finger on her chin and shudders, as yet more booming laughter erupts from upstairs. She elects to smell the cereal for clues rather than taste it, cause Plasmius knows what’s in there. Jerking back she realizes that whatever it is, it’s definitely alcoholic. “Where’d you even get that little brother and why” she shakes her head as she goes up to confront Danny. Whom she’s now certain is laughing so much because he’s drunk. And she’s totally right on that part.

Meanwhile, Danny has been intentionally flinging himself around his room, trying to land it the most awkward and absurd positions possible. He’s so utterly plastered that he never even notices all the glass from the rum bottle embedded in his chest, making him bleed profusely. Him flinging himself around isn’t helping either. And his future self will not thank him later for the massive amounts of blood smears everywhere. Not to mention all the knock over things and glass. Eventually, he winds up leaning against the mirror on his door making faces at it and smearing his face around. Resulting in many muffled giggles.

Jazz, standing in front of Danny’s door can actually smell the alcohol through the door now. Scratching her nose she swings the door open, catching Danny totally unprepared as he staggers backwards; straight out the window. Running over to the window she looks down and sees Danny laughing his ass off on the ground covered in blood and glass. She physically shivers from the combination of Danny’s demonic ass laughter and the visuals.

Jazz bolts all the way down the steps and outside, running up to Danny who’s now standing up and wobbling all over the place. Seeing Jazz he shouts “is afff uckin airy! Whooooo!” Throwing his hands up in the air, Jazz runs over and hooks an arm under his right armpit. “Danny what the hell, let’s get you inside before anyone sees” Danny lightly giggles “leds meh to dis lits airy”. Jazz practically has to drag Danny into the house as he flips between muttering about fairies, or “ariy” as he’s calling them, and laughing. Effectively, slowly unnerving Jazz more and more; as well as making her unimpressed with his drunken state. Jazz sets him down at the table and points at the half-eaten rum cereal. “Just how much have you had Danny?” She asks in an unimpressed tone but she’s to creeped out to sound threatening. The only response she gets from Danny is “Is callied it Chuckles” then he sticks his hands out spreading them apparent vertically to about the high of his rum bottle. Jazz isn’t quite sure what he means for a second but then pinches the bridge of her nose. “Christ Danny, and what was it exact-” Jazz gets cut off by the sight of Danny pulling somebody horror shit, spreading his mouth inhumanly wide and straight voreing the entire bowl whole. Rum, cereal, spoon, bowl and all. Jazz having never bared witness to his body horror crap nearly vomits, which causes Danny to go into another fit of laughter. She sickly looks over the counter at him as he laughs himself so hard he falls off the stool. “Ok, now your creepy laugh is also pissing me off. I’m creep out, disgusted, disturbed and angry all at once.” Jazz shakes herself off and tries to push away the lingering shivers Danny’s laugh sends across her skin.

Danny starts crawling forwards on the floor but Jazz rushes over and sits him up on his knees. “Don’t do that” she scolds “you’ll rip yourself up more and-” looking down at the floor “-dear god... make more of a mess”. Turning her head away from Danny, arms still on his shoulders, she mutters “how the hell am I going to clean this up”. Danny chuckles slurring “clench ‘n exbird outwash fix erry”. Jazz just stares at him, “ok, I got bleach but the rest is lost on me”. Danny just shouts “exbird outwash!”. “Danny, what even is that?” Jazz sighs exasperatedly, as Danny starts making gargling sounds but then chokes on his spit. Resulting in yet more laughter. “Einstein, lend me your strength” Jazz groans as she jerks away from the sound of Danny’s laugh.

Eventually, she manages to get Danny sitting upright. Slowly pulling out shards of glass, though Danny is not making that easy. Danny’s rolling his head all over the place, occasionally flailing his arms around, and talking mostly gibberish, interspaced with giggles and laughter. “Danny, I will tail you for a week and throw psychology terms at you, if you ever even consider getting wasted around people who don’t know about this ghost shit.”. Finishing her threat with flawless timing as Danny straight up phases through the floor. Jazz, sighing, gets up to walk down to the lab. Looking around she fails to see him till she hears his wild creepy giggles coming from the ceiling. Looking up she sees Danny dangling with one foot still stuck in the ceiling. “Imma uckin chandii!”. Sighing “ yes Danny you are definitely a chandelier, for sure, 100%”. Danny just shouts “yay!” As he swings his hands up towards the ceiling smashing them so hard Jazz hears cracking and Danny, with a chunk of the ceiling, crashes to the ground. She stares at Danny and mutters “you could kill a many without a second thought and I don’t even think you’d notice the impact...”. Just as Danny rights himself, smashing apart the other bits of ceiling. Which suddenly brings Danny’s fingers into view. “Oh my god Danny, you freaking broke your fingers”. Deciding she’s had enough, Jazz digs through the lab until she finds what she’s looking for. An Ecto-shield blanket, “mom and dad say it’s for keeping out mosquito ghost but it should make a fine Danny burrito”. Jazz walks up behind Danny and quickly wraps the blanket around him. Danny just squirms, falls to his side and starts flopping about like a fish. Sighing Jazz grabs the Fenton fisher anti-ghost fishing line. Line in hand she picks up Danny and walks up to his bedroom. “You need to eat more Danny, and real food not junk food. My textbooks weigh more than you.”. Once in Danny’s room, she ties him to his bed headrest with the ecto-line. Danny naws at it while giggling and making exaggerated chewing and biting sounds.

Jazz attempts to study while she watches her brother and waits for him to sober up. But it’s difficult with all the usual sounds, gibberish and increasingly disturbing laughter. “God, it’s like it gets more and more unnerving the more you hear it”. She mutters into her book, trying her damnest to focus without completely ignoring her inebriated brother.  Eventually, she gives up on that endeavour and elects to inspect the glass she’s managed to get out of Danny’s chest. Fully expecting it to be window glass, she’s shocked to find it's from a bottle. Sticking a few pieces together she realizes it’s from a bottle of rum, high proof rum at that. “Danny what the hell?! How did you even get this! Mom and dad don’t even like rum!”. The only response she gets out of Danny is more giggling. “And how long has this glass even been in your chest! Did you drink the whole thing!” Danny giggles enthusiastically which Jazz takes as a yes. “Danny! That would kill a full grown man!”. This time she actually gets a response out of the drunken lad “Tis tooo lats, ta jib allreds don.”. Jazz groans leaning back in her chair, “even wasted enough to kill a normal person you still make death jokes”.

Things continue on like this for a while till Danny eventually starts to slightly sober up. Which takes an impressive, and scary to Jazz, single hour. “Wyys my handz harts” Rolling his head around “and wyts wit blankie?”. Jazz snorts as she walks over to him, “little bro, you smashed your hands into the ceiling”. Looking up at her, his head limp, “wyys i dos dat?”. Shaking her head, “I really don’t know Danny but it might have something to do with thinking you were a chandelier.”. Danny just looks more confused now, but Jazz, noting his limpness unties him from the headrest and lays him down in bed. “I think you best just sleep, little brother and please, no more laughing”. Danny just tiredly sticks his tongue out at her. Jazz falls asleep herself, knees folded on the ground with her head resting on Danny’s bed.

—Next Morning—

Danny wakes up to a whole lotta pain. “What the...” He trails off as he pushes his blanket off himself, yanking his hands back hissing. “Fuck me” Danny mutters as he looks at his hands, nearly every bone is broken or chipped and his advanced healing has only fucked his fingers up more. Healing them incorrectly in almost every way, “how did I even? and how am I supposed to fix this?”. Then looking down at his chest he groans “seriously? Did I get into a boxing match with a bunch of mirrors or something”. Swinging his legs out of bed he walks to his mirror. He’s peppered in bruises, some that are extremely weird. He has bits of drywall in his hair as well. Shaking his hair out he turns to take in his room and just stares. Half his shit is on the floor or on the opposite side of the room than where it started. Blood is smeared almost everywhere, bits of glass are stabbed in the walls, his window is destroyed and there’s both ecto-line and an ecto-shield blanket on the floor. “Yeah I’m just not going to deal with this now, or possibly ever” Danny mutters as he opens his door with his mouth, keeping his hands up around his chest not quite touching though. As he descends the stairs he’s already thinking of ways to easily just hide the mess but once he reaches the living room his mind blanks. “Oh fuck” he breathes out, seeing a long blood streak on the floor, some glass and bigger bits of drywall.

Danny stares down at his hands, and that’s how Jazz finds him when she steps out of the kitchen. Mop in hand Jazz watches Danny as he stares at his hands muttering to himself, looking horrified. Danny slowly lifts his head up and just mutters at Jazz “what the fuck”.

Inside his head, Danny is just screaming over and over again, because she should not be here and there’s a massive really bad looking mess and he was completely wasted and -. Jazz cuts off his thoughts as she answers him “I don’t really know Danny, you were so messed up I could barely understand anything you said. You called me an “airy”, ate an entire bowl whole, punched a hole in the ceiling while pretending to be a chandelier I think, flung yourself out your window, and I think you stabbed yourself with a bottle of rum.”. Danny just stares at her, his mouth hanging open, so Jazz elects to continue “you were already covered in blood and glass when I got here and there was a bowl of cereal mixed with, what I assumed was, rum. Seriously Danny what the hell and where did you get rum?”. Danny just mutters “uhhhh from the floor”. Jazz crosses her arms “Danny, that makes about as much sense as whatever-” clearing her throat to attempt the make the freakish sounds Danny made “-exbird outwash fix erry” is.”. Danny shakes his head “Wow, sounds like I had fun”. At Jazz’s highly unimpressed face, Danny goes to run a hand across the back of his neck but winces instead. Eyeing Jazz again, he goes for a more serious response. “I guess I’d need context for those, uh, words? And I literally got it from the floor. The bottle was inside the floor.” Danny looks away sheepishly. “You mean to tell me you hid booze in the floor?” Arms crossed stiffly. “Heh, yeah” Danny shrugs “wasn’t really expecting anyone home so soon.”. He finishes. “Clearly, if that had been anyone who didn’t know about you, you’d be in massive trouble. I’m pretty sure you drank the entire thing, which should have been deadly. That combined with everything else...” Jazz trails off as Danny waves a mutilated hand at her “ya ya I get it, I’m lucky it was you”. Jazz sighs grabbing her mop again, “I would tell to help but I know your injured, are your hands going to heal fine?” She asks laced with genuine concern as she starts mopping the blood streaked on the floor. “Well, first you might want some of my hidden mouth wash”. Jazz stares at him “ok what?...is that what you said earlier?!”. Danny shrugs “maybe, expired mouth wash is pretty good as a cleaner”. Danny jumps up through the ceiling startling Jazz, he returns the same way. Flicking a bottle of mouth wash at her, that he was previously held by the cap in his mouth. Jazz, mixing it on the floor, “oh wow that’s just plain weird and I don’t even want to know how you discovered this”. “Yup” Danny says curtly as he looks around for any other damage. “So, your hands?” Danny snaps his head back to her, “Uhh well I’ll have to re-break, like, everything and place it all back the way it’s supposed to be but it should be fine, I think.” Danny says awkwardly. “Danny, Christ, how are you even ok with doing that, none the less how are you going to do it with both hands messed up?” Jazz glares at him, still mopping. Shrugging “uh painfully?”. “Oh my god, Danny.”

Danny sidestepping her gets a bowl, cereal and milk all out with a combination of footwork and his mouth; Jazz watching him all the while as she mops. “That better actually be milk and I’m rather concerned by how good you are at that”. Sitting on the table top Danny pours the milk with his toes. “You’re going to be pissed if I tell you “practice” aren’t you?” Glaring at him as he sits down with his cereal, eating by scooping his tongue around. “Of course, you shouldn’t have a reason to be used to it.”. Danny grunting, “well I do, resident superhero ghost boy here”. Jazz chuckles lightly, which reminds her of something, “hey Danny, has anyone ever told you your laugh is extremely creepy and unnerving?”. Danny coughs on a couple of frootloops, “What? No, why?” Chuckling again Jazz shakes her head “you were laughing, giggling and chuckling like your life depended on it. Genuine laughter too, but for whatever reason, it was spine chilling.” Pausing to look at Danny “you sounded like a demonic broken Elmo doll”. At that Danny chuckles deeply a bit “seriously?”. “Yeah, you even laughed as I tried to fix your wounds and you laughed really hard when you fell out your window and crash into the yard.” Danny chuckling again, Jazz noting that it actually is still slightly creepy but nothing close to before. “Wow that’s got to say something about me, don’t go analyzing me though.”. Rolling her eyes “I’m more focused on fixing your mess Danny, the lab is literally missing a third of its ceiling and I had to tie you to your own bed.”. Danny goes wide-eyed laughing, “so that's why there’s ecto-line on the floor.”. Jazz just shakes her head as Danny continues more seriously “was my laugh all creepy just now?”. Jazz pauses “slightly I guess but nothing like last night. It was like the more you laughed the more completely disturbed I felt. Now your laugh just has the same slight offness it usually does.” Danny looks incredulously at her. Noticing she sighs and stands up, one hand in her hip “Danny, basically everything about you is slightly off or creepy. But it’s so minimal you really have to pay attention to notice at all. And paying attention to you is my sisterly duty.”. Danny rolls his eyes but visibly relaxes some, “geez thanks.”. Jazz sighs as she heads down to the lab to collect the ceiling debris. On her way coming back up she hears cracking sounds. “Hey, Danny what are you doing?”. The cracking stops “uh, fixing my fingers”. Jazz just sighs.

End.

[dp-pastandpresent]

Past and Present: Chapter 30

"The screen shows the little clouds exploding! You must have to touch them! Let them Pop!"

"Say that again?" Danny's voice crackled through to Tucker's headset.

"Touch the orbs, let them pop!" Tucker practically yelled back, realizing he was losing his connection.

The three of them were still sitting around the computer, all with headsets on, staring at the screen as Danny's dot disappeared.

Suddenly, Tucker found himself lurching back as the screen went solid green, his headset turning to static.

"Did yours…?"

"Go to static? Yup," Maddie responded.

"So, does that mean?" Jack asked.

"He's out of our range?" she offered. "There is nothing we can do now but hope he survives on his own in there."

"But there has to be SOMETHING we can do!" Tucker said angrily as he turned to the adults behind him. "Anything else integrated into that suit?"

"We put so many things in there, I forgot what half of them do!" Jack replied, then put his head down in frustration.

"Jack, remember, there are parts of the Zone that we haven't even explored. Parts we can't even begin to imagine. We've barely even cracked the surface!" Maddie said, getting up and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I guess Mads, but I just wish we knew more. We've been studying ghost lore for so long, waiting for this moment, and it feels like we're back to square one."

"It does seem so doesn't it, dear?"

Tucker turned to the adults at this, trying to find a way to bring back the confident ghost researchers he had heard so much about.

"STOP! Both of you. Just. Stop. You are Jack and Maddie Fenton, the two scientists who DISCOVERED THE GHOST ZONE. You have worked too hard to give up now! Yes, Danny is out of reach. No, we don't know what has happened to Sam. BUT we do know that we can't just give up!"

The couple looked at each other, then to the teen in front of them, a bit struck by his confrontation.

"Think guys. Is there ANYTHING in that suit we can use to figure things out. Anything that has a longer range?" Tucker asked, trying again to bring back the heroes he knew they could be.

"GZPS went out already, as did our coms. He's gone too deep into the Zone, we can't communicate," Maddie answered.

"The extra energy boosters won't do any good either, as they only affect him," Jack added.

"And we can't check his vitals because they were connected to the GZPS," Maddie finished.

"His vitals… wait!" Tucker quickly responded, then added, "We were able to check his vitals, his location, his everything, on your computer program!" He turned back to the computer and began pushing keys as the screens changed.

"And?" Jack asked.

"Well, you said yourself you packed a lot into that thing. Maybe TOO MUCH! Maybe if we remotely disable some of it, we'll be able to get enough power to boost the rest!"

"Tucker, that's brilliant!" Maddie exclaimed, giving him a hug from behind. "Turn off the GZPS, since we know where he is now, and play with the coms. See if you can disable the two-way audio."

"Why would we disable that, Mads?" Jack asked, confused.

"Sure, we want to hear what's happening on his end, but I don't think there's anything we can tell him while he's confronting that monster that will really help," Maddie explained.

"OOOOO," Jack said, his mouth in an O shape.

"GZPS. Off." Tucker said as he clicked a few buttons. "Two-way coms, off. Try the audio receiver now!"

Maddie put her headset back on and played with the dial until finally she let out a smile. "It's static, but I can hear a bit. Danny just said something."

She lurched back at this, as if taken aback.

"What!?" Jack and Tucker said together in surprise.

"It's just… I heard another voice. It must be HIM. It's so deep and profound."

Tucker grabbed his set and put it on but frowned in dismay as he messed with his dial.

"The frequency must still be too weak. We can only get through on one set. Maddie it'll have to be yours."

"That's fine Tucker," she replied, before adding, "Can you check his vitals now, or do we need to disable more?"

Tucker looked back at his screen but sadly there was no information about Danny's health.

"I don't get it. We should be able to see how he's doing, I turned off what you said, plus a few of those extras, like the coffee warmer you added Jack…"

Maddie looked at her husband and raised an eyebrow.

"What, no one likes a cold cup of coffee…" Jack replied quietly.

"Wait! I think he… he took off the suit!"

"Why on Earth would he do that!" Jack asked loudly, raising his hands. "He knows he needs his strength!"

"It's Clockwork. I just heard his faint voice say something about Danny benefiting from removing his suit."

"I just hope Danny knows what he's doing," Tucker responded, feeling a bit unsure of their ghostly hero's chances of saving his friend.

"Unfortunately, I can't hear everything. It's fading in and out. And if Danny really took it off, it's not even as close to the speakers as it once was." Maddie replied in dismay.

"But it's better than nothing! Keep listening Mads!" Jack said, regaining his positive attitude.

"Well if you'd stop talking it'd be easier!" she said, walking towards the back of the lab with her head down.

"I think she needs some space," Tucker whispered to Jack as he turned back toward the computer. "Is there anything else on here that may help us?"

"I've got a few folders with ghost information, and there was a bit on Clockwork, but really not much. I can pull them up if you think they'd help," Jack answered.

Tucker looked back at Maddie, who was still deep in thought trying to hear what was happening deep in the Zone, sometimes making a face at what she heard.

"Looks like we'll be here awhile, so go ahead."

--

Tucker was scanning the files Jack had pulled up, looking for anything that may give them a clue to Clockwork's motives.

"Master of time. Able to control who stays and goes. Helps ghosts move on…" Tucker murmured as he scrolled. "All things you've already told me when I arrived, basically."

"I told you son, I've shared pretty much everything I can already. Me and Maddie, we haven't been able to research individual ghosts much, seeing as we haven't had access to the Zone until recently."

"Wait! Here's something!" Tucker interrupted, squinting at the screen. "It's a scanned document, from your mom I'm guessing?"

Jack looked at it too and nodded. "I've only been able to decipher about half of what it says though, since her handwriting was so frail towards the end."

Tucker kept squinting as he scanned his eyes over it, mouthing the words to himself before turning to Jack and pointing at part of it.

"Is this the part you couldn't read?"

Jack looked and nodded again.

"Jack, I think Sam's in trouble," he gulped, before continuing. "If I'm reading this right, that medallion we have is more than just a trinket. It says here 'Clockwork's medallions allow a being in and out of his lair. Without them they can't find it.'"

"I think we figured that out. After all it's our map now!" Jack said.

"But there's more! This here, in really messy scribbles! She must have been in a hurry or something, I'm only able to piece a few small bits together. But it doesn't look good."

Before Tucker could say more Maddie came running over to the group.

"Boys! We've got a problem!"

--

While the boys played on the computer, Maddie sat quietly in the corner, concentrating hard on picking up what little she could from her headset.

"You said his powers were fueled by our love…"

A rush of relief took over Maddie as heard Sam's voice this time, clearly still alive.

"He finds himself questioning things… that's when the human emerges."

She gritted her teeth. Clockwork again. And she wasn't even to hear the whole bit of his sentence.

'Think Maddie! Put these pieces together. Clearly Clockwork is telling the kids that they are linked, but we kind of knew that already…'

She stopped as she heard more come through.

"I have not been able to see…. Until it occurred in real time… because of your powers."

Maddie opened her mouth in awe, finally figuring a few things out.

'Clockwork's visions are affected by Danny's powers? But wasn't Clockwork supposed to be all-knowing? Able to control everything and everyone? Ha! We'll see about that!'

She was about to go back to the group and tell them what she had just figured out, to see if they had any ideas about how to use this to their advantage, when she heard more.

"…Let him lay! Let him realize I am right!"

The voice was angry, as if something had just happened to set him off. Maddie was horrified to think what it could have been and what he could have done, but also too intrigued to let herself get distracted by the boys. She glanced over at them to see them peering at the computer intently, and decided to stay and listen, planning to fill them in on it all when she had a more concrete idea.

"I may not have my powers… Tell me what's going on…"

Maddie sighed in relief as she heard his voice, though it was strained and full of crackling static.

"This amulet…"

She felt like she was hearing a soap opera play out as she strained to listen, not wanting to stop even as the static got worse and worse. 'Danny must have gotten further from where his suit landed,' she thought.

"It's linked to your destiny…"

Sam this time, before even more static came, so strong she couldn't hear a word.

'Clearly that amulet Danny has is linked to his powers, his love. And so is Sam. And that power is stronger than Clockwork thought. It's strong enough to overtake him even. If only Danny can find a way to harness it…'

She kept thinking, glancing at the boys again to see them squinting at their screen, while listening intently to the static in her set. She was about to pull it off and give up when something broke through that caught her attention.

"I AM NO ONE'S TOY!" Danny's voice rang through, clearer than it had been before.

"Danny!" Sam's voice now, but not as clear.

Maddie closed her eyes again, straining to hear, knowing it could be important.

"Trust me. Trust us! This will work out...!" Her voice was really weak now, almost completely gone.

She knew something was up, and she knew she needed to share what she had heard. She turned back to the boys, ready to explain when one last bit came through.

"I love you, Danny."

Tears filled Maddie's eyes at this, full knowing that something bad must have happened to Sam. Hoping that maybe the boys could shed some light, she ran over to them, fear in her voice as she said, "Boys. We've got a problem!"

--

"Jazz's notes say WHAT?" Jack asked again, as Tucker explained what he was able to decipher.

Maddie had just finished frantically filling them in on what she had heard, and was now tapping her toes impatiently, knowing that every second they spent was another one Sam was in trouble.

"Humans. They can't survive for long in the Ghost Zone. Only a few things can fix that, and one of them is Clockwork's medallions. Or at least, that's what her scribbles look like they say," Tucker replied. "And if Maddie is correct in what she heard, I have a feeling Sam took hers off."

"Which means…. She's gone?" Jack asked.

"Now Jack, don't race to any conclusions, we can't know for sure. And even if she did take it off, I bet Danny found a way to save her." She paused, then said, "Unfortunately, my headset is static again and nothing is coming through at all." She frowned, tears forming in her eyes.

Jack put his arm around his wife, trying to comfort her the way she always did him.

"This isn't our fault. This isn't anyone's fault except that low-life ghost, Clockwork. And I promise Maddie, we WILL make him pay!"

"But what can we even do?" Maddie replied, her usual confidence shaken.

"What can't we do? We're family! And family always wins!" Jack replied with a boom in his voice. "Plus, Danny is strong, powerful and in love! And if family doesn't win, love will!"

Tucker listened intently as Jack cheered up his wife, trying to figure things out. It wasn't until Jack mentioned love that he remembered something very important.

"Guys! We should probably fill in Sam's grandma, don't you think?"

--

With a little coaxing from Maddie, Sarah had decided to take a breather and go for a roll around the block. It had been a rough day and she needed to get some space.

'A few weeks ago, we were all normal. Living at home. Going about our lives. And now? Sam's been abducted by a crazy ghost who can control time!'

'But a few weeks ago, Sam was also depressed and lonely. It was only a matter of time before she took it a step further.'

She really didn't know which was better – returning to life as normal or letting ghosts control their fate. In her mind, they were both bad choices.

'How about something in the middle. Something where Sam is happy, Danny is able to find balance and we all return to life?'

'Danny shouldn't even exist. He died fifty years ago!'

'And yet there he was, standing in front of you earlier today, almost human.'

She couldn't make sense of it all, not really. As much as she wanted normalcy, she also found the idea of her former boyfriend returning intriguing, refreshing almost. It was like they all had been given a second chance.

'Second chance? Ha! You're 50 years older now, it's not like you should be with a teenager!'

'Of course not, but Sammy, she's getting the chance you never had!'

"If only…" She found herself saying out loud as she returned to the Fenton House. So much for a breather. She knew she'd feel better she went back in and tried to help in some way.

She wheeled herself up their ramp and into the house, which had been left unlocked for her, only to find the living room still empty.

'Whatever is going on down there, I sure hope they find their answers sooner rather than later.'

She went back over to the main room and found a TV remote, ready to let the glow of the screen distract her while the real work was done downstairs. But before she could click it on, she found her vision going black and her head getting dizzy as she fell forward and hit the ground.

--

At the reminder from Tucker that Sam's grandma was still upstairs, patiently waiting for results, Maddie had run up to check on her once more, knowing she'd have to break the news of her granddaughter's fate very gently.

She turned towards the living room and looked around, not seeing Sarah at first and assuming she was still outside. But then she looked again and saw a glimpse of her metal scooter. Eyes wide, she quickly ran into the room, only to find that Sarah was lying on the ground, with nothing so much as a heartbeat or pulse.

[saltyfilmmajor]

FUCK YOU @ineverhadadoubt, I’M NOT INTO SUBMISSIVE MEN IT’S MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT

A slightly humorous critical response to @ineverhadadoubt on my irrational attraction to Daniel Kaffee 

A bit of context before the main argument. I’m known on the Benthan Discord Server as the Resident Kinkster, not because I’m kinky per se, but because I don't shut up about them. As well as my very peculiar thirst objects: Rolled Up Forearm Sleeves, Voice Kink, Rope. Jk lmao. (or am I, you don’t have proof). And Well, look. I really like Danny Kaffee and this post by @academicgangster slightly inspired me to write this. Also because I have a lot of thoughts and I need to get this out and defend myself from Libel™ and False Narratives™ from @ineverhadadoubt and @misstangle about kinks I don’t have. 

So, having watched A Few Good Men three and a half times over the course of three days has led to various conversations and speculations on the film. Mainly centering on the character of one, Daniel Allister Kaffee. In this essay, I will be responding the frankly egregious accusations the Mainstream Media™(e.g. Ruth) that the author is into subish men when the reality is a far more nuanced and complex situation having to do with the themes present in the film and the characterization of Daniel Kaffee in particular.

Firstly, the film deals in the philosophical discourse of “good” men, loyalty, honor. In essence, it’s a dive into what happens when men follow their own code. Jessup, the motherfucker, believes himself to be above the law and in the most famous scene in the film he demonstrates the ideology clearly through his anger at the question Danny presents to him, “Did you order the code red?!”. He takes offense at it, stating that he “defends a country” much like how at the time of writing Trump takes offense that he is an agent for Russia, but that’s another can of worms.

While on the outset the film is set up as a classic courtroom drama, with a plucky attorney and obviously evil character, that is forced a little more into the background and follows more on the character of Daniel Kaffee and how he overcomes his insecurity in order to do the morally right thing and in essence come to understand what honor and code really mean.

So, with this in mind, we can begin to unpack Daniel Kaffe’s character arc. He begins as the Smartest Smartass to ever Smartass in the history of Smartassery, litigating a plea bargain over softball practice, getting the deal he wants. This is his establishing moment. Thus, in the mind of the audience, he is in control and gets what he wants, despite being facetious during the entire process. He is cocky, young and doesn’t care but he’s good at his job. At the prospect of being handed the case by division, he still does not take any of the case seriously, at least at the surface level. He appears to be obfuscating stupidity or rather obfuscating disinterest. But at the minute at being yelled at by Joanne, he begins to take a more proactive approach to the case.

You see Daniel Kaffe’s whole character is one who desires control and yet despite outward appearances is always under the thumb of other characters. Division? They hand him the case. Joanne? Makes him take it to trial. Sam? Makes him wear the whites to Cuba. Jessup? Makes him “ask nicely” for the transfer file. Jack? Also goads him into taking it to trial and points it out to him later on in the narrative. He is pulled and pushed into moving in one direction or another but is dependent on those around him to make the choices he makes. This comes as a result of the insecurity that Kaffee has from living in the shadow of his father’s legacy. Joanne in their second meeting calls out Daniel’s current behavior as a “brilliant, but lazy” lawyer, and by bringing up the legacy of his father causes him to push himself to confront his insecurities and meet with his clients.

So being that he’s insecure, he lets everyone control him to varying degrees, with Jessup being the most prominent example. The whole point of Jessup telling him to “ask nicely” in the narrative is to show he knows he’s under suspicion but there is nothing Kaffee can do to him. So Kaffee must submit to established authority in order to do his job. The turning point in this conflict is when Sam tells Kaffee that is Kaffee who is lead counsel, not himself or his father. With this Kaffee is starting to be free from the shadow of his father’s legacy. This is finalized on his final cross-examination of Jessup, where he breaks from everyone’s control going against Jo’s advice and as he looks to Sam disagreeing, he decides to go for it. He rolls the dice, and for the first time makes a decision of his own volition ending with justice being served. This ties into the idea of Free Will™, and is a military man truly free? Is any man ever free to do what is right?

With this interpretation of the film being established, we can begin to unpack the misrepresentation of the author’s attraction to Daniel Kaffee.

For Fuck's Sake. Ruth. Ruth honey. DID, Did you think about this sentence before you typed it out? THIS JUST MAKES IT SEEM THAT IM HAVING FANTASIES OF BEING A SUB, which unless you have direct evidence of, do not accuse me of this kink. This is Libel™.

Ok, look. The reason I keep saying The Sub™ Scene is because he submits to authority. And the authority is not attractive or likable at all, so I’m not including Jessup in this interest. It’s a personality thing. Kaffee, the Smartest Smartass to ever Smartass, being forced into politeness and courtesy to prove a point is just. Hot. Because his establishing moment is getting what he wants being flippant, coasting by and doing just fine, makes the audience understand that this is his everyday normal base behavior. He’s used to doing whatever the fuck he wants when he wants (within reason anyway) and he’s used to litigation going his way. He has an inherent issue with authority, established when he meets Jo for the first time, his superior. When she calls him out the second time they meet does he start taking his job a little more seriously. Jack also very accurately observes and breaks down his personality in the movie twice. See he goads him into going trial, as well. And when he discusses putting Jessup on the stand, he perfectly states that Kaffee was “bullied into that courtroom.”  Kaffee unable to accept it starts shouting at him.

Kaffee is a very Covert Sub™, it is subtle because his forefront personality is always in control and commanding attention. AND TO ME THE AUTHOR, THE FACT THAT HE GETS PUT IN HIS PLACED AND HE HAS TO TAKE IT IS JUST VERY INTRIGUING. His Harvard trained mouth can’t help him because he is ultimately trying to do his job, and he can’t damn all the consequences. Smartasses being put in their place is the hottest thing don’t @ me. But in the Final Cross-examination, when his Harvard trained mouth can finally be taken seriously by authority, he goes all for it making a point that all the frustration and forced submission he’s gone through will have been very much worth it because he’s going to absolutely obliterate Jessup on the stand. So, he speaks low and carefully, much like how Jessup does early on in the film. And when he has Jessup where he wants him, he starts shouting. And the last thing he says to Jessup face to face is “The witness is excused.” Making it clear that Jessup may be a colonel, and he may think he’s above the law, but this is Kaffee’s domain and he’s the authority Jessup must answer to.

In short, my attraction to Daniel Kaffee cannot be attributed solely on to his submissive moments, rather how his character is set up as a man who is used to getting what he wants his way, who has to submit to the authority he has a problem with to in the end get what he wants. Also his eyebrows, eyes and Class A™ Navy Uniform is very nice. AND HE SWEARS. Also when he has to submit to authority, he gets quiet™ and I love it when Tom’s voice gets quiet™

( @sweetbouquetartisane  i proofread it lmao.)

[daemonlogical]

I like this take, because

1. I hate people who love dictating what to do how to do it

2. It brings Sam's flaws in the forefront as someone naive in the human cost of heroism, the fact she isn't as obsessed with heroism as she thinks she is since she acts like an anonymous tipper (and that her threat assessment is colorfully biased), and she's becoming the person she hates (hello tiger mom Sam!)

(I'm gonna put the rest on read more since it's less on Sam and more on obsessions as a concept)

3. Obsessions as a concept is surprisingly shallow if it's tied to survival. Why not make it something like a compulsion? If the accepted fanon/canon is that ghosts are their emotions, it would make a ton more sense to link it to their power level or just general energy level. Make them seemingly permanent in making changing aspects of your compulsion (and consequently personality) a slow, time-intensive process.

It would a lot more angst inducing to need to change, find out you can, but not fast enough for it to be relevant to your situation. Or if preventing a ghost from their obsession would cause misery, and that misery can be extremely life threatening for beings held together by emotions and force of will.

A while ago, I posed the question ‘Where do fans stand on Danny having an obsession?’  With different answers all around. 

Some said they don’t like the idea that Danny has an obsession because it takes away his agency and makes his choices less meaningful if he’s forced to do what he does.

Some said they loved Danny with an obsession because that can lead to angst potential.

Others said it depended on the story.

What about all of the above?

Danny seems to be slacking off in ghost hunting lately, at first it was just, “I haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep in a while, let me take a break.” But that was quite a few days ago and his sleep schedule has gotten back on track so there’s no excuse for him to be cutting patrolling short tonight, or for him to ignore what could possibly be a villainous plot going on in town, Sam insists!

Tucker points out that said villainous plot is just a new hot dog shop opening up in town which she waves off.  She insists Danny could be doing more.

Danny replies that if his ghost sense goes off, he’ll do his job, but it’s nice to take a few days off.

Sam leaves Danny and Tucker to play games while she hops on her scooter to patrol the city by herself. As she zooms through the streets she mutters “I wish the one with actual superpowers on this team was more obsessed with with doing this job than me.”

When the friends meet up the next day, Danny is much more vigilant.  Sam’s pleased although Tucker is bummed that Danny doesn’t want to see a new movie after school in favor of patrolling the city. 

For a little while, everything is good.  Danny is taking his job as a hero seriously, ghosts are getting beaten and taken back to the ghost zone, crime is noticeably going down in Amity.

Tucker points out to his friend that he might want to do something about those bruises on his face and Danny waves him off.  Hazards of the job. Sometimes the ghosts get a few good shots in.  He’ll just say it was Dash, if anyone asks.

By next week, Danny was noticeably skipping more classes than usual.  His excuse being ‘ghost fighting’ and Sam warns that he should be more careful.  Even his clueless parents are going to notice.

Later that night, Sam’s house gets a call from Jazz.  She thinks she knows what the conversation is going to be about and prepares some excuses on Danny’s behalf, but is thrown off when she confronts her about not seeing Danny since Yesterday.”

“He staggered home at 2:00 AM last night, looking like he got run over by a truck! me, mom and dad tried to talk to him but he looked so exhausted, the only thing we could think to do was send him to bed, thinking we would talk again in the morning but he was gone when we woke up.  We haven’t seen him since then! Sam, what is going on?!” Jazz cries.

At that moment Danny flies in through her window, ectoplasm seeping through an an enormous gash on his abdomen. 

“Can I get a patchwork?”, he mutters, groggily. Sam hangs up the phone in shock.

She goes to work, stitching up his wounds.  Danny murmurs some explanation of why it’s not that bad and how he’ll just need a minute before he’s ready to keep going, as his eyes droop and head nods in his exhaustion.  She tells him that he can just take a nap here until he’s well enough to go home but he disappears the instant she’s finished.

[darks-ink]

Disinterred CH.15

Chapter 15: Clean It Up

And Amity Park… Amity Park was used to dealing with the unusual. The impossible. The non-existent. So, really. Having a ghost and a clone of said ghost testify for the crimes of another ghost… It wasn’t that far out of there.

(Tumblr hates links and I want this to appear in the tags so… for author notes/full fic summary/links to the other chapters/mirror links to AO3 and FFnet, click here)

“We need to talk to detective Payton.”

The woman behind the desk quirked an eyebrow at him, then glanced at the group behind him. “If you have a crime to report, you can speak to whichever officer is available.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Danny insisted. “It involves a case he was working on.”

She opened her mouth again, clearly intending to shoo him away. Jazz cut her off, however. “It’s really important, please. Can you just contact him and tell him that the Fentons want to talk with him.”

The lady glared at them shortly, but complied. The call involved a brief back-and-forth, but once Payton had heard the words “Fenton” and “case” he seemed to have made up his mind.

Sighing, the woman at the desk put the phone down again. “He’ll be here in a few moments.”

“Thank you.” Danny grinned, just a little too pleased with the small victory. Hey, he would take whatever he got right now. Any distraction from the upcoming conversation was more than welcome.

When Payton appeared he looked more than a little resigned at the sight of their group of teenagers. “I thought that the Fentons wanted to talk to me?”

“We’re temporary stand-ins for his parents,” Sam said with a shrug. “They’re… occupied.”

Payton sighed but, to his credit, didn’t otherwise react. He simply led the four of them to an empty room so they could talk.

“What is this about, then? Because I’m guessing that the ‘case’ you wanted to talk about is yours?”

“Yeah,” Danny confirmed with a nod. “We… We kind of left our some details.”

“You are aware that it’s illegal to lie to the police?” Payton crossed his arms, a mild glare send towards the teens.

“We didn’t lie!” Sam exclaimed, throwing out her hands. “We just didn’t tell the entire truth.”

“Is that so?” Payton didn’t look particularly convinced. Danny didn’t really blame him. In fact, he kind of felt bad for the officer. His involvement in the case certainly made it a lot harder than it had any right to be. Ghosts, in general, made work for the police difficult.

“When we talked about my… ghostly nature,” Danny started hesitantly, “we implied that my… more ghostly appearance was just a one time thing. It’s not.”

Payton nodded, now looking slightly more believing. “Is this related to your glowing green eyes during the confrontation with your parents?”

“Uh, yeah. I can trigger the whole transformation on command, but the glowing eyes happens for all sorts of reasons. Usually when I’m using my powers or when I’m experiencing really strong emotions.” Danny shrugged. “I kind of… use my more ‘ghostly’ form as a disguise of sorts, so people don’t recognize me.”

“But what would you need a disguise for?” Payton squinted at him, suspicion clear on his face. “Nothing illegal, I hope?”

Danny snorted in response, leaning back in his chair. “Hardly,” he said, before tapping into his powers to make his eyes glow on purpose. “Come on, it can’t be that hard to figure out.”

Payton scrutinized him for a few long moments, eyes gliding over him. Then the man sat forward, arms resting on the table. “You’re saying that you are Phantom? Well, that certainly explains why you laughed when I said that if Phantom thought you were okay, it was probably safe to trust that judgment.”

“What can I say, ghost hunting runs in the family.” Danny smirked, a rather Phantom-like expression, to drive the point home.

The detective continued to eye him, then sighed. “You do realize that this isn't going to change the decisions we made last meeting, right?”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed with a shrug. “I mean, I guess I’ll try for college but if I can’t get in I’ll just work for my parents. I’m already following their footsteps as Phantom anyway, might as well give inventing a shot too.”

Then his expression fell again. “But to get back to the original topic… I’m not just telling this for fun. It’s a secret for a reason.”

“Yes, I suppose it is,” Payton agreed, sitting back again. “What is it then?”

Danny frowning, running through his options. Apparently he took too long, because Jazz spoke up. “He’s not the only one. Not the only one with a human and ghost appearance, I mean.”

“And you’re telling me this because… you don’t think they deserve their secret if you didn’t get to keep yours?” Payton queried, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“No,” Danny bit out. “I’m telling you because he’s a jackass who uses his powers for bad purposes!” The vivid green light from his eyes flickered on the desk in front of him, but he ignored it. “He hurts people, he manipulates people! And he has gone too far!”

“And who is he, then?” Payton seemed genuinely intrigued. Apparently Danny’s rant had convinced him to at least play along.

“In human form or ghost form?” Tucker piped up. “Because he looks drastically different and he has no problem flaunting that fact.”

“In his ghost form he calls himself Plasmius.” Sam crossed her arms. “But the public usually calls him the Wisconsin Ghost, I believe.”

“The blue skinned vampire ghost?” Payton frowned. “I’ve heard of him, yes. Known to cause problems, picks fights with… Phantom.” The last word he said more quietly, realization of Phantom really being a 16 year old apparently striking him.

“That’s him,” Danny confirmed. “His human form is also well-known. Old family friend of my parents, current mayor of the town…”

Payton grunted. “You’re saying that the Vlad Masters is a ghost like you?”

“How do you think he won the election?” Jazz questioned with a scoff. “He didn’t stand a chance until he overshadowed most of the voters.”

“And that’s just one of many sketchy things he has done with his powers.” Tucker’s jaw visibly tightened at the thought of everything the man had done. Of what he had tried to do to him. Danny was glad for friends like these. “Stealing money, overshadowing business rivals to take over their companies, attempted murder of Jack Fenton…”

“Kidnapping Maddie Fenton, twice. Kidnapping Danny at least that often, including trapping him in ghost-proof bindings and electrocuting him,” Sam continued. “Sending potentially dangerous ghosts to Amity Park, in the hopes to either kill Jack or hurt Danny.”

“And that’s not even to mention that he tried to clone me,” Danny joined in. Then with a grimace, he added, “And emotionally abusing the one clone that survived. Well, as far as a ghost can survive, of course.”

Payton blinked, apparently stunned by the information overload. Then the last part processed, and he frowned. “He cloned you?”

“Not very successfully, but yes.” Danny shrugged, a faux casual air about him. “She didn’t quite come out right, and she wasn’t stable. But she’s with my parents now, and we managed to save her.”

“Which is also why they’re not here,” Tucker explained, leaning on Danny’s shoulder. “Hence Sam and I as the replacement parents.”

Payton remained quiet for a few moments. Then he sighed. “You are aware of how bat-shit insane this sounds?”

“Welcome to my life,” Danny said with a snort. “Or, well, you know what I mean.”

“We can’t just take your word for all of this,” Payton insisted. “It sounds… Well, it sounds too bizarre to come up with, but that doesn’t mean that it’s true.”

“And we can provide you with whatever proof you need.” Sam glowered at him. “We just need your assurance that you’re gonna look into it, and that you’ll do your best to arrest Vlad.”

Payton sighed, looking like he was very much regretting his involvement in this case. Again. “Of course. That’s literally my job, miss Manson. Although I do wonder how you expect us to arrest and contain a ghost.”

“Inventions to restrict his powers exist,” Tucker supplied. “You can probably move to arrest him the normal way, since he won’t be expecting you to know. Use some ghost-proof cuffs and you’ll have him before he realizes.”

“Fine. It’s a deal. I’ll need all evidence you have of his crimes, including witness reports,” Payton instructed, looking like he was trying to get back in control of the situation.

Danny nodded, then pulled out his phone. “I’ll call the Red Huntress. She was one of the people Vlad manipulated, and he straight-up tried to hire her to catch the clone when she escaped.”

Looking he was going to regret asking, Payton nonetheless asked. “I thought the Red Huntress didn’t like Phantom? Or ghosts in general?”

“Misunderstanding,” Danny explained, waving Payton’s concern off with his hand. “We got everything figured out, and she knows of both my identities.”

“Of course,” Payton groaned. “And I’m guessing you know who she is, then?”

“We all do.” Sam grinned at the clearly overworked detective.

The detective only groaned, but didn’t say anything. Danny figured he had a pretty good idea of what the agent was feeling like.

But it was for a good cause.

It took a few days to gather all the evidence the police required. The witness reports alone took a considerable chunk of time, considering the sheer amount of people in Amity Park alone that knew about Vlad’s shady business. Aside from the Fentons (all five of them) and Sam and Tucker, Valerie also had to be included.

And sadly, that was easier said than done, as she needed to reveal her identity for the report to count. After all, a judge wouldn’t just accept the statement of a masked vigilante that no one knew.

Thankfully she trusted Danny’s judgment (and, of course, the judgments of his friends and Jazz) and allowed Payton and his team to know. They were… less than pleased to discover that she, too, was a teenager.

Knowing that it had been Vlad who pushed her into ghost hunting in the first place… Well, that eased their moods a little. Besides, she and Phantom now worked together – and they trusted Danny to keep the people of Amity safe. From ghosts, at least. Human crime… Well, that was their job.

Additionally, there was some trouble with Dani’s witness reports. Law wasn’t exactly made with cloning in mind. Legally, Danielle Fenton didn’t exist.

But then, neither did ghosts.

And Amity Park… Amity Park was used to dealing with the unusual. The impossible. The non-existent.

So, really. Having a ghost and a clone of said ghost testify for the crimes of another ghost… It wasn’t that far out of there.

Most of the people involved who knew enough about the case to know that three of the people involved were ghosts… Well, they were just glad that the ghosts were solving their issues like normal people. Instead of, you know, blasting each other to bits on the streets.

When Danny first heard people mention it, it had been some of the other officers of Payton’s team. People who knew he was a ghost, but who hadn’t been told about his Phantom alter-ego. He immediately thought back of all the times he and Vlad had brawled and burst into laughter.

The officers looked at him like he had gone crazy, eyebrows raised. Between giggles, Danny managed to explain himself. “You- You really don’t know the half of it.”

That hadn’t really explained anything to the cops, but Payton coaxed them back to work before they could question Danny. The detective attempted to glare the boy into behaving himself, but failed once more. Now that he knew what the boy had faced off against, he wasn’t surprised.

Finally enough evidence had been gathered. The cops set out, armed with anti-ghost weaponry and ghost-proof cuffs. A cell had been prepared beforehand, covered by a ghost shield provided by FentonWorks. A special one, they assured, which would hold even the most powerful and skilled of ghosts.

Payton double-checked his gear. Then he gave the start signal, allowing his officers to pour into the mansion.

Within minutes the team returned, guiding Vlad Masters in their middle. The man was dressed, as always, in an impeccable suit. He frowned at Payton when his guides stopped him in front of the detective.

“Sir, with all due respect, but what on Earth is happening here?”

Payton offered the man a lopsided smile. Then in one swift movement he cuffed Vlad’s wrists together, preventing his escape.

“Vlad Masters, also known as Vlad Plasmius, you are under arrest for… Well, for a lot of crimes.” His smile grew a little wider, a little more genuine. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court.”

Vlad’s eyes widened, his gaze shifting between his bound wrists and the police officers surrounding them. Payton ignored him, continuing with his whole rights speech.

“Wait, no,” Vlad pleaded. “You must be mistaken- I have never heard of a name like ‘Plasmius’ before.”

“Save it for court.” Payton shoved the man forward, towards the van that would transport him. Several officers, all armed with ectoplasmic weaponry, would ride with him. The cuffs should prevent him from using his powers to escape, but better safe than sorry.

Then he turned towards the rest of the officers still waiting. He inclined his head towards the mansion that stood before them, looming in the approaching dark.

“Well then, let’s see how many sketchy things we can find in here. Sources say that he has an underground lab hidden, like some kind of supervillain.” He grinned at the crowd of police. “First one to find and enter it without disturbing actual evidence gets a reward.”

He clapped his hands together. “Ready, set. Go!”

And then the officers were off, leaving Payton to observe. The boy had been right. Arresting Vlad had been easy, as the man hadn’t expected them in the slightest.

How clever he thought himself. What a sham.

The Summer vacation hadn’t done much to calm Casper High’s rumor mill. The turbulent arrest of ex-mayor Vlad Masters right after the start of said vacation had spurred on all rumors. Not much was known about it, but that didn’t stop the teenagers. They whittled away, discovered the smallest details. Any slip-ups were gladly accepted and brought into the rumors.

So it wasn’t much of a surprise that they discovered that Danny Fenton had been involved as well. Not as a perpetrator, oh no.

As a victim.

Which, of course, combined well with the previous rumors of him being a ghost. It didn’t take long for the first theories to emerge, suggesting that Vlad was his killer. That he had played a critical role in the death of Danny Fenton.

And so when the school year started, against all odds… The rumors hadn’t died off. Quite the opposite. Even more people than before believed that the boy, now in his final year of school, was a ghost.

So they kept their eyes open for his arrival.

Eventually, their wait was rewarded. The doors of the school opened, and in the opening he stood.

Lanky, with unbrushed but shiny black hair. Icy blue eyes that, ironically, sparkled with life. A surprisingly healthy gloss to his pale skin. A playful but kind smile on his face. For once, he looked well-rested. No bags under his eyes.

Perhaps… Perhaps Vlad Masters really had been responsible for his death. Perhaps Danny Fenton could finally rest easy, knowing that the man was finally arrested.

His outfit was much like the usual.

The girl he had his arm wrapped around… much less so.

She, unlike Danny, looked uncertain. Shaky. A red beanie sat perched on her head, but messy black hair still spilled out of it.

Her eyes, blue as the skies, glanced around the entrance hall with vigor. She looked guarded, like she was expecting someone to suddenly attack her.

She had her hands stuck in the pockets of her oversized blue hoodie. A crease in her brow suggested, however, that said hands were clenched into fists.

Standing right next to Danny Fenton, it was very very clear that she looked almost exactly like him. A little younger, perhaps, but undeniably identical.

The crowd parted the let the two through. But they remained nearby, hovering around the two. Waiting. Watching.

In the end, it was Dash Baxter who decided that he’d had enough. He stepped forward, breaking from the line and into the circle of personal space that had been granted to Danny and his… whoever she was.

“Hey Fenton,” he bit, stressing the last name of the ghostly teen. “Who’s this?”

“Oh hey Dash,” Danny greeted as he turned to face the other boy. He pulled the girl next to him a little closer to his side, drawing a displeased hiss from her. “This is Danielle, or Dani.”

“With an i,” the girl muttered under her breath, barely audible.

“Okaaay.” Dash frowned, looking between the two. “That still didn’t answer my question of who she is.”

“Oh, right.” Danny flapped his free hand. “She’s my dead sister.”

Dash froze up, and sharp intakes of breath could be heard from everywhere in the crowd. “She’s your what?”

“My dead sister,” Danny repeated, finally releasing the girl to reach towards his locker. Then he looked over his shoulder at the crowd and grinned.

And stuck his arm right through the still closed locker door.

“Funny how that works, huh?” he said, with his arm still waving through his locker. He looked like was searching for something without being able to see it.

Dani, meanwhile, seemed to have gotten over her nerves. She leaned back against the lockers, standing right next to Danny. She was still eyeing the crowd, however, a little warily.

Soft mutters could be heard from the crowd, but no one had a real response. Sure, everyone had been convinced that Danny was a ghost. Hell, Dash had even seen the boy go intangible before.

But this was undeniable proof. And it was a lot less feeble than a whiffed punch by a jock.

Finally Dash got his thoughts back in order, though. “So why’s she here now?”

“Well,” Danny hummed as he finally pulled his arm out of the locker again. Held in his hand were several books for school. “You guys all knew I was a ghost anyway, so she didn’t have to hide anymore.”

He turned back to face his once-bully with a lopsided grin on his face. Then he shrugged. “Besides, where else is a ghost going to get an education?”