#now if a MAN tried to yell at amity she would be three seconds away from throwing hands

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Danny, on the run from the GIW decides to take shelter in Gotham because if the GIW have any sense they'd never set foot in there.

Even if Batman and the JL agree with thier opinion on ecto entities (as evidenced by their lack of speaking out against the anti-ecto acts) Batman was notoriously territorial and would have issue with a wildly incompetent government organization throwing missiles around his city all willy-nilly.

With that being said it was probably best for Danny to wear a disguise. Sure, they didn't know Fenton and Phantom were the same person yet but Danny Fenton suddenly turning up in Gotham after going missing in Amity is certainly going to raise some eyebrows regardless of the necklace he had that jammed his ecto-signature and made him untrackable.

Danny started off by going blond. Its something he's always wanted to do and now with ghostly shape-shifting powers he doesn't even have to worry about frying his hair or dying his eyebrows to match. After that all he needed to do was part his hair down the middle, add a lip ring or two and maybe a bit of make up.

Danny stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like a completely different person.

A completely different and very attractive person. He looked good. The newly blond man threw on a green jacket and went out to explore the town. He did not expect to literally bump into the Tim Drake. The Wayne adoptee just stood there mouth opening and closing comically. Did he offend him? Crap. He had promised Jazz he would stay off of the radar of the Waynes and the bats specifically and here he was angering one of them.

Danny decided to book it before it became a scene, ignoring the lovestruck Tim's crys for him to wait.

Back at his apartment Danny quickly changed his look to red hair tied back into a two inch low ponytail, green eyes and freckles that unbeknownst to anyone else was made up from the lesser known constellations.

The coffee at this Cafe smelled amazing! Too bad Danny wouldn't get to try it because the next this he knew freaking Red Hood was behind him asking to talk. Our favorite ghost boy wouldn't be embarrassed to admit he let out a small squeek before bolting out the door yelling, "I'm not even a criminal!"

It took Jason a few seconds to process that the guy he had tried to flirt with ran away in terror. Crap.

Day three and four were blissfully Wayne and bat free, though he did find out that Tim Drake and Red Hood were looking for his two false identities. Joy.

Day five he met the stabby Robin who very valiantly beat up two people who had been following him. Danny didn't even notice he was being followed and thanked the bird for saving him. Danny, who was shape-shifted into a very pretty girl at the moment, offered to buy him something to eat as a thank you. "Danielle" insisted and Robin allowed it. Danielle never noticed the slight pink on Damians cheeks as they went over to one of Damians favorite restaurants.

Day seven he had went out as blondie and got confronted by some girl named Barbara. She was nice and managed to convince him to come to a Cafe with her. He told her his name was David and he ran away from his parents with the help of one of his friends family members and that he was Jewish, which was true...except for the David part. He learned that if you wanna keep your story straight keeping to almost truths was your best bet. She in turn told him about Tim and how he's a friend of hers-uh oh- and that he's been looking all over for him.

Danny-David- tells her he's sorry but he didn't mean to offend Tim and doesn't want any trouble before laying down enough money to cover his half of the bill and the tip and booking it out of there

This repeats with most of the family trying to flirt with him or adopt him into the family when he's out as Danny.

Bruce Wayne approached Danny when he was waiting to board an elevator, "Hel-" was all the billionaire could get out before Danny cut him off "Hell no." And then he just got in the elevator and pressed the close doors button and was gone again.

[mkarchin713]

Dave didn’t think the situation would be as bad as it was. Everyone knew the Fenton’s where wackos, always going on about ghosts. They where annoying yes but harmless, unless Jack Fenton was driving but that was the traffic cops department not his.

Dave was not expecting to get shot by green lasers when he rang the doorbell (if it wasn’t for Wonder Woman he would have more than just a hole in his tie). Nor was he expecting Jasmine’s non-reaction as she used her house key to open the door (maybe he should have listened when she told him not to ring the bell)

At first the living room looked pretty typical for small town America but then Dave noticed some peculiarities. The room was mostly clean but only the bottom half. Everything under five feet was spotless, over five feet and it was filthy. Jasmine Fenton was under five feet but with her arms outstretched she could probably just reach the cleaning line.

The kitchen also looked fairly normal, if not for the step stools and toy guns on the kitchen table. The stools where everywhere, by the fridge, the cupboards, even the stove. Dave checked the cupboards, there was cheap but relatively healthy food at the bottom and expired snacks up top, far out of Jasmine’s reach even with the step stool.

Dave made a quick peak in the fridge and -

….

Food should not do that, it should not be glowing and moving. Those where hotdogs how where they moving? If it wasn’t for Batman and Jasmine he would be dead three times today. He thought the gun was a toy, it shot lasers just like the door bell. What kind of parents left working laser guns on the kitchen table and why did Jasmine even know how to use it. This was worse than he thought.

Just when Dave thought it couldn’t get any worse and explosion came from the basement. Jasmine didn’t even flinch, she just went to the bottom shelf next to the basement door and grabbed an EMT sized first aid kit and headed down the steps with the heroes in quick pursuit.

….

He was only a few seconds behind them, how had Batman end up covered in glowing green goo, why was Black Canary and Wonder Woman in a fist fight with the Fentons, where those open chemicals and a weapons vault and was that a swirling green portal in the wall. Why where the Fentons claiming the heroes where ghosts and telling Jasmine to throw them weapons, was that a bazooka, and a whip with Jack Fenton’s face on it. What the hell was going on!

…

Dave was going to retire. He was going to retire and move far away from the Fenton menace. The Drs. Fenton had been detained, tied up in their own glowing green net. Now they where yelling at Jasmine, saying she was a ghost, that was the only reason they could think of that she would shoot them with a net gun after they tried to shoot the downed Batman with the Bazooka.

Jasmine was seconds away from crying, saying she wasn’t a ghost and just wanted them to stop fighting. Her parents started going on about how the ghosts where obviously tricking her, and how she could be so stupid to believe a ghost, and how they raised her better than that. All this was going on as the seven year old patched up her parents wounds with a worryingly practiced ease.

Dave didn’t know what to do, none of his training mentioned what to do when mad scientists attacked the Justice League. No fosters in Amity would dare take the kids in fear their parents would come looking for them. Dave had seen Jack Fenton go through brick walls like the Kool-Aid Man, he doubted any prison could hold him for long. And if Daniel had powers like the heroes thought it would be even harder to place the kids in a home together.

Apparently Batman is a mind reader as just as Dave was about to bring up the placement issue the dark knight gave Dave the contact info of a league approved emergency foster who would take the kids in no questions asked. Dave looked at the card and thought maybe the rumors where true, maybe Batman was Bruce Wayne’s sugar baby.

In the middle of a Justice League meeting, Batman feels a tug on his cape. He looks down to see a little boy who could easily pass as one of his.

"Erm," the boy starts. "I frew up."

[lollytea]

this is more a request for YOUR huntlow thoughts but who breaks and says their feelings first. does hunter even know how to articulate that. does he just start yelling

There's like a fic that I have no idea if I'll ever write but I'll yack away but how I pictured it going down cuz if I don't write it, at least I got to talk about it.

I kinda like toying with the idea that there's not gonna be any talk about feelings for a while. Not in show canon anyway. I figure by the time a year passes after the show's timeline ends, the tension between them is palpable. Neither are certain but they have an inkling that the other likes them too. But no words about it are ever exchanged. Absolutely none.

Hunter has decided that he wants to kiss her. Just once. It kinda overwhelms him to think too much about anything beyond kissing her, so he just fixates on that alone for whatever reason.

Theyre in her garden late at night. Hunter draws a light glyph in the dirt so he can see her face. And all the lines in his face crease as he tries to just. Ask her. That's all he has to do. Maybe she'll say no but at least he can finally say he tried.

Willow notices his efforts. She's been noticing how his eyes have been darting to her mouth this last while now. So she takes mercy on him, leaning in until their noses bump together and she asks "would you mind if I kissed you?"

It's a sweet awkward experimental little kiss in the dead of night that nobody will ever know about. Two kids who aren't really sure what they're hoping for but know that they've never kissed anyone before and they'd like to give it a try. And they can't imagine kissing anyone else but each other.

Neither asks it aloud but both are thinking "Now what?"

And theyre scared, man. They really didn't think of what comes after the kiss. Are they dating now? Dating sounds intimidating. And sure, not a word on the matter was exchanged but they've both kinda exposed themselves of having feelings for the other.

Hunter begins to panic and Willow takes hold of his hands until they stop shaking. "We don't need to get carried away." She says. "We can come back to this whenever we're ready. No rush. I'll still hold your hand if you want me to."

Luz and Amity dated for a few months and then built up to kissing. Willow and Hunter had a silly impulsive kiss just for the sake of it but decided that there would be no dating just yet.

Three years pass and they're in love. They never talk about it and they're not dating but they're in love and they both know it and they know the other knows it. They have their own ambitions, jobs, seperate lives, but at the end of the day, they're unable to go in completely different direction as they always circle back to each other. They're still best friends and they know each other inside out and my god. The tension, the flirting, the intense eye contact, the deliberate brush of hands every so often. The way they intertwine fingers when no one is around to watch. They still work hard to make the other blush and they can still pull it off. I think they are finally ready for this step as they are literally about to burst at the seams.

They're texting late at night when Hunter asks Willow to look outside her window. And lo and behond, there he is, standing in her yard, beneath her balcony.

"Hunter?"

"Hey, Captain. Does this look stupid from where you're standing. It feels kinda stupid from where I'm standing. But, well, we're in it now and there's no turning back."

"Are you....drunk?"

"I'm not. But now that you mention it, that would have been a great idea. Actually, I am fully sober and aware of everything I am saying and doing right now and I'm gonna be honest I'm in Hell."

"Is there a reason you're standing outside my window right now?"

"Luz said this sorta stuff is romantic. Do you think it's romantic? I need a second opinion."

"I guess if its the right person, you would consider anything they do romantic."

"Okay. Um. Do you think it's romantic if it's me?"

"As dumb as it is, yes I do. Pretty sure I used to hope you'd do something like this back when we were kids."

"Follow up question. Would this be an appropriate spot for me to tell you I'm in love with you?"

"Oh....um. Well. I-....to be honest, you could tell me you were in love with me in a garbage dump and I'd be happy."

"Do you....wanna go to a garbage dump? Because I can take-"

"No, Hunter. I like this."

"Great! Fantastic! So. Um. Me. Thoughts?"

"Too much in love with you for my own good."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Titan, you better be."

"I know it's been a while but...is it okay if I kiss you again? And....maybe kiss you tomorrow? And make it...a permanent thing?"

"I like the sound of a permanent thing."

[dp-marvel94]

Fangs or No Fangs

For Phic Phight 2021. Jack and Maddie know that Danny is Phantom. They saw him transform and they knew they should talk about it with him. But...even after two weeks, that conversation feels impossible. And so Maddie has a plan: a trip to the planetarium to cheer Danny up, to finally see him smile, and to pave the way for the truth.

Word Count: 8,191

Also on AO3 and Fanfiction.net

Note: So this story is a bit of a mess of three prompts. I started with the first one and it veered into this. Part reveal fic. Part post-reveal family bonding (err....Jack and Maddie know and Danny knows that they knew but they haven't talked about it and no one's acting like they know so...?) Either way, it's all an unholy mix of fluff and angst.

Prompt by @amabsis : The Fenton’s notice that Danny isn’t smiling as much, so the only reasonable thing to do is take him out to cheer him up! What happens when they do manage to get him to smile, and they find out he has small fangs?

Prompt by @charcoalhawk: Maddie and Jack find out that their son is phantom and fully support him. Danny and Jazz however did not get that memo.

Prompt by @phan-pheeking-tastic : Post-Reveal Family Bonding

It had been two weeks since Maddie and her husband had found out what the portal had actually done to their son. Two weeks since they learned that their baby boy was a ghost. Two weeks since they saw their ghostly enemy, Phantom, turn into their son. 

It was on a normal ghost hunt. They’d been following Phantom, for once not yelling their normal insults but stalking him silently. The pair turned around a corner, to find Phantom standing with his back to them, a ring of light around his waist. Maddie tensed, anticipating an attack. Then the ring passed over the ghost’s head and the woman gasped. Her heart just about stopped, staring at the figure in front of her.

The figure, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and now with black hair, turned around. His blue eyes widened in panicked fear.

“Danny?” Jack whispered in awe beside her.

The boy’s mouth fell open, body stiff with fear. Maddie blinked and the boy in front of them, their son, their Danny, disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two went home, numb with disbelief. Maddie thought it was a dream at first; she must have imagined it. Or this was Phantom playing a trick on them except…

Maddie knocked on her son’s bedroom door to check on him. “Danny?” The sound of feet pacing and heavy breathing came from behind the door. Then there was a sudden clatter, a yelp as if the boy had ran into something. The woman frowned. “Can I come in sweetie?”

“Just...just a second.” Danny called, voice echoing but unusually high with obvious nerves.

There was a flash of light, visible from under the door. Maddie paled, wheels turning in her head. Then seconds later, her son pulled open the door, opening it only wide enough to see his deathly pale face. “Yeah? What’s….”  He coughed, forcing his voice into a more normal pitch. “What’s up?”

The mother stared into his wide eyes, biting her own lip. “Danny….” She hesitated, suddenly unsure. “Is there...do you want to...Is everything alright?”

The boy paled at the question, shaking slightly. “Yeah. Everything’s...everything’s fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

Maddie frowned. “Danny...are you sure-”

He cut her off, starting to push the door closed. “Yeah. Yep. It’s fine. I’ve...I’ve got homework. Seeyouinthemorningbye!” The teenager said the words so quickly, Maddie could hardly understand them. Then the door slammed in her face.

Dread dropped like a rock in the mother’s stomach. Shaking herself, the woman turned back and started down the stairs. She and Jack needed to talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s true. Isn’t it?” Her husband said, as soon as he saw her weary face. “Danny’s...Danny’s Phantom. Our son…”

“Our son’s a ghost.” Maddie whispered. Danny’s panicked expression in the alley and just minutes before in his bedroom, flashed in her mind. “It must be true. All the evidence is there.”

How their equipment targeted their son. The injuries he tried to hide, to blame on bullies. Skipping class, the detentions, the missing assignments. Missing curfew, sneaking out. His constant exhaustion. Their equipment going missing, only to end up in Phantom’s hands. Their children’s fervent support of the ghost boy.

Danny was Phantom. He must be. They saw him change. They saw him as a ghost. Danny….he was a ghost, meaning...he was dead. And it was the portal. It must have been. The portal, their life’s work, the machine that he had said just gave him a little shock, must have killed him. Except….did it? It had been two years since then and Danny had grown. Maddie had hugged him since and he was warm. She’d felt his heartbeat. He seemed to be alive so….?

The parents didn’t know. Danny was a ghost...and yet he was not? Or he was still alive but had some kind of ghost powers? 

Maddie put her head in her hands. “We should talk to Danny.” 

“In the morning.” Jack yawned, rubbing his tired eyes. “I’m exhausted and Danny….” He looked down, guilty.

The mother sighed. “He must be tired too, if he’s not already asleep.” They had been talking for hours at this point, processing what they’d seen and hypothesizing. Both of them needed to lay down and calm their racing thoughts. So the pair went up to bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie really had wanted to talk to Danny in the morning. But he’d dashed out without as much as a word to them. He did have school. They could wait and talk to him after, right?

Then after school, he raced up to his room with the excuse of homework before Maddie could even look at him. Soon after, he disappeared from his room and the mother saw a report about Phantom fighting the hunter ghost in the park. Guilt stabbed at her heart. 

When he came home after curfew (and luckily uninjured), the woman didn’t have the heart to chastise him. And he looked so tired, so weary. He ran up the stairs, muttering an apology.

Talking to Danny the next morning turned into that afternoon again, turned into the next day, turned into waiting for the weekend. But then the boy was always over at his friends’ house or busy doing homework. He was nervous, flighty, skittish, and tense the brief times he was near his parents. And when he was, Danny wouldn’t look at them, wouldn’t talk to them, could hardly stand to be in the same room. 

Maddie cursed herself. She knew they needed to have this conversation. She and Jack needed to talk to their son. So why couldn’t either seem to gather the courage? Why did the thought of talking about what the portal had actually done to their son, about how their work, their words, their actions, had affected him, make Maddie’s stomach roll? Why did it make her heart lodge in her throat, her lungs refuse to take in air? Why did it feel so insurmountable, like the guilt, the secrets would bury her alive?

Part of her wished that Danny would say something himself, that he would break the silence. Hell, she wished Jazz would call them out but no such luck. Instead a few days turned into a week, turned into two weeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maddie sighed, looking down at her coffee. It made her insides squirm anxiously, thinking about all this. All that they’d done before they knew, her continued silence. The guilt was eating the woman up inside and Danny’s sober mood broke her heart. It had been so long since she’d seen him look anything but nervous and distrustful, since he’d been in the same room as them for more than five minutes. The mother’s shoulders fell. He looked so sad, so anxious; she’d given anything to see him smile again.

A soft yawn sounded beside her, causing the mother to look. The boy himself was swaying sleepily, standing at the counter. How had he gotten there without her noticing? He was so quiet, silent as a ghost. Maddie shook her head at the thought. 

Then she frowned, letting out a short gasp. Danny’s had his hand through, literally intangibly, through the cupboard. 

The boy turned, eyes widening; he suddenly looked very awake. He pulled his hand out, clutching a box of cereal. “Uh…. morning, Mom.” He paled, eyes widening.

Maddie’s frown deepened at that. “Good morning sweetie.” She eyed the coffee pot, trying to wipe the surprise off her face. “Do you want some coffee?”

“No.” Danny shook his head, biting his lip. “I’m good. I’ll just...uhh...bye.”

The mother held out a hand. “Danny. Wait.”

The boy didn’t respond, instead turning and practically sprinting away at almost inhuman speed. Maddie wanted to chastise him for running in the house. Instead, she put her head in her hands. Did Danny do things like that all this time? If he did, how the hell had they not noticed? They were really that bad parents, weren’t they?

Annoyance at herself flared at the thought as Maddie raised her head. She balled her fists. “We need to do something.” The woman looked at her husband. “We have to talk to Danny. Today. Actually….” She stood up, looking in the direction her son had gone.

“Wait Madds.” Jack interrupted. The mother looked down at where he was still seated. “We can’t just spring this on him.”

Maddie’s eyes twitched angrily. “Jack.”

“Just listen.” The man held up his hands. “How about we go out and do something together as a family? The Amity Park Science Center, they have a new planetarium show. Danny will love it. He’ll have a good time. He’ll get to relax and see that...see that we want to spend time with him.” The man worried his lip, his voice wavering with emotion. “I just want him to feel comfortable and safe talking to us, Maddie.”

Maddie’s expression softened and she sat down, grateful for husband’s insight. “You’re right.” She sighed. “Maybe doing something like a normal family will help him relax. And then...then we can talk to him when we get home tonight.”

With that, the parents agreed and informed both of the kids, earning wary but tentative agreement from both. Maddie frowned at that. The distrust stung but both Fenton parents had earned that distrust. They were ready to do what they could to fix that, starting with removing or deactivating all of the anti-ghost weapons in the GAV. They’d already moved all ghost hunting equipment into the basement and discussed dismantling some of the more dangerous-to-ghost equipment. But the ghosts, ones that their son had unbeknownst to them been combatting for the past few years, were still a very real threat to the town. They’d need to find a way to keep their weapons from being able to hurt him (Maddie’s heart ached at the thought) but that was for another time.

Now, Jack and Maddie were waiting downstairs for both kids to finish getting ready. Jazz walked down the stairs, a tight frown still on her face. 

The girl raised her brow at the sight of her parents. “What are you wearing?”

Jack glanced at his wife and then down at himself. “Just jeans and a t-shirt, Jazzarincess.” He scratched at his neck, trying to look less uncomfortable than he was.

“But...you’re not in your jumpsuits?” The girl asked, still unsure.

Maddie shrugged. “We just wanted to wear something a little different, sweetie.” And a little more normal, the woman hoped she implied.

If Jazz understood the implication, she didn’t comment. Instead, she turned as Danny came bobbing down the stairs. The two shared knowingly looks, the boy’s eyebrow twitching as he noticed his parents’ clothes.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, shifting nervously. “Where are we going?” He asked quietly.

“To the Amity Science Center.” Jack beamed. “They’ve got a new show at the planetarium. Doesn’t that sound exciting, son?”

For just a moment, interest sparked in Danny’s eyes at the word planetarium. Then the wary look was back. Maddie sighed. “Come on kids.” Hopefully, he would enjoy himself and this would in fact help him to loosen up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fifteen minute car ride to the Science Center was quiet and tense. Danny glanced anxiously  around the GAV as if expecting weapons to activate and point at him. He flinched at every bump in the road. Jazz looked worriedly between her brother and her parents, her brow furrowed with thought. Honestly, Maddie wasn’t expecting much better but it still stung. Half-heartedly, she tried to idly chat with Jazz but the teen just looked all the more wary.

Soon enough, the family arrived at their destination. They quickly passed through the queue to pay and then entered the first room, a geology exhibit. The kids wander off, softly talking to each other while passively looking at the displays. Maddie could pick up the worried tones but walked away, deliberately not eavesdropping. They were probably wondering about why exactly their parents were being so ‘weirdly normal’ and taking them out for a family day. But after a minute, the pair drifted apart, Danny wandering to the back while Jazz looked at a large display on the left wall. 

Maddie was reading about volcanoes when she spotted her son at the case to her right. His eyes roved over the display, widening at the words. His frown slowly ticked up. The mother raised a brow at his expression, feeling relief. 

She then looked into the case wondering what had him relaxing. Oh, of course. These were the meteoroids. They even had one rock from the moon that had mystified Danny even since he was a little boy. 

Danny’s eyes lit up at the exhibit, literally. For just a moment, neon green flashed in his eyes. His teeth flashed in a smile. Maddie let out a small relieved gasp at the sight. 

It was then, Danny noticed her. His eyes widened and his head turned, hand automatically moving to cover his mouth.

The mother’s expression instantly fell and she wondered at the behavior. But she didn’t say anything, instead allowing Danny to wander off again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family continued exploring, slowly moving from exhibit to exhibit. To Maddie’s dismay, Danny was tense at first. She hadn’t seen him smile again since the meteors. His expression was uncharacteristically neutral. It’s not that he was bored (not that he’d even been bored on a trip here) but he was visibly anxious, not allowing himself to relax.

That eventually changed, as the group entered the heart of the museum, the dinosaur exhibit. Life-sized replicas of T rex, Triceratops, and Raptors loomed over them, faux rocks, plants, and wall murals simulating Earth when the dinosaurs walked on it. With the shifting lights, the occasional dinosaurian roars over the speakers, and the excitable little kids running around, it was lively. Danny and Jazz were huddled over a display of replica triceratops eggs while Maddie looked at a fossil of a primitive flowering plant.

“Oh Danny! Stand there. I want a picture.” Jazz’s voice came from behind her and the mother turned.

“No. Jazz. Come on.” Danny pouted.

“Please.” The girl begged.

After a moment, Danny huffed. “Fine.” 

The boy moved to stand in front of the replica raptor what his sister had pointed out. He forced a closed lip smile, holding out two fingers in a peace sign. There was a flash of light from Jazz’s phone, leaving the other teen blinking. “Jazz.” He whined. 

“Sorry.” She smiled, sheepishly. Then she held out her phone. “Now take my picture.”

Danny wrinkled his nose, obviously displeased but played along anyway as his sister came to stand beside the raptor. “You should stick your hand in its mouth and look like you're screaming.”

Jazz rolled her eyes, instead just smiling at the camera. That is, until a roar sounded from the speaker directly behind her. The girl shrieked in surprise at the noise, jolting forward and holding her hand over her heart.

Danny blinked in surprise before suddenly cackling with laughter and pointing at the now huffing girl. He snapped a few pictures, capturing her undignified face.

Meanwhile, Maddie beamed. Hearing her son laugh after so long was a beautiful sound. She walked forward, wanting to join the moment.

Then Danny spotted her. He blushed, covering his mouth with one hand before his chuckles quieted. His mother’s expression fell again. That was odd. This was the second time he’d covered his mouth once she’d seen him enjoying himself. She raised a brow as if to ask but Danny ignored the look.

Instead, he started leading Jazz away. “Come on. Let’s get some pictures in front of the T rex.”

Maddie turned, watching them walk away and noting the oddity. Jazz had been the one wanting pictures. The girl also wore a disappointed look as she softly said something to her brother, earning a frown from him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This continued as Danny seemed to enjoy the trip and grow more comfortable. Maddie would catch glimpses of him smiling at an exhibit or laughing at something his sister said. Then he would see her watching from a distance and cover his face. It was deeply bothersome. Did he not want his parents to see him enjoying himself?

By the time they were waiting for the doors of the planetarium to open for their show, Maddie’s stomach was flopping with anxiety over the behavior. Along the walls of the hallway leading to the theater was a display about the history of space travel. Ever since they'd first brought Danny here as a seven year old, this section had always brought her son such joy. He would smile and ramble, often even jumping up and down in eager anticipation for the doors of the planetarium to open.

Now, Danny was visibly trying to contain himself. Even as his wide eyes eagerly roved over the displays, his lips were forcefully pinched closed, almost as if the boy was exerting great effort to not smile. The display broke Maddie’s heart.

Then, the woman’s face set in determination. She wasn’t having this. They come here to cheer Danny up, for some parent-child bonding, so that’s what she would do. Maddie took a step forward, preparing to ask Danny what he was looking at. But then the doors to the planetarium opened.

Danny turned at the noise, meeting her eyes. His mother gave him a comforting smile. “Come sweetie. It’s time for the show.”

The boy nodded, giving her a closed mouth smile. He walked in front of her, into the theater and Jack and Jazz followed.

Maddie paused in front of a group of four seats. “How’s here, Danny?”

“Looks good.” The boy confirmed, sitting down.

Jazz sat to his left and after a moment’s hesitation, Maddie took a set to his right. Briefly, the boy tensed.

“Danny boy!” Jack’s enthusiastic exclamation cut through. “Are you excited?”

The boy blinked, turning. “For what?”

“For the show, dear.” Maddie chuckled.

“The show. Right.” Danny nodded. “It’s supposed to be about blackholes.” The corner of his lip turned up. “The poster looked awesome.” At that, the boy relaxed, letting out a breath.

Beside him, Maddie settled into her seat, relaxing as well. She hoped Danny would enjoy this. Soon, the lights dimmed, an image of the Milky Way appearing onto the dome in front of them.

“It’s starting.” The woman whispered happily to her son.

Danny perked up, his eyes widening at the sight. Music played through the speakers and the image shifted, the stars and clouds of the galaxy moving as if in a time lapses. “Wow.” The boy awed.

But the show was just getting started. Narration began playing through the speakers, the story of blackholes and their discovery. The life cycle of stars and their death. It was mesmerizing, the swirling images above and in front of them in the dark. It made Maddie’s lips part in a pleased smile, the beauty making the breath catch in her throat. Space really was incredible; the woman understood why her son loved it so. Thinking for her son….

Beside her, Maddie heard an excited gasp. She looked to the side, slowly taking in her son’s face. His eyes were wide, staring at the wall as the corner of his mouth turned though his lips didn’t part. He was clearly enamored with the program and therefore didn’t notice the mother’s observation at all. The woman smiled; he really was adorable when...he….was….

Maddie’s thoughts trailed off, her eyes widening. For a second, something flickered in Danny’s eyes before disappearing. The woman’s brow furrowed. A breath later, she saw it again. Ethereal green light flicker in his eyes, circling his iris before disappearing. Slowly, the boy’s lips parted. He blinked. The glow, the ghostly glow returned and Maddie’s jaw dropped. The light swirled like galaxies, overtaking his irises. 

The mother stared. At the glowing eyes. Her son's glowing eyes. She recognized that shade of ghostly green. Phantom’s eyes. Maddie tried to shake away her surprise. She knew her son as Phantom. She did. She knew he was a ghost, or part ghost, or...she didn’t really know but….

Danny’s mouth parted into a grin. And Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. He was smiling. Danny was smiling. The ghostly light was swirling in his eyes, the light reflecting off his cheeks, his freckles. His freckles… they were glowy faintly and… shifting across his face, forming constellations. It was almost...beautiful. No, not almost. The boy’s smile widened, his teeth shining in the dark. He looked so happy and it was the most beautiful thing Maddie had seen in weeks.

All too soon, the planetarium show ended, the lights slowly turning on. Danny stayed looking forward for a bit as the ghostly light of his eyes dimmed. But he was still relaxed, smiling widely. At that sigh, Maddie finally noticed something. His teeth were...odd. On the top and bottom, his canines were unusually long and sharp, almost like….

The woman gasped, drawing her son’s attention. He paled, eyes widening in alarm.

Maddie pointed, quietly asking. “Danny? Are those-”

“No.” Danny cut her off, his mouth snapping shut. He covered his mouth with his hand as he rambled. “Of course not. Of course, I don’t have fangs. That’s ridiculous. Why would I have- Umph.” Jazz elbowing him cut off.

The woman frowned, opening her mouth to reply. But she had no idea what to say. 

Luckily, Jack came to her rescue. He patted her knee. “Let’s go get some lunch, Madds.” His voice lowered. “And we can talk about…” He pointedly looked at Danny, letting the statement linger.

Maddie nodded in agreement. “Come on kids.” 

She stood up and fronted. Danny looked pale and worried again. She offered him a comforting smile. At that, his eyebrow twitched but his anxious expression lingered. Then Jazz nudged him, before standing. “Come on Danny.” She offered her hand, pulled him out of his seat, and started walking out of the room, deliberately standing between her brother and her parents.

Disappointment rose in Maddie at that but she pushed it down. They would talk about all this soon enough but as for now… the woman’s stomach growled…. Getting food sounded like a good idea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later, the family took their seats at a secluded table in the Center’s cafe. They’d bought overpriced sandwiches and now Danny was taking small, tentative bits of his meatball sub. Maddie looked down, picked up her reuben, and started eating. At the same time, Jack dug in and Jazz nibbled on her chicken salad.

There was silence for a long while, the buzz of the other patrons surrounding them. The woman wanted to make conversation, to ask what Danny had thought of the planetarium show. He’s enjoyed it, clearly. But Maddie wanted to hear him ramble excitedly about it. She wanted to see him smile again. 

But Danny looked so tense now, so worried. His shoulders were hitched, almost all the way up to his ears and he was pointedly avoiding looking at his parents. The sight of her son's fangs and his face once he realized that she’d seen them flashed in her mind. She wanted to ask about those. When did he grow fangs? And why? It was because he was a ghost, wasn’t it? Many ghosts they’d seen did have fangs. But did Phantom? Maddie couldn’t remember seeing them before, not that she’d seen that version of her son up close often. Granted...she hadn’t seen him smile in either form for what felt like months. The woman’s heart fell. 

Danny’s quiet voice broke through her thoughts. “Are you gonna ask?”

Maddie looked up, the corner of her lips twitching down at the sight. His shoulders hunched, eyes downcast. The mother reached forward, wanting to squeeze his hand comfortingly but hesisted. Instead, she offered him a caring smile. “Do they hurt?”

The boy looked at her, brow furrowing in confusion. “What?”

“When my wisdom teeth came in, I remember my gums and jaw being really sore.” The woman shook her head, focusing on the boy’s closed mouth. “I know it’s not the same thing but…. If they’re giving you problems, we can take you to the dentists.”

Danny frowned. “No. I don’t...I don’t need to go to the dentist.” He wrung his hands. “They don’t hurt or anything. Haven’t at all really.”

Jack raised a brow. “Even when they were growing in?”

The boy opened and closed his mouth before covering his face with his hand again. He glanced at his sister, worriedly. Jazz raised one brow, frowning deeply. She then looked at the parents briefly, her expression all the more confused. 

Danny’s forehead wrinkled. After a long moment, he answered. “They... uhh… I just woke up one morning and...my teeth were like this?”

Maddie blinked in surprise, taking in the words. The fangs just showed up overnight? Well…maybe that was better than them slowly growing and causing the boy pain. 

With that thought, the woman forced the confused expression off her face. “Can we see your teeth, Danny?” She gently asked.

The boy’s eyes widened and he vigorously shook his head.

Beside the mother, Jack’s expression softened. He reached forward, patting the boy’s arm with surprising gentleness. “It’s alright Danny-boy. You can show us.”

Danny didn’t flinch at the touch, instead looking thoughtfully between the two adults. Slowly he opened his mouth. There on display were his small fangs.

Maddie leaned forward, observing. Unlike last time, she wasn’t surprised. She’d known what to anticipate and to her shame, the woman had expected to feel discomfort or even disgust at the inhuman dentistry. But no such feelings arose. Instead her expression softened. She smiled authentically. “Aww sweetie.... They’re adorable.”

Danny blushed, gapping at the reaction. His embarrassed expression intensified as Jack replied.

“Ah come on Madds. You can’t call him cute.” The man grinned. “Our Danno’s fierce! And those fangs just make him look more badass.”

The boy blinked rapidly, like he could hardly believe what he was hearing, like the words just didn’t compute. Jazz looked equally confused.

Maddie waved the man off. “No one said he can’t be cute and fierce.” Her smile widened. “Our fierce little man.”

Danny facepalmed, whining. “Mom!”

The response was so normal, the typical reaction to a teenager being embarrassed by their parents in public. It made Maddie’s heart sing in relief, so much so, she started laughing. A moment later, Jack did as well.

The kids stared at the adults, both looking embarrassed and slightly tensed. But slowly, the pair relaxed, a soft smile crossing Jazz’s face. Danny’s lip parted as he snorted as well, shaking his head.

After a long moment, Maddie and Jack’s chuckling stopped and Danny’s smile faded. He eyed the adults, with crossed arms and a raised brow. “So...are you gonna ask why….?” He trailed off but Maddie knew what he was asking.

The parents looked at each other before Jack shrugged. “If your teeth aren’t bothering you and you’re happy with them, we don’t need to worry about it. Do we?”

“Um...I guess… but…” Danny still looked unsure, glancing between the two.

Maddie tried to comfort him. “You don’t have to tell us why, if you don’t want to. If you’re not ready.” Her expression was just serious, just forceful enough. Hopefully, he understood what she was really trying to say, what she was implying.

The boy uncrossed his arms, looking at her thoughtfully. “And...you’re okay with me having...having fangs?”

“Of course we are.” The woman’s expression softened. “We love you no matter what you look like.” It was odd wording for comforting her son about his strange teeth but that wasn’t what this was really about.

Something that might have been realization flashed in Danny’s eyes. He might just have understood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of their time at the museum was much more relaxing after that. The family talked more freely as they finished eating. After lunch, they finished exploring the museum exhibits and visited the aquarium portion of the center.

“Look! The shark feeding’s in ten minutes.” Danny pointed at the tank, his fangs poking just below his lips as he gave his parents a tentative smile. “Come on.”

He bounded forward, positioning himself near the front of the growing crowd. Maddie stood right behind him, the two chatting about the earlier planetarium show while waiting. The corner of Danny’s mouth gradually turned up as he got more involved in the conversation. Then he was actually smiling. For a second, his hand reflexively swung up to cover his mouth but then he lowered the appendage. He smiled unsurely but when Maddie made no comment, nor did her open expression change, he relaxed. Soon, the boy was talking animatedly and Maddie cherished every word.

Minutes later, the shark feeding and subsequent educational talk captured the mother and son’s attention. Or rather, it just managed to wholeheartedly capture Danny’s interest. Maddie’s eyes flickering between the tank, the volunteer answering questions, and her son’s happy face, small fangs included. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The family continued exploring. Danny cheered softly at the touch tank, once one of the stingrays finally paused long enough for him to touch it. 

“Yes! Finally! See. That wasn’t so bad.” He talked to the animal, gently passing his fingers along the soft skin.

He smiled at Jazz cooing over the adorable poison dart frogs.

“Awww. I just want to pick it up. Cup the little guy in my hands. It’s so cute.” The girl leaned against the glass.

The boy chuckled. “Jazz. It’s a poison dart frog. You’d be deader than me in five minutes.”

The other teen huffed, blushing before she rolled her eyes teasingly.

Danny and Jack stopped in front of the jellyfish tank, their translucent bodies hovering behind the glass.

“Danno! Ghost jellyfish!” The man pointed excitedly.

The teen shook his head. “There’s no way that’s what they’re called.”

Jack thumped the sign. “Yes they are!” Danny blinked, reading the sign in disbelief. The man continued. “Imagine it son. Ghost jellyfish that came back as ghosts. Ghost ghost jellyfish!” 

Danny laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that, the family explored the outdoor exhibits. Meerkats, Tortoises, Gibbons, Lemurs, Nile Crocodile, Red Pandas. The zoo’s star exhibits: the tigers and wolves. Yes, even the petting zoo.

They enjoyed all of it. Maddie asked the zookeeper's questions. Jazz took pictures. Jack peered through the glass with his normal boyish excitement. And Danny smiled.

Danny nudged his father. “Hey Dad. Can I have a dollar to feed the goats?”

“Sure kiddo.” Jack fished out his wallet and pulled out two bills. “For you and your sister.”

The boy nodded, handing the bills over to one of the employees and receiving two cups of feed. He handed one to Jazz and entered the enclosure. He smiled as the animals crowded up, eagerly sniffing at the cup.

“Alright. Alright. Here you go.” He grabbed a handful of pellets and held his hand out. An enthusiastic goat ate the food out of his hand. “Hey! Hey! That tickles!” The boy chuckled, scratching the animal on its head.

Maddie watched, enamored. Her son looked so happy, smiling so brightly. 

“Oh, do you want some?” Danny asked, holding his feed-filled palm out to one of the sheep. The sheep licked the food out of his hand and he petted the curly wool.

True to what she had said, his little fangs were cute. And what’s more….

His eyes flickered towards Maddie’s face, noticing her attention. He didn’t stop smiling as he finished giving the goats, sheep, and donkey food and pets. 

Ten minutes later, he turned over the empty cup. “That’s it guys. I’m out.”

The animals sniffed, wandering away as they seemed to realize they wouldn’t get any more food from the boy. That same enthusiastic goat persisted, nudging and licking Danny’s open hand. “I don’t have any more food for you.” He laughed. The goat bayed. “You can complain all you want. You’re not getting any more from me.” He petted the animal’s head anyway.

What’s more, seeing Danny enjoying himself and not turning away when Maddie noticed him smile, made the woman feel happy herself and hopeful. Spending time with the kids as a normal family did seem to get Danny and even Jazz in a better mood and more relaxed, like she and Jack had hoped. And Maddie found that she had enjoyed herself as well, despite the bumps. Yes, this was a day well spent and the mother wished it wouldn’t end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But all too soon, the Science Center closed and the family had to leave. They piled into the GAV and as Jack started driving them home, the reality of what they’d have to face, the conversation they’d need to have once they got home, struck Maddie. Her insides flopped with sudden nerves. They needed to talk about it. Danny’s accident and his ghostly abilities. His alter ego, Phantom. The ghost fighting and resulting injuries. All the secrets. Guilt sunk in her stomach like rock. There needed to be apologies. For her and Jack’s part in the accident. For the times they’d ranted about capturing Phantom at the dinner table. The insults. The times they chased him, they shot at him. Danny’s fear filled face when they’d seen him change in that alley flash in her mind. They had terrified him and -

“Can we uh….can we stop somewhere for dinner?” Danny’s nervous voice cut through her thoughts.

Maddie frowned, glancing back at him. He was pale and biting at his lip. The woman furrowed her brow wondering at the sudden change in mood. Maybe he had picked up on her own nervousness. She glanced at her husband. Jack was also quiet and uncharacteristically focused on the road.

“We can.” Her eyes flickered in front of them, spotting a Nasty Burger a few blocks away. “There’s Nast Burger right there.” She frowned. “Wait. That one doesn’t have a dining room. Is eating in the cat alright?”

“Sure, Madds.” Jack nodded and turned into the parking lot less than a minute later. He rolled down the window after pulling up to order.

“Welcome to the Nasty Burger.” Came a voice through the speaker. “What would you like?”

After some deliberation, Jack recited the orders and pulled forward. He paid and then received the bags of food which he handed to Maddie. He pulled away from the window and parked. The woman surveyed the meals and passed Jazz and Danny’s food to them in the back seat. 

The family ate in near silence for a while. Music softly filtered through the radio and outside was the sound of traffic but inside the vehicle, no one spoke. Maddie’s mind swirled, going over possibilities for the upcoming conversation. Where to start. How to approach this. Should they apologize first? Hint that they know about Danny’s secret identity. Just come right out and say it? Really, they should have done that long before now. They knew that Danny was Phantom and he knew that they knew. They should have talked to him about this weeks ago but...why was this so hard? How hadn’t they noticed sooner? Why couldn’t she just-

A gasp sounded in the back seat. Maddie stiffened, looking back in time to see a blue mist exit Danny’s mouth. The mother’s brow furrowed. It wasn’t cold enough to...Wait...understanding hit her as the boy’s eyes flickered side to side. Something glowing and green flashed in front of the GAV and there was an echoing roar.

Maddie paled. In front of them in the parking lot was a giant ghostly beast. It was a mix between a bear and a cat, snarling and hissing fiercely. The ghost growled at some teenagers sitting at a picnic table near the ordering window and in response, the kids bolted away, screaming.

Behind her, Danny was fumbling with his seat belt. His eyes widened panickedly as he looked between the scene in front of them and his parents. “I uh...I need to….” His hands were shaking as he fumbled over his words.

The mother glanced between her son and the attacking ghost. Part of her screamed to move; it was her job as a ghost hunter to protect people but….

“Uh...I need to...I need to go to the bathroom?” Danny stood, his knees knocking together even as his eyes flickered from his mom to the spectral attacker.

Maddie���s heart fell; she knew what this was actually about. “Danny.” She said softly.

Jazz bit her lip, turning from her brother to parents. “Shouldn’t you get...get out there?”

“Jazz.” The mother frowned. “Danny.”

“We’ll be fine.” The girl’s pitch rose as she flopped a hand, forcibly casual.

“Yeah.” The boy took a step back, eyes still pinned on his mother. “We’ll be fine. You guys go deal with the ghost.” He motioned behind him, towards the GAV’s toilet. “And I’ll just be in-”

“Danny!” Maddie interrupted. She stood up and turned, standing in the gap between the driver’s and front passenger’s seat. “We know. Danny. We know that you’re Phantom.”

The boy paled, his eyes widening with shock. “What? That’s not-”

Maddie pointed through the front window, forcefully. “Go.”

Danny’s lip trembled. Fear flickered over his face and underneath it, hurt. The mother’s eyes widened at the reaction before it hit her. She’d said the wrong thing. She’d messed up. Why do she keep-

“Go deal with the ghost, son.” Beside her, Jack had turned. His normally booming voice was so gentle. “You can change. Go deal with the ghost and we’ll be here when you get back.”

The boy stared at the man, anxiously searching his face. He was still shaking slightly and...were his eyes watering? Maddie remained frozen, watching. She wanted to speak up, to offer him comfort and reassurance. But the words stayed locked in his throat.

Then there was a roar outside, a boom. Danny’s head turned and he sprinted. Maddie blinked, paling as he literally passed through the closed door. A second later, something flashed out the corner of her eye. Maddie turned, watching as Phantom….Danny flew out in front of the GAV, shooting an ectoblast at the other ghost. Her knees shaking, Maddie fell into her seat. The bear-cat growled and shot a fireball at the ghost boy.

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat, her hand twitching over the door handle. They should go out there. She and Jack should be dealing with this. She reached for the holster on her belt. Her brow wrinkled as she found...nothing. Wait...she wasn’t in her hazmat suit. No belt, no holster, no ectogun. She frantically looked on the floor, before glancing behind her. There had to be something, someway to-

“Mom.” Jazz’s quiet voice came from behind her. “Danny will be fine. He knows what he’s doing.”

Yes. Maddie nodded, trying to agree. She had seen Phantom in action and he was competent. But...this was...this was Danny. Danny was out there fighting the ghost. Her heart rate increased. “No. We need to-”

Jack’s hand was on her arm. “No. We can’t, Maddie.” His voice wavered. “No guns. Not..not after we….”

The woman swallowed, understanding. No. No. They could go out there, wheedling guns, not after….Maddie shivered as the memory hit her. Pointing a bazooka at Phantom….Danny��� his eyes wide with fear. Chasing him down while yelling insults. Danny...Danny, her son, even if glowing and floating with green eyes and fangs...Danny dodging their shots.

Maddie felt her breath quicken. No, they couldn’t go after the ghost in their current state. They shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t dream of, pointing any ectogun in Danny’s general direction. Not when they hadn’t made sure their weapons won’t target him, that they couldn’t hurt him. Not when…..Danny’s fearful face, just minutes ago...not when he might think they...they wanted to hurt him.

Another growl and a crash and the mother’s head suddenly whipped up, just in time to see a flash of blue light. Floating twenty feet in front of them was Danny, holding a thermos and pointing it at the other ghost. The bear-cat hissed as it was sucked in but seconds later, it disappeared. 

Maddie let out a relieved sigh, as her son caped the thermos. Then the boy’s head turned, his eyes meeting hers through the window. His shoulders were raised, his wide eyes misty. His lip trembled and then he disappeared.

The woman gasped, reaching forward. “Danny. Come back.”

The boy didn’t reappear and Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. Her hand reached for the door again. She needed to find her son, to reassure him, to -

A knock sounded at the side door, across from where Jazz and Danny had been sitting. Maddie flinched, looking back. Another knock.

Maddie frowned, brow furrowing. “I don’t see...anything.” Nothing and no one was visible through the window but...that didn’t mean no one was there.

“Danny.” Jazz called, standing. Warrily, she glanced between her parents. She bit her lip. “Mom? Dad?”

“Danny’s….Danny’s invisible, on the other side of the door. Isn’t he?” Maddie asked.

The girl nodded. “I think so.”

“You can open the door for him, Jazz.” Jack sighed. He looked down guiltily.

Hesitantly, the teenage girl stepped forward. Her hand hovered over the handle before she pulled it open. “It’s okay, Danny.” She whispered. “You can come inside.”

There was no reply as Jazz stepped back. The hair on the back of Maddie’s neck raised as the temperature dipped. Her eyes widened as the door slide closed, seemingly by itself. Then there was the shaky sound of someone sighing. And finally….Danny reappeared.

Maddie’s heart skipped a beat. There he was. The ghost boy. Phantom. Danny. Her Danny...her son, floating in the mind of the GAV. He trembled nervously in the air, his misty green eyes flickering between the ghost hunters. He looked so scared and...something in Maddie broke.

The woman stood up, suddenly. Her hands started shaking, her eyes watering. “Danny.” Her voice shook.

“Mom?” His echoing voice questioned.

Maddie nodded, hesitantly approaching. “Yes, sweetie.” She reached forward, gently touching his arm even as he flinched. “I love you so much.”

Danny’s eyes watered, his voice trembling. “You...you really mean that? Really? Even though I’m…I’m...” He shook his head, unable to force more words out.

Tears started to blur her vision. “Oh, baby. Yes. Yes. I love you so much.” Her breath quickened, a sob threatening to escape. “We...we should have said something sooner.”

“No. I….I should have…told you. I should have...” Danny looked down, sniffling.

Maddie gently pulled the boy into her arms. “I...I should have reassured you.” Danny stiffened before relaxing into the hug. “I should have made you feel safe, like you could trust me with this.”

Footsteps sounded behind him. “Danny boy.” Jack squeezed in beside the two. “I am so sorry, son. I love you so much.” The man wrapped his arms around his son and wife.

With that, Danny finally started crying. A soft sob broke forth from his throat. “Mom. Dad.” He whined. “I just... I’ve been waiting...waiting for the other shoe to drop and you’d see. You’d finally say...say something and…. And...” He sobbed. “You’d see what a monster...what a freak..a freak I...I am…”

“No. Danny. No. You’re not...you’re not a monster. You’re..You’re my baby boy….You’re my baby, no matter what. I’m...I’m so sorry you ever...we ever made you think….” Maddie cried, squeezing him tighter as he cried. He was cold. So cold. But solid in her arms. She could feel the slight fluttering of his heart, pressed up against her own heart. And the ectoenergy swirling under his skin. That was new, something she’d never felt before. And she thanked the heavens that she hadn’t, that she’d never laid hands on Phantom when they hadn’t known the truth, that they had never landed a shot on him. Maddie choked through her sobs. “We messed up. We messed up so badly. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I need to do better.”

“Danny. I’m sorry.” Jack reassured, sniffling himself. “I’m so sorry too. I have so much to make up for. Me and your Mom...we...we will...we’ll make this up to you.”

Danny warbled. “Mom. Dad. I...I love you guys. I love you guys so much.”

The words pricked at Maddie’s heart as much as they uplifted her. All that they had done and he still said that. All the woman could find in herself to do right then was hold her son tighter. 

For a second, the woman saw movement out of the corner to her eyes. A flash of red hair and...relief on Jazz’s face. The girl joined the group hug. “I love you little brother.”

Danny sniffled, nodding in acknowledgement even as he continued crying.

For a long moment, the family stayed huddled together. All of them were crying, trembling slightly with emotion. But through the sadness, another emotion broke through...relief. Danny sighed, the corner of his lip turning up slightly as his tears slowed.

Finally, the boy gently pulled out of their hold. He wiped his wet face. “You really...you really mean all that?” He looked between his parents. “You’re okay with….this?” He motioned up and down his body. “You’re okay that I’m a ghost? That I’m Phantom?”

Maddie offered him a watery smile. “Yes. I love you no matter what or who you are.” She placed one hand on his face and Danny’s lips parted just enough to see his fangs. “No matter what you look like, you’re my son.”

Dad nodded. “Fangs or no fangs. Ghost or human or….something inbetween.”

The woman glanced down, at the slow movement of his chest, the glow radiating from his body, the air below where he floated. “We don’t really understand this. But...I know I’d like to.”

For a moment, Danny looked worried. He floated back, away from Maddie’s hand.

Jack’s expression softened. “We want to know what life is like for you now. How we can help and support you.”

Maddie agreed. “We haven’t been there for you for a while but we’re here now.”

Danny nodded. “Okay….Okay...I think..I think I believe you.”

The parents looked at each other and Maddie’s stomach flopped. His tentativeness was understandable but still… it made her heart hurt. They’d lost much of Danny’s trust and would have to work to gain that trust back. They were fortunate he was willing to try rebuilding their relationship at all.

The mother sighed. “We do have a lot to talk about but….” She motioned around the crowded GAV. “We should go home first.”

Danny nodded. “Yeah.” With that, everyone stepped away, returning to their seats. The teenager glanced down at himself, blushing. “I’m still in...ghost form. I’ll just….” He bit his lip, closing his eyes.

Then a ring of white light, the same one that started all of this, formed around his waist. The light passed and Danny, now with black hair and blue eyes, gracefully touched down. He picked up his fast food bag and pulled out his half eaten burger. He took a bit before looking up at his parents, both of whom were standing and marveling at his recent transformation.

He smiled sheepishly. “Uhh...can we get milkshakes?”

Maddie blinked at the seeming random question. Beside her, Jack laughed. “Sure thing, Danno.” He walked to his seat and buckled. “What do you want? Peanut butter and bacon?”

Jazz wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Ew. Why would you eat that?”

Meanwhile, Danny laughed. “Because it’s delicious.” He addressed Jack. “Yeah Dad. That sounds amazing.”

The man nodded. “Madds, what about you?”

The question drew the woman out of her observation. She returned to her seat, answering. “Mint Chocolate chip sounds good to me.”

“I’ll do strawberry cheesecake.” Jazz piped in.

“Okay. Peanut butter bacon, mint chip, strawberry cheesecake.” The man listed off. “And I’ll do...peanut butter banana.”

Jack repeated the list while he pulled back into the drive through line. And Maddie sighed, relieved. Finally addressing Danny’s secret had not gone as she’d planned. But…. she glanced to the back to see Danny and Jazz were eating and chatting with each other, looking as relieved as she was. It went well, all things considered. As she said, there was much to figure out. But...today they’d had a fun time as a family. They’d relaxed, they’d bonded, they’d finally seen Danny smile again, after months. And...the truth was out. Apologies were made. After the fear, mistrust, and anxiety, Danny and Jazz as well knew that she and Jack would fully support Danny, ghost powers and Phantom alter ego included. 

Maddie looked back, meeting Danny’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He gave her a fanged smile. Yes, it felt like...everything would be okay

[thegoodgayshit]

Luz’s mother really doesn’t want to send Luz to camp. She knows once she leaves, there is no going back. But Luz has a knack for getting into trouble, and one day she stumbles into the same type of people her mother would have preferred she avoided. After helping Luz dissolve her high school bully into dust, Eda and Lilith know right away that this kid is just like them - a child of the gods. So Luz hops on a Pegasus and heads to Camp Half-blood, where she embarks on a dangerous quest that makes her both friends and enemies... and she might even save Olympus along the way.

Chapter Thirteen: We Make a Fort out of Thorns

Willow found us a nice little camping spot by a creek about a fifteen-minute walk outside the wealthy suburb where they’d left Orpheus. Luz was glad they could rest, she would never tell anybody, but despite her strength growing since arriving at camp, her weak little nerd arms probably couldn’t have carried Amity much farther.

Willow drew her sword and started weaving a protective barrier of foliage in a circle around us, large thorns protecting any monsters from barraging through easily. Gus reached into his stuffed backpack and pulled out something labeled “pop a tent” and opened the lid pointing it back towards a tree. Out popped, well, a tent. Luz’s mouth opened in awe. It was a six-person family tent, and it had already magically nailed itself down. Despite the rain, there was a slicker cover over it to shelter them.

Luz wanted to ask him where he’d got something like that, but her body was slowly starting to betray her. Her arms were now shaking carrying Amity’s weight over two miles, and when she opened her mouth nothing came out. She would have been embarrassed if Amity had noticed, but her worry was quickly overtaking her too. Amity had tucked her head against Luz’s shoulder and had somehow fallen asleep there, and her breathing was lightly coming in and out with every step Luz took.

Considering how shaky Luz’s steps had been, she must have really been exhausted to be able to fall asleep.

Gus zipped open the tent, gesturing inside. “Put her down in here, I’ll grab Willow’s medical supplies.”

Luz nodded and moved forward, ducking her head under the tent door and walking in. The inside was a decent size, with three sleeping bags already laid out on the left side of the tent. On the right side, there was a pile of blankets on the floor, a place clearly meant for sitting and relaxing. There were a couple of sleeping bags and other camp supplies stacked in the back corner. Luz hesitated, not sure where to go until Amity spoke up quietly from her shoulder.

“The blankets are fine,” she whispered. Her voice was raspy like she had just swallowed sand.

Luz gently set her down on the blankets, and Amity exhaled. Luz couldn’t help but perk up at that. It was almost a sigh of relief, but not quite.

As she collapsed into the blankets and settled in, Luz walked over to the camp supplies and took out an extra sleeping bag and a pillow.

Gus poked his head inside the door, dropping Willow’s bag near the entrance.

“Willow thinks she sees mortal hikers in the area so we’re going to try and magically conceal the campsite.”

Luz nodded, “Ok, I’ll be right out.”

Gus shook his head. “No, stay here. We won’t be long.” Gus left fairly quickly, with the promise that they would yell if they needed help.

When he left the tent, Luz walked back over to Amity and handed her the bag and pillow, who thanked her quietly. As she took it, Luz looked at her wrists and gasped. Her wrists were covered in deep purple bruises from the chains.

“Amity,” she started in horror, and the girl quickly covered her hands with her sleeves.

“It’s nothing,” she tried, but Luz shook her head.

“That’s not nothing,” Luz retorted. “And don’t try to tell me it doesn’t hurt either.” She wasn’t usually so stern, and with a jolt, she realized she probably sounded just like her Mami when Luz came home with an unexplained injury. Under different circumstances, she might have been embarrassed, but now she had a job to do.

She picked up Willows backpack and unzipped it, reaching inside to pull out the mortal first aid kit and a canteen of nectar. Underneath the canteen, Luz pulled out this Ziplock baggie of what looks like some kind of square food, and Luz’s brow furrowed. Amity chuckled at her expression, reaching over to take it from Luz and open the baggie, popping a square into her mouth and chewing.

It was like life immediately came back to her face. A lot of the bruises began to fade from her body, including the ones on her wrists. Her face started to go less pale and more to the tan color she’d had when Luz first met her at camp. Her gold eyes brightened, and Luz noticed with a smile that she looked a lot better. Amity finished chewing and looked at Luz, her cheeks pinkening.

“What?”

Oh, she was staring. Luz looked away quickly, her own face coloring.

“Nothing. I just have never seen that before. Does it do the same thing as nectar?”

Amity nodded, smiling softly at Luz’s curiosity. It was a weird look on Amity. For a while there when they met, Luz didn’t think she could do anything else besides scowl and stare blankly. “It’s ambrosia. If nectar is the drink of the gods, then ambrosia is the god's food.”

“I didn’t think the nectar would taste like my mom’s soup,” Luz admitted, and Amity laughed. It was a clear sound that rose in a crescendo, and Luz didn’t think a noise like that would have ever come out of her mouth. She wanted to try and make her laugh again.

“It tastes different to every demigod. It’s supposed to be your favorite tastes wrapped into one bite or sip.” She ripped off a little piece of the ambrosia, holding it out for her. “Here, try some.”

Luz hesitated, which was so out of character for her she almost couldn’t believe she’d done it. “Won’t it burn me up if I’m not injured?”

Amity laughed again, and Luz couldn’t help but smile. That was easier than she thought. “No, not an amount this small. Besides, I saw Orpheus step on your back. This will help with the pain.”

Luz felt her face heat up at the memory. Now that Amity had mentioned it, her lower back was killing her. But she would never admit it, not with Amity as injured as she was. “I’m alright.”

Amity pointed her nose up at Luz. “You’re not alright,” she said, mimicking Luz’s earlier tone. Luz’s cheeks flushed deeper and she decided it was worth shoving the ambrosia in her mouth if it meant Amity wouldn’t tease her anymore. The second she started chewing she hummed in approval. Her mouth was filled with the delicious sugary cinnamon taste of reganada’s.

“So good,” Luz said in awe, never wanting the taste to leave her mouth. Amity was quiet, watching Luz in amusement. When she finally did swallow, she realized that she had been right, the pain in her back was now gone, and the exhaustion in her arms from carrying Amity all the way here was also easing up slightly. Feeling embarrassed she’d almost denied needing the help, she smiled sheepishly at Amity.

“Thanks.”

She chuckled, “no problem.”

They were quiet for a few moments, neither of them sure what to say. Well, Luz knew what she wanted to say but her ADHD brain was running a hundred steps ahead of her. She wanted to ask about the prophecy, about what had happened in Colorado, about the man in the mountain. Amity seemed nervous, and she bit her lip, wringing her hands together. Just when Luz felt like she was about to burst, Amity finally spoke first.

“What did it taste like?”

Luz blinked. She definitely hadn’t been expecting Amity to ask that.

“Uh, reganada’s.”

This time Amity looked confused. “Huh?”

Luz chuckled softly, rubbing the back of her neck. “They’re like Mexican cinnamon cookies. When we lived in upstate New York closer to my Mami’s family we would have them after church or at baby showers and stuff. My Mami usually gives them to me when I managed to not get expelled from school that year.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” Amity said with a smile, sharing the happy sentiment. Luz flashed her a nervous smile, fiddling with her hands. She always had a hard time making friends, and she didn’t want Amity to think she was a weirdo. She was lucky that Willow and Gus wanted to be around her, but she found that their friendship was easy, almost effortless. But with Amity things were tense and charged, likely because of their initial dislike for one another and the now shared double prophecy they were still skirting around together. Luz didn’t want to mess up and make Amity hate her again.

“What about you?” Luz asked, trying to keep it going. “What does ambrosia taste like for you?”

Luz knew it was a bad question the second she asked it. Amity’s face fell, and her mouth twisted into a frown. Luz immediately started apologizing.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, don’t apologize, it’s not a bad question.” Amity cut off quickly, shaking her head. After a short pause, she quietly added, “for me, it tastes like cherry pie.” She bit her lip, deep in thought, and Luz felt herself leaning in curiously as Amity seemed to get lost in the memory.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Luz began softly, and Amity hummed, looking at her with a smile, but it wasn’t soft like the other ones. This one was tense, almost sad.

“I’m sure Willow already told you anyway. When she first came to camp, she and I were friends. We used to play hooky from the campfire and steal cherry pie from the kitchens. We built a fort in the forest and ate it with our hands. We’d sit there for hours away from everyone else, keeping each other company.”

Luz smiles at the cute mental image. She had heard the story about how Willow and Amity had been friends, but when Willow had talked about it she was a lot more tense and upset about it. Luz couldn’t figure out why Amity was talking about it so nostalgically, especially since she had been the one to abandon Willow for her new friends. At the same time, she wasn’t opposed to Amity wanting to reconcile with her other friend, especially since they would be together on a quest and needed to work as a team.

Plus, Luz couldn’t help but think that she’d done something different with Amity and gotten her out of her shell a bit. Maybe she could create some shenanigans to get her and Willow back as friends. She was so lost in thought, she had to snap back to reality as she processed that Amity was still rambling.

“Nectar tastes like buttered popcorn for me. That’s another memory with Willow. We first became friends at movie night during Willow’s first week at camp. They were showing Disney’s Hercules, and all the other kids were mocking it for how incorrect it all was, but Willow just sang the songs to herself and smiling at me and soon I started joining in. After that night we were inseparable, even once she was sorted into the Demeter cabin and we couldn’t see each other as much but then after that year….”

She stopped, swallowing hard and looking ashamed. She tucked her knees up to her chest and looked away from Luz. “Well, I’m sure Willow told you what I did.”

Luz didn’t know why she felt sorry for Amity, especially since she just basically confirmed that Amity did in fact abandon Willow because of her interesting goldy parentage. As a friend, she should stand up for Willow, and call Amity out for being cruel. But instead, she just sat down next to Amity on the blankets, gently reaching out to touch her arm reassuringly.

“Look, Amity. We all do things we regret. All that matters is that we acknowledge what we did and try to move forward.”

The green-haired half-blood scoffed, keeping her eyes trained on the floor. As Luz scanned her face with her eyes, she realized that this look wasn’t just out of exhaustion or regret. She almost looked haunted. “I don’t deserve to have a person like Willow in my life. Why are you being so nice to me? I was terrible to you at camp.”

Luz shrugged, nudging Amity with her shoulder playfully, trying to cheer her up. “Most people tend to be terrible to me when they meet me. It must be a half-blood thing.”

Amity managed a half-smile and a weak laugh. Luz took that as a cue to move forward. Now she was more curious than ever. She just hoped she wouldn’t do her Luz thing and be too much. She leaned down to look Amity in the eyes.

“I know those memories must be painful for you, but what happened to you guys? And why are you both trying to hide it?”

Amity sighed tiredly, and Luz thought that despite being her age, Amity had an old soul that Luz could probably never understand. But Hades be damned she wasn’t going to try.

“There are a lot of things in my life that stop me from feeling like a real half-blood.” Amity started quietly, and Luz’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion. She thought that Amity was as real a half-blood as she could get. I mean holy Zeus, she was chosen for the quest because of her skill and her reputation. But she didn’t voice this, instead, she did her best to listen and fidget as little as possible.

“I know you know that my mom is Aphrodite, but I don’t know if you knew that Edric and Emira are my full siblings, not just half like the other Aphrodite campers.”

She shook her head. She hadn’t known that.

“So, you guys have the same mortal father?” Luz concurred, and Amity tensed.

“Yes. But we also have the same mortal mother.”

Luz had never been more confused in her entire life. Thankfully, Amity didn’t want to continue.

“My parents are also demigods. They went to camp with Eda and Lilith as kids, and that’s how they met. They worked together to run a successful business inside of Olympus, and are well renowned by the Olympic Council. But they didn’t get together until after my father fell in love with Aphrodite. The twins were babies when my parents got married. My mother said she didn’t mind, she hadn’t planned on having her own children anyway. But then, when they were two and a half, Aphrodite left me on the doorstep. My mother was not happy about this.”

“Amity…” Luz began with a gasp, already knowing where this was going. Though it was clear how hurt she was telling the story, she still continued, swallowing hard before moving on.

“My mother told my father that because of their reputation on Olympus, and their status within the community, she would forgive him. She said as long as we turned out to be just as respectable as she was in the eyes of the gods, I would be welcome in their house. By the time I was three, I was taught to swing a sword. I already knew what camp was when I arrived, and I already had been given a standard to uphold. I had to be the best, the strongest, the most skilled, the most honored. Otherwise, I would always be a mistake.”

“So that’s why you stopped being friends with Willow,” Luz whispered softly.

“She was never the weak one, or the freak, or the half a half-blood,” Amity confirmed, her eyes betraying how ashamed she really was of this. “Willow is the strongest demigod I’ve ever met. And I had to be better, and that meant I couldn’t be her friend.”

There was silence, as Luz took time to process all of this. She couldn’t believe what Amity had just told her. She had known that being a half-blood was always going to be complicated, but Amity was like one of those massive puzzles her Mami never finished. How could you even unpack all that in one sitting?

“Is that true?”Luz and Amity jumped at the voice from the tent entrance, and Amity flushed with embarrassment when she saw Willow standing there, watching her with blank, unreadable eyes. Luz’s heart started hammering in her chest, worried that Willow was either going to snap at them both for talking behind her back or that Amity was going to yell at her for eavesdropping.

There was a tense and uncomfortable silence as the two of them stared each other down. Willow with those unreadable green eyes and Amity with gold eyes blinking in shock. Luz would have killed a thousand white eagles to know what would have happened next, but as all half-bloods have to deal with, they were unfortunately interrupted.

Gus screamed in terror from loudly outside the tent.

“Guys!” He yelped, and Luz could hear the click of his watch as he drew his shield. “We’ve got company!”

Luz jumped again, touching her ring and drawing the sword version of Aletheia. Willow and Luz shared a look before racing outside of the tent, and when Luz saw what was there she couldn’t help but think that maybe she was starting to understand why half-bloods were so unlucky.

Luz didn’t know a lot of Greek myths off the top of her head, but after meeting the guy, she had brushed up on his saga of quests with Gus just to see what all the fuss had been about. This monster was straight out of his legend, a massive man with the head of a bull, and huge horns circling his head. He was dressed in a Greek chest plate, and he was slashing down Willow’s thorns with his huge ax. They fell to the ground like he was slicing paper.

It breathed in a fury and roared so loudly that Gus shrank from behind his shield. Willow was soon at her side, and despite the fact that Luz knew she was way too exhausted to fight, Amity was there too, her own xiphos drawn, the amethysts glowing in the sun.

The four of them stood together, waiting for the Minotaur to tear down the last of the thorns and charge.

[friking-awsom-kitten]

Breaking bones and traffic laws IASA Chapter 2

The crowd cheered when the jet retreated.

"That's right!" A man yelled, holding up a shoe. "You better run!"

Sam, however, sprinted over to her best friend. His parents were kneeling next to him, trying to rejuvenate him.

"Someone call an ambulance!!" Was shouted among the crowd.

Sam kneeled next to the Fentons and flinched at the sight of her friend. It had been her turn to check on Danny, so she had skipped a lesson and had ran in only to see him surrounded and shot down. Now he lay here covered in bruises, pale and burned, probably because of the GIW's gun, not to mention unconscious.

His parents were not taking this well. His mom was crying and trying desperately to wipe the green tinted blood away. This wouldn't help Danny in any way but she seemed focused on cleaning him from any evidence that he was hurt.

His dad was muttering under his breath. His eyes wide as he held his limp kid.

About three ambulances pulled up, having been called by several people. There were also some police cars and the distant roar of an emergency helicopter.

The policemen pushed people away to make way for the medics. Two medics squatted down next to Danny and quickly started working on his worst injuries.

Sam couldn't see much past the policeman blocking her sight but she could tell they were stopping the bleeding. Especially from the injury on his head. She knew head wounds blead fast (thanks to Danny) but this looked bad.

Meanwhile his parents were shouting out things.

"Please help him!" Maddie begged. "That's my son. Save him!"

They were in a panic. The whole place was chaos. People were crowding around and shouting and camera crews going awol because of this breaking news and the Fentons kept trying to get to their son.

The medics put the halfa on a stretcher and directed him to the ambulance as quick as they could.

One of them stopped Jack from getting in too. "Wait at the hospital. Don't worry, Mr. Fenton. We'll take good care of your son."

"But he's a ghost!" Jack said frantically. "We can help you with that."

The medic froze and sent his comrade a questioning look.

The other called through a telephone that was attached to the vehicle and his eyes widened. "It's true," he said when he hang up. "It seems we have Danny Phantom on our stretcher."

The medic's eyes got huge and he eyed the boy that was being taken care of by the third doctor. He glanced back to see both of the parents watching him hopefully. "Do you know how to heal a ghost? Or whatever this kid is?"

Maddie hesitated but she knew her knowledge would be valuable to her boy. "We've studied ghosts and how they work for years. Please let us help."

The medic gave the other medics a glance before nodding. "Only one, though."

They both stepped in before pausing. Jack smiled sadly. "I'll go with the RV."

"Thank you, Jack." Maddie sighed in relief and stepped in. The doors closed, leaving Jack and Sam outside. They watched the ambulance take off with the siren on, people rushing out of the way and waving them good luck.

Jack sighed but he turned on his heel and sprinted to the RV. Sam followed quickly.

He got in and turned on the engine. The door of the other seat opened and he saw Sam stepping in.

"I'm coming too," she said with a determined glint.

Jack honestly couldn't care so he grabbed the wheel tightly. "Hold on."

Sam barely had time to grab onto the seat when Jack took off.

They sped through the streets in a way that would make the roadrunner jealous. Everything went by in a flash, but Jack only had eye for the hospital at the end of the road. He faintly remembered another time he had been setting a new speed record for his injured son.

Jack peeked at the back seat to confirm his son wasn't laying there, dripping green liquid and covered in scorch marks, barely breathing.

No. This time he was in an ambulance, which was honestly worse. Was he still alive? Was he still breathing? Has he run out of blood?

The panicked screams of Danny's friends had been barely noticeable above the loud rumbling of the house, which the Fenton parents later found out was the powerful start of the Ghost Portal.

Maddie had dropped the bag of groceries she had been carrying and sprinted past her husband to the basement.

They had opened the door to see Danny half dead on the ground and his friends freaking out, not able to get a coherent sentence out.

Jack now realized much more had happened back then than just a bad shock.

Jack screeched on the brakes and scrambled out of the RV, leaving it occupying three lanes because of his horizontal parking.

Him and Sam sprinted to the main entrance, bursting through the doors and scanning the lobby for the receptionist. There she was. A short woman, her dark brown hair tied back in a loose ponytail and her fingers messing around with different papers.

Jack slammed his hands on the desk, making the woman jump. "Where is my son?!" he cried.

The receptionist blinked in surprise and Jack called out again. "My son, Danny! Is he ok? How is he doing?!"

The woman held up a finger. "Just a second." She typed something on the computer next to her and frowned. "Danny Fenton?" she asked. She knew Jack, or at least, she knew his last name (who didn't know Fenton Works. That sign over their house was visible halfway across town). However she didn't know much about their family and kids, much less their names.

Jack nodded furiously and the woman raised an eyebrow. "The ambulance taking him hasn't arrived yet." She gave him a suspicious glance, probably suspecting all of the traffic laws he must have broken. "Please take a seat in the waiting room and I will call you up when he will be ready for visitors."

"Please," Sam interjected. "Can you tell us how he's doing?"

The receptionist pursed her lips. She glanced at the screen of her computer and back at the distraught people in front of her. "I will keep you posted on how he's doing." She smiled at them reassuringly before she was interrupted by the phone.

Jack and Sam dejectedly started walking towards the waiting room, but paused when the receptionist let out a small panicked sound and started writing something down. "Of course," she was saying, "I'll make sure they're ready to take him in." She hanged up and looked at Jack with wide eyes.

"What," Jack frowned. "What happened."

"There has been some complications during the ride, but they're back on track. They will be arriving here shortly."

"What kind of complications?" Sam wrung her hands together nervously.

The receptionist ruffled with a few papers and gave a tired sigh. "I'm not completely sure myself. However, Danny might need some special attention. Excuse me, I need to take care of somethings so we can be prepared for his arrival."

Jack seemed to realize they weren't getting anything more out of her so he slowly guided the distressed Sam to the waiting room. The chair creaked as the big man sat down on it and Sam plopped down next to him.

The goth looked around. The waiting room was big. Many people were scuttling around, some nervously talking to their companions, some by the coffee machines, some staring off into nothingness deep in thought. Sam wondered what it would be like, having a normal life. She rarely thought about this. The thought usually just popped into her head when either Danny, Tucker or herself were injured badly. As they tried patching each other up she would wonder how it would be like to have a normal life, with normal problems. Not that she wished she had a normal life. She loved this. The thrill and sensation and feeling like she was actually doing something with her teenage life.

However she couldn't help but wonder. If they had a normal life, Danny wouldn't be there, bleeding out in an ambulance, his death status being brought up a few notches.

But Sam guessed he was never destined to have a normal life. None of them were. Not Danny for having such ghost loving parents. Not her for constantly wanting to be different and looking for new and adventurous things. Not even Tucker for the simple fact that he chose Danny and Sam as his best friends (of course being such a Tucker wouldn't be normal either).

Sam's eyes teared, but she smiled through the tears. Her life wasn't normal and she loved it. And she knew Tucker and Danny loved it too. For the most part. But every roller coaster that climbed up, had to fall down sometime. No matter how thrilling it was, there were risks. And Danny just happened to be sitting on the front seat of the ride.

The worst thing wasn't even that he was injured. He had gotten worse, she knew. It was that everyone else knew about him. The moment he woke in a hospital he would be waking up to his living nightmare.

With a start Sam realized these people here in the hospital didn't know about the blown secret yet. She looked around again. Taking in their faces. None of them had any idea. It was an unsettling thought that within a couple of hours most of Amity Park would find out. She faintly wondered if the rest of the world would know, or even care. They didn't know Danny as personally as the people in Amity did, but the town was famous for being as haunted as it was and a half ghost kid would surely spike their interest.

Sam let the thought go. She would just have to wait and see. It's not like they had another Reality Gaunlet to erase everyone's memories. All she could do was care for Danny as she knew Tucker would too.

Sam's head snapped up. Tucker! He didn't know yet. He couldn't have. He was still at school as were most teens. But he had his PDA and this was sure to be on the news by now. However, she checked her messages to find it empty, he would have called her by now if he did know. Should she call him now? This would also be a big shock for him and he would most likely freak out that his friend was being taken to his number one nightmare. Before she could make up her mind, Mr. Fenton's phone rang instead, blasting out the Ghost Busters theme in the waiting room.

Jack fumbled with the phone in a panic until he managed to pick up the call. He held it to his ear, unsure whether to feel hope or dread. "Mads?"

Sam's wide eyes inspected the bigger man's expression, searching for any information it could give her.

Jack nodded and his brow creased. "Yes. I'm at the waiting room. How is he?" A pause. "Ectoplasm? Are you sure? And the Fenton analyzer. Of course." He stood up and started speed walking to the door. Sam scrambled behind him in confusion.

"Anything else?" Jack running a hand through his hair. "Alright. I'll get them." He hang up and glanced at Sam briefly. "I'll be right back."

"What?"

They passed the doors and walked by the receptionist, who called out saying something about Danny arriving at the hospital.

Jack didn't falter as he walked out and towards the RV. He kept muttering words under his breath and counting on his fingers. "Two cans of ectoplasm. No three. Just in case. Fenton analyzer. The ecto-sector."

Sam frowned. "Where are you going?"

"To pick up some things from the house." He stepped in and turned on the engine. "Be right back."

Sam was left standing in the driveway as the RV screeched away. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She shivered despite of the sun and decided to walk back in. As she walked through the lobby she noticed there were more people in there than before. Most were clustered around the secretary while others talked to each other, watching something on their phones and pointing it out.

She raised an eyebrow but didn't think much of it until one of them spoke to the secretary. "Can you at least tell us if he's gonna make it?? Is he a ghost??"

Sam froze. She turned in time to see the woman behind the desk smile uncertainly, though apologetically, at them. "I am sorry. I'm not allowed to disclose information about a patient with no one other than his family and friends."

Sam sprang forward, suddenly remembering how she had told her and Mr. Fenton that Danny's ambulance had arrived. She pushed past the few people in between her and the secretary and looked at her with wide eyes. "How is he?"

The woman opened her mouth to deny an answer again when she recognized the girl. "You are his friend?"

Sam nodded furiously. "He's like my brother. You said the ambulance got here and his dad just went to get things for him and I'm worried. Is he alright?! What happened?"

The woman smiled reassuringly. "The ambulance stopped because his heartrate was out of the normal and his bleeding was too fast. They had to make sure it stopped before he ran out."

"His heartrate is usually faster than the one of a normal human." Sam nodded.

The woman's eyes widened in surprise that this girl knew that and referred to her friend as if he weren't a human but her expression turned to a frown. "That is worrisome. His heartbeat was slow." She quickly glanced to the screen to confirm her facts when the girl began to panic. "But it accelerated. That is why they stopped the ambulance."

Sam breathed a small sigh of relief but didn't relax. "The bleeding stopped?"

The woman nodded, which made the other people relax as well. "For the most part. He's in the emergency room at the moment. I haven't been updated on any other injuries or complications." She turned to the small crowd questionably. "May I ask who you are?"

"We're worried." A middle-aged man didn't answer the question. "We want to make sure the boy is ok."

Sam was touched. These people didn't even know Danny, yet here they were, worried and panicked for his sake. She considered it was a logical reaction given how he was the ghost that had protected them for so long and had been beaten up to the hospital. But they could have just followed the news from their houses. Instead they came all the way to the hospital.

She couldn't understand the receptionist's confusion until she realized the woman didn't know about Danny's special status yet. She guessed she would be getting this reaction a lot at first. "Danny is half ghost." Sam decided to enlighten the woman. She glanced to the woman's name tag to see her name was Erica. "He's Danny Phantom." She was almost not able to say that simple phrase. She'd never said it before.

Erica only managed to look more surprised. "Excuse me?"

"You don't know?" The man next to Sam said it as if he had been insulted. "It's all over the news! The ghost boy is the Fenton's son!!"

Sam sighed and left them alone. She didn't need this right now. She entered the waiting room, thankful no one here had heard the exclamation from the lobby. She didn't want anyone to recognize her as his best friend and bombard her with questions. Those people by the receptionist better not try.

She sat down, hunched over and placed her head in her hands. She couldn't do this alone. She needed to tell him. She couldn't care less if he freaked out. She couldn't bear knowing this while he didn't.

The depressed goth girl pulled out her bat themed phone and scrolled down the contacts to find 'Tucknology' popping up as one of the first ones. She tapped it and held it close to her ear as she waited, still hunched over.

The call traveled out of the hospital, a few blocks down, to the school Casper High. In a social studies class, three seats away from the front, in a beat up backpack a high tech phone rang with the same call. Tucker jumped when 'Dead girl walking' sang from his front pocket. He frowned, confused and slightly panicked. That was Sam's ringtone. Sam never called in the middle of class unless it was something she couldn't handle, so it must be bad.

He ignored the snickers coming from the other students and picked his phone out. He glanced at it and turned to the teacher with pleading eyes. "I just...I have to take this I'm sorry."

The teacher sighed and waved her hand. "Do whatever you must to turn that horrible music off."

Tucker didn't waste anytime and held it close to his ear. "Sam?"

"Tucker. It's Danny."

The boy immediately straightened. Danny wasn't the only one protective of his friends. "What did he do?"

There was a faint chuckle from the other side. The standard question concerning Danny. "He umm...he's got it bad. The GIW shot him down."

"They did what?!" Tucker half sat up, ready to tear the GIW's headquarters open with his bare hands and get Danny out of their undeserving claws.

"They didn't get him." Sam reassured him quickly. "He's at the hospital."

"He's where?!?"

By now the rest of the class was getting nervous. The teacher leaned forward in slight worry.

Tucker gripped his desk, tense. "Why is he there?" Not 'What happened to get him there'. Danny did lots of things that should get him in the hospital, as did Sam and Tucker. But what made this time different?

"They know, Tuck. Ever-one knows..." Her voice cracked. Tucker was really panicking now. "They...they shot him down and he- wouldn't move. Everyone saw him. I don't know what to..."

"Calm down, Sam." Tucker's own voice trembled slightly, although he didn't know what got his friend breaking down like this.

His classmates gasped. Sam had to calm down?? What had happend to make the tough goth who never let emotions show unless it was anger freak out like this?

Tucker continued. "Where are you? I'll come to you."

"I'm at- the hospital."

That made him pause. Both his friends at the hospital. He hated that place so much. Being at the hospital never meant anything good. It meant pain and suffering. Tucker heard another un-Samly sniffle and broke. He took a deep breath. "Which hospital?"

He ignored the collective gasp of his classmates as he threw his stuff into his backpack. He had learned to always be prepared, especially in a crisis.

"Honor Grave Hospital."

Tucker nodded. "Be right there. Don't move."

She mumbled a bye and hung up. Tucker slung his backpack over his shoulder and shoved his phone in one of his many pant pockets. He didn't say anything as he passed his teacher and opened the door, ignoring his fellow peers' questions.

Tucker ran out of the school and to his motorbike that was chained to a tree next to the school. The chain was only decoration really. He yanked it off and typed in a password after pressing his thumb and scanning it. He quickly jumped on and revved the motor, starting up and away towards the hospital.

He was at the hospital in a blink.

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Merry Christmas Truce!

Merry (late) Christmas @gggoingghost! I’m so sorry this took so long, but I hope you enjoy it anyways! For those wondering, the request was: 

Gggoingghost asked for “Danny with angry eyes, Danny not being able to control his powers, or Danny and Dash post phantom planet messing with each other”

Being myself, I of course had to make a drabble that included pieces of all three. It’s post Phantom Planet and not as long as I wanted, but I hope you enjoy it anyways! Merry Christmas!

                                             ☪ I have a tip jar! ☪

An enraged shriek echoed throughout the halls of Casper High and had most of the students ducking to cover their heads or hide in open doorways. Danny Fenton only watched with pride and amusement as the source of the shriek, Dash Baxter, looked at him with blue hair, skin, and clothes. “Fenton!”

The jock took a single step forward before the warning bell rang and everyone scurried to class once realizing they weren’t about to be attacked by any ghosts. Danny quickly fell in line with the other students and snickered when he heard another enraged yell that secretly covered up what Danny knew was Dash being impressed. This prank had been his best yet, after all.

“Mr. Fenton. Do I have to worry about any ghost attacks interrupting my class today?” Startling at the question, Danny looked to where Lancer was staring at him as if he already knew what Danny had done, which, yeah, that was always creepy.

“No, sir, just a bit of a mishap with Dash’s locker, it looks like.” Danny gave the best ‘I’m a hero and you can trust me!’ smile he could, not surprised when Lancer didn’t even so much as blink. While everyone knew who Danny was, now, Lancer seemed to have known even before then.

“And what sort of mishap did he have, Mr. Fenton?” Lancer was a terrifying human being, Danny decided, and he would not be answering that question.

The late bell cut him off before he could even try, thank God, and Danny instead watched as Dash slid into class with a half second to spare, panting for breath and covered in blue paint. Lancer looked at the paint and then looked to Danny with narrowed eyes.

“If it helps the paint is non-toxic,” Danny put in cheerfully, noticing Dash’s relieved look. He had probably swallowed some, then, but that was why Danny made sure to get the type of paint that dumb children could and would eat!

“Mr. Fenton. You know it’s against school rules for tomfoolery like this. Don’t think you’ll be excused just because of your… town volunteering.” That was a great way of saying Danny chased off rowdy ghosts for a half-living.

“Of course, sir.” Danny took a step back to stand next to Dash before setting his hand on Dash’s shoulder and focusing for a moment on his intangibility. There was a half second where he felt panic at seeing everyone looking at him using his ghost powers, but then he quickly pressed it down when he reminded himself that it was okay, now. “I don’t see any paint on Dash, though.”

The paint slid off and landed in a puddle on the floor, Danny beaming while Dash rolled his eyes with a grumble and walked to his seat. Lancer looked to the puddle before looking back to Danny. Giving it a second of thought, Danny hesitantly tried to phase the part of the floor the paint was on by using his foot and gave an even wider grin when it worked.

“Go take a seat, Mr. Fenton,” Lancer finally sighed with a tone that carried nothing except exhaustion. Danny couldn’t blame him, really. Lancer probably hadn’t expected to one day teach a half-ghost studen

“I take it you and Dash are still on your prank war, then?” Sam asked, half-yawning and trying to look bored as Danny fell into his seat. “His last prank was funny, and you know it.”

“It called for revenge,” Danny said as seriously as he could manage before he gave a snort of laughter. “Besides, you know this is the only way to deal with his weird guilt-tripped hero worship thing that he has going on.”

“I don’t know, man. That week he followed you around like a puppy or something was pretty cool.” Tucker tossed something at Danny that he caught with only a small fumble. “Stop taking your phone into ghost fights.”

“Aw, but Tuck, how else would you experiment with my phone if I didn’t need you to fix it?” Turning the phone on, Danny raised an eyebrow when it actually turned on. “You didn’t forget the power button this time, at least.”

“Hey, genius is all about trial and error!” Tucker looked to Danny with inventor’s pride that quickly vanished after three and a half seconds. “And not staying up until six in the morning. Can we get back to your weird kink thing with Dash?”

“Oh, yes, let’s talk about your weird kink thing with Dash,” Sam chirped more loudly than was needed, Danny knowing with everything in him that this was revenge for something he had done. It was probably because he had pointed out to Sam that her roots were starting to show. “Seriously, though, you two are just pulling on each other’s pigtails, now.”

“Should we talk about your weird kink thing with Paulina, then?” Danny raised his eyebrows, laughing when Sam stuck her tongue out at him with a silly grin. “Seriously, it’s been good. I can get out some aggression issues harmlessly, and he can still mess with me without feeling guilty about the whole bullying thing.”

“It helps that you can get away with using your ghost powers too, I bet, Mr. World Savior.” Wrinkling his nose at the title, Danny looked to Sam and frowned. “Hey, I didn’t come up with that one.”

“You know, I never thought I’d be upset over the fact I saved the world, but that title is really making me rethink things.” Grinning as both of his friends hid stifled laughter, Danny looked back to the front of the room where Lancer wasn’t even trying to corral the class. With summer coming up, Danny couldn’t blame him.

Things had gone back to normal after the mess with that stupid meteorite and Vlad’s stupid plan to get rid of it and Danny’s stupid plan to get rid of his powers- Well, no. Things hadn’t gone back to normal, but they were okay.

Vlad had come back to Earth and had agreed to seal away his powers as he got mental health, the ghosts were starting to cut back on how many times they almost accidentally killed humans, and the town of Amity Park was continuing on as always. The biggest difference for Danny, though, was the fact that everyone in the world now knew who he was.

He remembered Freakshow’s mess and the last time he had been found out, but he supposed saving the world kept the Guys-in-White off his back, at least. His parents had accepted him just like last time, too, and everyone he knew had stood by his side. There was a bit of hero worship he had to deal with as Fenton, now, but nothing bad had happened. The worst was when he and Dash had agreed to continue as normally as possible and Dash then proceeded to shove him into a locker.

Danny, with far too much glee, maybe, had immediately phased back out with a shit-eating grin that had started their current war. It was almost as fun as when he had to deal with the Box Ghost. The biggest difference in this new life, though, was when a wisp of cold air shuddered its way out of him and a few classmates looked back to him with wide-eyed looks.

Raising his hand, Danny waited until Lancer looked over at him before he gave an apologetic smile and pointed at the door. Lancer didn’t even pause in whatever latest pop quiz announcement he was giving as he waved Danny off.

“Good luck,” Sam grinned, propping her cheek up on her fist with a grin as she swung her feet out sideways in her chair to try and trip Danny up. “Feel good?”

“At least I don’t have to worry about attendance anymore,” Danny laughed, bumping fists with Tucker before jumping over Sam’s legs with a laugh and scrambling towards the door. No one yelled at him to stop and blessedly, besides another good look or two, no one cheered or made it into some spectacle.

That panic still gripped him with the cold sensation that took over his body along with the familiar rings of light, but it was easy to push it down as he launched himself into the air and phased straight through to the roof.

There was always that moment where his heart stopped, and he felt nothing except fear when someone looked at him expectedly during a ghost attack, but he knew he’d get over it in time. It was nothing big, after all, no matter what Jazz pestered him about.

“Afternoon there, ghost boy!” At the southern drawl, Danny groaned and looked to where Walker stood with two dozen of his guards. Of all the ghosts to fight, it had to be Walker.

“Hey, Warden Norton, I kind of have school going on, you know! It’s against the rules to skip class and all that!” While most of the ghosts dropped by to ‘spar’ or even ask for advice, there were still ghosts like Walker who were out to take him down for whatever stupid reason they had.

“Speaking of rules, ghost boy, I heard you’ve been breaking some, lately. Weren’t you always keen on hiding that secret of yours?” The slow drawl made Danny’s skin crawl and the truth made it even worse because Walker… was right.

Danny had kept Phantom quiet for a reason, and the biggest was that now if he messed up as Phantom, then the whole town would look to Fenton for an explanation. He was really starting to understand why superheroes had secret identities once he lost his. It wasn’t that he felt guilty or that he didn’t want to help his town, but if something went wrong, then he’d never be able to escape it, although like hell he was going to let Walker know that.

“Come on, Walker, where’s the fun in keeping a secret!” Letting himself float off the roof, Danny grinned as he let energy flow into his hands, palms lighting up with that distinctive glow. There were some days he hated what had happened, but he could never regret it, not after he had lost his powers once. “Well? Are you coming up here or am I coming down there?”

The whole town seemed to hold its breath and Danny watched as Walker’s expression wavered for only a moment. A moment was all he needed. It was nice to know that the other ghosts knew just how strong he had gotten, too.

“Looks like I’m coming down, then.” Right. Deep breath in, hold, and imagine himself moving from one place to another in an instant. A disorientating second of an airless vacuum of nothing and Danny saw white in front of him before he fired a large shot with every scrap of gathered power in his palms.

Walker went skidding back with a grunt and his guards all took startled steps back that caused Danny’s grin to get even wider. There were some days he really, really liked ghost fights.

“Like the new power, Walker?” He had always tried to copy Vlad’s teleportation trick, and he had finally, finally gotten somewhere with it.

“You’re just rarin’ for a fight, aren’t you, ghost boy?” Walker already sounded out of breath and Danny grinned as he stood back up. “Well? Come on, then.”

Ever since his temporary truce with the ghosts he hadn’t really found a need to fight any of them, yet, which he had been thankful for. He had forgotten, though, just how fun it was to use all of his powers.

The cold of his ice powers were now more of a comfort than anything, and it was so easy to freeze all of Walker’s guards and suck them into the thermos one-by-one as he dodged their ‘attacks.’ It was so easy. He could still remember when he hadn’t even been able to defeat Lunch Lady, but it was so easy now.

At least, it was until he got distracted and didn’t notice Walker’s stupid new technology that had him crashing to the ground because fuck that hurt. He didn’t know where that gun had come from, but the red streaks that were still making his body shake didn’t really reassure him.

“You think a pair of red eyes is enough to scare me off, boy?” Walker knew how to use a gun, that was easy to tell just by his stance, and- Wait, hang on. Red eyes?

Glancing to where some of his ice was cracked apart on the ground, Danny blinked at seeing his eyes were indeed flashing between red and green. He knew his eyes could sometimes get red if he was really angry, but he wasn’t angry with Walker, just annoyed. What-

Another blast from that stupid fucking gun had Danny biting off a scream as he pushed himself back into the air and dodged the next blast. “Didn’t know you had to rely on weapons so much, Walker!”

“Why bother wasting my energy on you, boy?” Walker smirked, and Danny had a half second to wonder what was about to happen before Bullet was behind him and slamming his stupid weapon into his back. Another shot was fired, and Danny knew a second before it hit that this shot hadn’t been aimed at him.

The Fenton Thermos he had now that had lasted for the longest time yet, but one shot from that gun and it cracked apart before shattering into pieces, metal shards hitting the ground as the ghosts that Danny had managed to capture went shooting out back to their places behind Walker, the ghost meeting Danny’s eyes and smirking.

“Alright, then.” Now he was angry.

Pushing himself away from Bullet, Danny dragged up his ice powers and started freezing as many guards as he could, this time encasing more than just their feet.

“Gettin’ angry now, ghost boy? That’s what those red eyes of yours mean, don’t they?” Just ignore him. Danny wasn’t going to resort to his fourteen-year-old self and start attacking anytime someone yelled at him. He was sixteen and had been at this for two years, now. “How long you think you can put off that future of yours?”

This time, the icy feeling that stole Danny’s breath away and stopped his heart wasn’t his own. Shock, pure and overpowering, filled him as he looked over to Walker. The man had never looked more smug.

“What was the name of that their future of yours, Phantom? Dan, wasn’t it?” Something heavy crashed into Danny’s back and sent him crashing down towards the pavement in front of Walker, Danny fighting back a scream as he heard some cracks from his back. “Eyes open, kid, I’m not done with you, yet.”

“You’re going to wish you were,” Danny grunted out, pushing himself up, energy sparking into his hands as he looked up to Walker. “Who told you that.” It wasn’t much of a question. He knew exactly who could find out about Dan and who would spread it as far and wide as possible.

“What can I say, it looks like we have the same therapist.” Fucking Spectra. “She had quite the story to tell about you, ghost boy. Handy that power of hers, isn’t it? Seeing one’s greatest fears. I bet she had a field day with you when it came to being afraid of yourself.”

“That’s none of your business, Walker.” Dan. It always came back to Dan. Of course that man was on Danny’s mind when he ran into Spectra a couple weeks ago. How could it not be? The world knew who he was and the world was always watching. If Danny were to slip up now, then there would be no redemption. There would be no chance of going back.

Danny had asked. He had flown to Clockwork the day after he had come out to the world and he had asked if something went wrong if he could turn back time. There were limits even to time control, it seemed. Clockwork couldn’t change an event that had been seen by the entire world. Not even the reality gauntlet would have been able to do that. There were limits to it all and Danny had long since passed those.

If something went wrong, then there would be no going back. If he became Dan the way things were now… they would never be the same. Things would never be the same.

“How’s it feel, boy, to know the entire world has its eyes on you? Makes it awfully easy to slip up, doesn’t it?”

For a second - a single second - Danny saw the green energy in his hands flicker into a dark red. It was enough for him to lose his focus on the power and for Walker’s guards to fire at him.

By the time he managed to get a shield around him, he felt like Dash and the entire football team had just found out Danny had ruined their lives and took it out on him. Walker hadn’t been a real threat in a while, but damn if Danny wasn’t remembering just how dangerous he could be.

“Is that all you got, boy!” The taunting roar seemed to echo through the air, and Danny slowly grinned. If Walker wanted to scream, then Danny could scream right back.

“I’m only just starting.” Sucking in as deep a breath as he could, Danny dropped his shield the exact same time he began to scream, or, really, wail. His ghost powers made it so his hearing automatically disappeared when he used this power, and he couldn’t even begin to try and keep his eyes open, but he knew it was working just by the sheer power he felt built up around him.

By the time he managed to close his mouth he was panting, but he still felt like he could keep the fight going if he had to. He really was getting better with… Ah. 

“You know, typically when I give the cold shoulder, I don’t do it this way.” A weak joke even for him, but Danny was distracted by the fact that almost an entire city block seemed to look like winter had struck early.

All the buildings were covered in ice and snow, and the road appeared to be cracked or even broken in some places. The city was probably going to yell at him for damages again or something, but, well, at least Walker wasn’t a problem, anymore? He was also nowhere in sight.

“Right. Well!” Danny nervously looked around, floating back into the air. He should probably get home and get a new thermos, first. Before he could even think about that, though, it suddenly felt like all the air had been stolen from his lungs and the entire world was plunged into darkness.

Before he could even panic properly, Danny gasped for breath as he saw he was… in his bedroom. He teleported? No. He hadn’t even tried. Did someone else teleport him? That could be bad. He needed to get back to Sam and Tucker and-

Darkness surrounded him, and he couldn’t breathe, and it was the exact same second of nothing, and then Danny was yelping as he was falling out of the air and landing on top of a large wooden desk and grunting as his head was the one part of him that didn’t hit the wood. He couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not, yet, and, oh. It was Lancer’s desk.

Blinking back as the entire classroom stared at him, Danny cleared his throat before giving what might have been an upside down and possibly concussed wave. “Hi, guys. How’s the pop quiz so far?”

Right. He might have a problem.

[a-coulter-winchester]

Diamond in the Rough 4

Summary: Fighting with Eric is fairly normal. Although things change when he finds out you saved a baby from the massacre in Abnegation. 

Warnings: swearing. Aggressiveness. Nudity but no smut.... yet.

A/N: gifs not mine. This one maybe a bit long.

All week you hadn’t seen Eric but it helped since you had your hands full. The anxiety of today’s trip kept sleep away from you all night. You watched the tiny bundle of joy sleep peacefully. Carefully you wrapped the baby up tightly and secured the child to your chest taking one of Eric’s jackets that he left at your place. Being twice your size the jacket easily zipped up over the tiny infant. 

At three in the morning was the best time. You were less likely to run into anyone. Eric and the others would be just now getting up or preparing for meetings. You made your way to the net where the Initiates jumped down in. It would be a tricky climb up with a baby and an even trickier jump up to the train tracks but you were Dauntless and capable of just about anything. No time for fear.

Pulling yourself carefully up into the net brought back Nostalgic feelings. It was like yesterday when you had Come plummeting down into this very net. The first time you ever felt the flutter of your first crush forming was when you saw Eric standing on the roof. Most people who first glanced at Eric wouldn’t think, this man is going to be my love. But you couldn’t choose who your heart wanted.

With a Heavy sigh you heaved yourself into the net. Careful not to crush the infant who magically was still asleep. The sides that held up the nets only lead you a little ways up. You would have to rely on the walls from there. It would be easy to fall and kill the child if you slipped while climbing the jagged pieces of the structure of the building. Yet you kept focused and climbed until you were about a foot or two from the edges of the hole in the roof.

You were leaning back with one foot planted in the groove of the wall and your fingers white knuckling as they kept gripped against the edges of a couple jutting pieces of cement. Drawing in a deep breath you shoved off the wall and for a moment you were free falling. Quickly grabbing at the edges of the hole until your lower body swung like a punch bag someone just hit with extreme force.

Your arm muscles and fingers strained against the weight of your body to hold you up at such an awkward angle. Your forehead began to perspire and you gritted your teeth waiting for adrenaline to give you that extra push. Just as your fingers began to slip you managed to hook an elbow onto the outter edge. Cool air hit your arms and the top of your head. It was extremely difficult to pull up the rest of the way and to not crush or scrape the child. Awkwardly your chest had to be above the ledge to allow your leg to swing over so you had away to create a distance between the baby and the roof.

A burn deep inside your lungs set in by the time you crawled fully onto the roof. You took a moment to sit and check on the child. Some how the baby was still asleep.

The sun didn’t come up until you were almost at Amity. It was almost like nature was giving you a sign. Or perhaps Amity was so connected with nature that it was just a beautiful and peaceful place to be. You couldn’t help but wonder why you needed excitement and thrills of Dauntless over the serene beauty of Amity. Would it really be that bad to live out your life there?

“You’ll have to tell me the answer one day little one.” You hummed looking down at your little package of happiness.

“One last jump and we’ll be there.”

Once in Amity you relaxed and shrugged off Eric’s heavy jacket. The little baby cooed in appreciation as well in getting some much needed fresh air. People smiled and made small chat as you passed by. It made you smile and feel at peace for once.

“Ooh. Is that the little angel!” Johanna sang as she came waltzing towards you and the baby.

You smiled and started taking unstrapping the make-shift carrier you were using. Once freed Johanna immediately took the baby and started fussing over it as her eyes held nothing but love for it.

“Margret and James are on the way do you want to meet them officially?” Johanna wasn’t looking at you. She bounced with and hummed a soft to tune to the child in her arms.

“I can’t. I have to get back before people start to notice I’m gone.” You chewed your lip thinking about being caught. With everything going on you could end up factionless.

“Well if you ever need anything, you’re welcome here.” Johanna smiled and you placed a hand on her shoulder and thanked her before turning and sprinting back to the train.

When Eric found your apartment empty at five in the morning he became suspicious. He stalked the halls asking if anyone had seen Y/N. His last resort stop was Max’s office.

With three loud knocks on the door Max yelled for the knocker to come in. He sighed and set down the files in front of him when he was met with Eric’s intense stare.

“What can I do for you this early in the morning Eric?” Max sounded tired and stressed from the week.

“Where is Y/N?” Eric stood in the door frame like a human blockade.

“She took off the past three days. No ones seen her even in the cafeteria.” Max said with a tone of doubt.

You never took off from work or asked for anytime away. Not like there was much room for you to do so. There was nothing left to say. Max was swamped in files from Erudite taking over and Eric was on a mission to hunt you down.

The way back was a lot quicker and easier than the morning trip. After jumping from the train you rolled and sprung back up to your feet with grace. Sprinting to the edge of the roof before leaping in one swift move. You didn’t land as gracefully into the net as you had jumped but for some reason you felt good. A giggle left your mouth as you rolled down and made your way through the halls.

It was noon and the trip left you feeling famished. You made your way to the cafeteria. The large room was filled with chatter and laughter, some clanking of trays and utensils as people gathered around the tables.

A sigh of relief came out when you didn’t see Eric or Max. Tomorrow you would be absolutely prepared to deal with their intensity. You hummed a tune as you got in line to get some food. The smells of mash potatoes and chicken made your stomach growl. It hit like a tidal wave while you turned to go find a seat the whole entire room fell deafly silent.

Everyone was sitting there like a statue staring at you as if you had turned into a three headed demon and were about to eat their souls. From behind you came a snicker.

“Eric’s been looking for you all day...” Peter taunted and of course as you turned you were met with his smug smile.

“Great. Thanks Peter.” You said trying to be as non-chalant as possible.

Not wanting to deal with this drama you left with your tray in search of a place that you could continue to hide from Eric. You knew it was somewhat childish but a fight with Eric really isn’t what you needed right now. Especially because he’d claim that he was right and you were wrong with proof of the baby being gone.

Shortly after, missing you just by a couple seconds Eric walked into the eating hall he didn’t have to search for you for long before Peter walked up to him and whispered something to Eric. Eric uncrossed his arms and made his way down the hall looking for you in all the spots he knew you hid in.

It would be close to the end of the day and you felt like it would be best to just go home and clean up before going to bed early. Carefully you listened for any footsteps before climbing down from your new secret spot. A nice hot bath sounded like heaven.

“Where the fuck have you been Y/N?!” Eric’s voice was low like a growl. You had heard this tone before and it always sent shivers down your spine.

“Shit.” You huffed feeling disappointed that you had managed to dodge him all day for nothing.

You hung up His jacket and shucked off your shoes. Not once did you look at him but you knew he was glaring holes into you. He stood in the kitchen and you tried to walk right by him but he reached out for your arm.

“Eric, not now!” You hissed jerking out of his grasp.

He surprisingly retreated for a moment watching as you disappeared into the bathroom. You turned the water on and started to undress, hoping that maybe he’d just leave again. It would be more of a shock if he actually waited patiently for you to bathe.

Just as you were about to get in the door swung open and Eric walked in. You tried to cover yourself with the towel and failed as Eric dragged you out and to the bedroom. 

Tags: @purely-imagines-and-fantasies @deleteidentity

[anthropwashere]

Revive: maybe one day I’ll be home again

AO3 || FFN

(So glad I got something posted during Phanniemay! Here’s 3.6k of Danny having a bad time, which is like slipping on a nice pair of well-worn slippers at this point. Fic title comes from Skip the Use’s “Nameless World.”)

=

It’s a robbery. Just a plain old robbery at the 7-11 on the corner of Jacob and Marley, no ghosts involved at all. Just some guy with shaky hands and a gun. It’s like the opening out of one those crime shows there’s fifteen ripoffs of on TV; idiot teen steps in front of loaded gun in idiot attempt at playing hero. The pounding in his ears could almost be mistaken for the opening theme music.

“Oh, shit,” the guy says.

Danny’s mouth stutters, but he can’t push any words out. He can’t seem to breathe around the dull heat punched through his chest. His sneaker’s wet. The glass Coke bottle he’d been holding must have broken.

“What did you…?” The cashier shakes his head, eyes so wide Danny can see white all around his dark irises. “You shot him.”

“I didn’t mean to,” the guy blurts out. Like saying that will magically make it all better.

“You shot him.”

He can’t breathe. He’d just stopped in here for a soda and a couple protein bars on his way home from patrol. The guy had burst in waving the gun when Danny had been mentally calculating if he had enough for a bag of gummy worms too, stammering out hoarse demands without even looking to see if anyone else was in the store. It’s after midnight on a Tuesday though; who would be?

“Shit,” the guy says again. He looks terrified. He looks like somebody who’d be desperate enough to rob a corner store; gaunt and unshaven, stains and holes in clothes a little too big for him. He doesn’t look like a murderer.

Danny swallows. He finds the strength to lift his arm, to touch fingertips to the wet hole in his chest. They come away red. Way too red. He’d just touched it for a second, but his fingers are slick to the crease of his palm. He sways. One of the men shouts as his knees hit the floor, protein bars scattering from his other hand. Cold soda soaks his jeans; warm blood soaks his shirt.

He’s been hurt before. He’s been hurt bad before. But never when he was human. Never by another human, never with a weapon that wasn’t at least a little bit jury-rigged with ghost-fighting tech. This. He doesn’t. He doesn’t know what to do.

The guy’s hands had been shaking, but Danny had walked right up to him, overconfident and stupid. He’s been fighting ghosts long enough that he forgot humans can be just as dangerous. Shaky hands. Fear? Drugs? Doesn’t matter. The gun couldn’t have been more than a few inches away when it had gone off.

He can’t breathe.

“You shot a kid,” the cashier’s yelling. “Are you crazy? I was gonna give you the money!”

“He—he got in the way! He was trying to stop me!”

“So you killed him? Shit, man, put the gun down, okay? You’ve done enough.”

They keep yelling at each other, both high and frightened. The gun’s still in the guy’s hand, not like he means to shoot the cashier but. Still. It could still be loaded. The guy’s freaked out. What if this plays out like bad TV? No witnesses, trash the security tapes. The gun’s probably stolen already. The cops’d just have two bodies on their hands. Danny’s school ID is in his wallet. He wonders what the cashier’s name is, who this guy with the gun is too.

He slumps against a rack of candy bars, feels it bow under his weight. “Nnn,” he slurs. He can’t breathe. The pounding in his ears is hiccuping, hard and off-kilter, like he’s about to pass out. That’s. That’s not good. His shirt’s soaked. He’s shaking. All bad signs.

“Put the fucking phone down,” the guy with the gun yells, brandishing it at the cashier. Danny can’t see what the cashier’s doing from where he’s spilling across the floor. This is bad. If he doesn’t. He’s gotta do something. The guy’s gonna kill—

“St—” He chokes. Blood in his throat, filling his mouth. He drops his chin and lets it leak out, too weak to spit. “Stop.”

Incredibly, the guy stops. Stares down at him like he’d forgotten Danny was even there. Danny’s chest hitches pointlessly. Is it his imagination or can he feel the bullet, an alien lump of metal caught at a weird angle between his muscles, his organs? Don’t. Don’t think about it. Can’t breathe. Who cares. He doesn’t bother breathing half the time he’s Phantom anyway. What’s it matter now that he’s human?

“Luh. Leave ‘im ‘lone.” Ugh. Not his most eloquent. So sue him. “Drop it.”

“Kid,” the cashier says from somewhere out of sight. “Kid, hey, don’t talk. Just stay still. I’m gonna call an ambulance—”

“Like hell you are,” the guy yelps, not looking away from Danny.

“He’s gonna die if I don’t. I don’t care about the money, man, just let me help this kid before—”

“Stop.”

They stop.

Danny stops too. He forces himself slack, makes himself limp. Don’t struggle. Stop. Stop. He’s been hurt before. He’s been hurt bad before. This isn’t. This is bad, but he isn’t dying. He isn’t. He won’t die here. His lungs empty. His head lolls. The pounding in his ears beats once, twice, then stammers to a standstill.

“Oh god,” both men whisper feebly.

Oh. Hey. Hey. Now that his body’s not having a conniption, he feels—okay, good is maybe stretching it, but he feels better than he did a minute ago. He’s pretty sure he can stand up. It takes him a couple tries; he’s still feeling cold and weak, there’s not much leverage off the rickety shelves, and he’s a sticky mess of blood and soda. He manages it okay though, one elbow resting heavy on the counter, a slippery grin on his face, his knees shaking but keeping his weight.

Both men are screaming at this point, and the guys pointed the gun at him again. He huffs. It feels weird. He decides not to think about why it might feel weird. “Seriously?” It comes out phlegmy, or maybe it’s better to say bloody. Ugh. He swallows, grimacing. “I, nngh. I think you did enough already. Don’t you?”

“Wh-what the hell are you?!”

That’s a dumb question. This is Amity Park. He doesn’t bother dignifying that with a response. Instead he narrows his eyes, bares his teeth in a feral grin as neon green stains the flickering white lights overhead. “I think you should go,” he rasps. “Before I change my mind. Leave the gun.”

The guy drops the gun and bolts. The automated chime on the door sounds so absurd after everything that’s happened Danny wants to curl up and giggle. Maybe later. He swallows—guh—and looks over at the cashier. The poor man’s pressed up against the wall of cigarettes, gray-faced with eyes wide as saucers, his mouth a perfect O.

Nothing he says is going to make the man any less afraid. He doesn’t have a clue what he’d say anyway. He doesn’t have a clue what’s happened. He looks down at the spill of blood—his blood—across the tile, the candy bars, the counter. The broken glass, the spilled soda. What a mess.

Wait. Blood. Bad crime shows always do DNA tests, right? He doesn’t know anything about how that stuff works, but he does know he’s spilled… well. More than enough to stop his heart. A lot.

He looks back at the cashier, who hasn’t moved. The cashier swallows, stammers out, “Wh-what?”

He doesn’t say anything before he sets fire to the counter. More specifically he sets the blood he’s left smeared all over on fire, but the sudden green flare sure looks intimidating. The cashier whimpers. Danny, one hand clinging tightly to the counter, methodically melts down the entire rack of candy to a noxiously sweet-smelling slag, then burns the tiled floor black and bubbling. As an afterthought he runs a hand across himself, drying the blood on him in a wave of sour heat so he doesn’t drip anymore.

He bends down—whoa, easy there gravity—and picks up the gun. It’s heavier than it looks. He keeps the barrel pointed at the ground, finger off the trigger ‘til he taps the safety on. That’s about all he knows how to do with guns that aren’t meant for ghosts. It’s enough for now.

He should probably care about the security footage too. He takes an experimental breath; he’s almost positive he can feel the bullet shift. Yeah. Screw the footage. He’s got bigger problems.

“Sorry about the mess,” he says, and, since his cover story begins and ends with horrible 7-11 apparition, he vanishes. He stands there a minute longer to make sure the fire goes out; he’s not trying to burn the place down, he’s just trying to destroy any evidence he was there. The cashier watches the fire too, gaping like a fish. When it gutters out he sinks to the floor and buries his head in his knees, breathing wetly.

Danny phases through the door. Some terrible part of him wants to turn visible long enough to set off the automated chime to scare the cashier one last time. He doesn’t. He keeps walking, unseen, down the street for the nearest alley three buildings down. He can duck in there, have a minor panic attack because seriously, what, then he can call—

Call who?

Tucker can’t handle anything worse than a bad scrape without going gray and shaky. He’s got the steadiest hands out of all of them, sure—that A in Sewing isn’t a fluke—but this isn’t something he can bribe Tucker to patch up with puppy eyes and movie tickets. This isn’t something that can just be patched up, period.

Sam’s got the strongest stomach of the three of them and she’s a better liar than Tucker, but this is way beyond anything they’ve had to deal with before. They’ve smuggled a lot of medical supplies out of his parents’ basement, but they aren’t equipped to handle gunshot wounds. The bullet’s still in there. He can’t ask her to go digging around in his chest for it. Did it shatter? He could just phase it out. Maybe it’s better to leave it in for now. Less evidence to leave lying around—

His chest throbs. A low cry is squeezed out of him, more surprise than pain. He staggers, trips over his feet, almost faceplants on the sidewalk. His bloody hand jumps to his chest, fingertips pressed to the hole over his heart. He wavers in the middle of the sidewalk, in the relative darkness between two pools of yellow street light. What was that?

Another throb, as sharp as a knife, as hard as a kick to the ribs. He feels it under his fingers, feels something pulse under his skin. He doesn’t breathe. He doesn’t need to breathe right now. His jaw is clenched tight enough to make his teeth ache; his lungs feel like wet plastic bags. Throb. He curls in on himself, forcing one foot in front of the other. Throb. Stay invisible. There are cars passing by, people lingering at a street sign, looking around for whatever made that funny noise. Throb. Almost at the alley now. Almost there. Almost there.

He turns in and it’s mercifully empty. He staggers to the end of it, where dented trash cans and bulging black bags make a decent hiding spot. There’s a faint smell of old beer, old piss, something greasy gone to rot, all of it settling heavy on his tongue. He’s distantly glad he doesn’t have to breathe right now, more focused on the pulse beneath his crabbed fingers.

He turns visible again as he sags against the brick wall, grunts as another throb beats through him. There’s another one right on the heels of that one, and another after that. Something cool and wet dribbles out of the wound and he yelps, pulling his hand away.

Neon green paints his palm, filling the alleyway with dim luminescence. He’s gobsmacked, straight up speechless, even through the next hard throb of what can only be his heart trying to kickstart itself again. His heart, trying to pump ectoplasm, somehow funneled through that cold little spark in his chest that never leaves, that connection between his two halves, the reason he was able to walk away from being shot at all.

Okay. Okay. This. Uh. This is new. This is good? It hurts, but that makes sense. Maybe phasing the bullet out now is a good idea after all. He passes his hand through his chest, hears metal ping on the asphalt by his knee. Another pass to be safe. It’s probably enough. He’s more worried about the hole he can’t do anything about and the ectoplasm splurting sluggishly out of it with every beat of his inexplicably beating heart.

His vision blurs, dips, hazes over with unearthly shades of green. He swallows, blinking rapidly until he can see clearly again. Okay. Bad. This is bad. This is arguably worse, maybe. He doesn’t know. But he can’t stay here. He’s gotta get—where? Who’s closest?

...Valerie is, actually, but he doesn’t think this would go over well. He hisses laughter between his teeth. Home, then. Home, and Jazz. Jazz is gonna lose her mind when she sees him, and honestly? He’s not gonna blame her one bit.

Another particularly sharp throb makes him cough, hoarse and wet, and he spits out a glowing gob of he-doesn’t-wanna-know. His chest goes tight. Spots dance in his eyes the longer he sits there, rubbing at the slick mess all down his front. He spits again, wheezes on pure human instinct, and feels better.

Oh. Breathing. That’s a thing his lungs would like him to do again, apparently. He takes shallow, careful breaths. Guh. It smells nasty here. But he’s breathing, and it’s sore sure, but he’s breathing, and his heart’s beating, and while he’s not so sure he’d be able to stand at the moment at least he’s feeling pretty clear headed. All in all, he’s arguably doing better than he was ten minutes ago.

His hand’s wet again, cold and syrupy, like he stuck it in a can of paint. He wipes it on his jeans, leaving a huge neon smear. He peels his shirt off his skin, shivers when it sticks reluctantly, slips his hand under to palm the wound directly. Ectoplasm, at least, has a higher viscosity than blood.

He shivers again. Shock, maybe? He snorts, wincing when his chest protests sharply. Of course it’s shock, idiot. Each sluggish throb of his heart still feels like a kick to the sternum, green hazing his periphery. He breathes, putting as much pressure on the wound as he can. He breathes. He’s got to do more than this, but he doesn’t know what. Stop the bleeding—how? It’s his heart. If he plugs his chest, then he’ll have to deal with internal bleeding. Right?

...He’s definitely got to sign up for Anatomy next year. If he makes it that long. At this rate, he’s not sure if he’s gonna make it to school tomorrow—no, shhh, shut up, he’s gonna be fine. This is fine. He’s alive, sort of, right? He’s fine. He’s gonna be just fine. Somehow.

He knocks his head against the brick, looking skyward. From here he can make out a few twinkling stars, the dark gray smear of a cloud, the blinking red light of an airplane passing by. There’s always so much going on above the city. It’s not so out of reach as it used to be for him, but it’s all so still so impossibly far. Funny, that he finds some kind of comfort in that. Here he is, bleeding out for the second time in one night in an alleyway, and if he did die right here the universe would wheel on without him. It wouldn’t even notice.

He likes that. He likes that just fine. Sam’d call him morbid, and she’d be proud (and maybe a little worried), but hey. A guy’s gotta cope somehow, right?

...Huh. His heartbeat doesn’t hurt as bad now. Is that good? That’s probably not good. He takes a deeper breath, expecting splintered pain… and is surprised when there’s only soreness. He eases up the pressure on the wound, expects a fresh spill of cool ectoplasm, and yeah, there’s a little, but not nearly as much as before. What the heck?

The gun’s still in his left hand, nearly forgotten. He’s not willing to put it down, still uneasy about the bullet he’s left on the asphalt by his knee, glinting in the green light of his ectoplasm. He can’t forget that, just in case. This neighborhood’s poor, not dangerous. A trashed corner store and an alley coated in ghost gore not a hundred yards away is going to raise questions, even in Amity Park. His parents are going to be all over this place tomorrow with a fine tooth comb. His dad might miss the bullet, but his mom? No way.

Right. Gunshot wound. Not bleeding as much as it was just a minute ago. That should be concerning. That should be really concerning. But, funny thing, he doesn’t feel worse. He feels… better?

He prods at it experimentally, and his middle finger doesn’t slip through like it did before. There’s—muscle? Something that feels like the slippery firmness of exposed muscle, anyway.

“No way,” he whispers, wide-eyed. There’s healing quick and then there’s straight up video game logic. This shouldn’t be possible. But even as he’s thinking that he feels something shift under his fingertip, feels something grow. He twitches his hand away. When he dares to touch again, there’s skin. Raw, tender, like the skin under a torn off scab. He swallows, reeling, belatedly remembers to keep breathing. “Oh. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. Right.”

So. Not going to die. He wasn’t planning on dying here, no way, but. Still. Nice to have that confirmed. Uh. He’s maybe just going to sit here a bit longer. Give his body—his ghost half?—time to do… whatever it’s doing. No sense jumping up to head home just to bust his heart open again.

He grins weakly. “Oh man, this is nuts.”

But hey, if it works, right?

Mmm. Home. Right. He pulls his hand out from under his shirt, wrinkles his nose at the mess of blood and ectoplasm smeared up to his wrist. Gross. His left hand, the one holding the gun, is still clean. He eases himself cross-legged, places the gun on one knee, fishes out his phone and dials Jazz’s cell. She doesn’t pick up the first time so he calls again. She picks up the fourth ring.

“...’lo?”

“Hey, it’s an emergency.”

“Danny...? It’s the middle of the night. Where are you?”

“Yeah. Patrol ran long, then I, uh. Had some trouble. I’m gonna need your help when I get home.”

“Mm. What happened? Are Sam and Tucker—”

“They’re fine, probably home by now. I—” He swallows through a low throb of pain, tries not to think about what might be happening inside himself. “—I got hurt.”

“Hurt? What happened? How serious?”

“...Uh. Bad.”

“...Danny?”

He clears his throat, shakes off the cobwebs. “I’m gonna be fine. I just need to get cleaned up. Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Um, I don’t know.”

“Well find out.”

“Okay, okay. Just a sec.” Shuffling sounds. “Do you need me to come get you?”

“No. Just. I could use your help hiding some stuff once I get there.”

“Stuff?”

“My clothes are, um. Trashed. There’s a gun too.”

“A what?!”

“Yeah.”

“Where did you get a—a gun from?”

“Tell you later.” Ooh, he’s tired all of a sudden. He feels wrung out, sore, and starving. “Nnngh. Any sign of ‘em?”

Her voice drops to a whisper. “Looks like they’re asleep.”

“Mm. Perfect. Meet me in the lab with some clean clothes for me, okay? I’ll be home soon as I can.”

“Danny, talk to me. Tell me what happened. How badly hurt are you?”

“Told you, Jazz. M’fine. Just need to get cleaned up.”

She hums like she’s not convinced. “You sure you don’t want me to meet you?”

“I can fly faster than a car. M’not far, okay? Just. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

“That’s a long time if you’re flying.”

“I’m taking a breather right now, nosy.”

“Danny—”

“Jazz.” He sighs, almost rubs his eyes but remembers how gross his free hand is. “I’m… I’m okay. I just need a few minutes. Picked up a new ghost power, I think. I’ll explain at home.”

“...If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“M’kay.”

“I mean it. If you’re not here in fifteen minutes I’m calling you back. You don’t pick up, I’m calling Sam and Tucker.”

He chuckles softly, too tired to laugh. It hurts, but not half as much as it did a few minutes ago. “Okay, okay. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

He hangs up after they exchange quiet goodbyes and he sets his phone on his right knee, opposite the gun. He takes a deep breath, wincing a little. Not too bad. Two more minutes. He’s going to sit here two more minutes, then he’ll get up and head home.

He rests his head against the brick again, watches stars twinkle impossibly far away. A thought comes to mind unbidden that has him biting his lip to keep from laughing outright. It’s so dumb, but it’s the middle of the night and he may or may not have just discovered he’s a little bit functionally unkillable. So sue him, he’ll laugh a little.

He can never go back to that 7-11 again now that he’s gone and haunted it.

[kenzieam]

You and Me and the Devil Makes Three - Chapter 3 (Eric and Fox)

Rating: M (Language, Violence, Lots of Smut)

Genre: Drama/Angst/Humour

Thanks everyone for the re-blogs and support!!! IT IS SO AWESOME!!!

@emmysrandomthoughts @beautifulramblingbrains @iammarylastar @tigpooh67 @bookwarm85  @badassbaker @captstefanbrandt  @treeleaf  @beltz2016  @girlwith100names @gaia25 @readsalot73 @slayer0507 @stone-met @lostinthebeans @lauraaan182 @girlslovestorys  @lacy-love @fuckthatfeeling  @sparklemichele @vitaevandal  @micolegg @jaihardy  @bookgirlthings @queenara4  @bluelassbird @mom2reesie @pathybo @letmagichappen @shaunarcanine @equalstrashflavoredtrash @itschibi @elaacreditava @lilu46 @tonyt1995 @jojogoo65 @littlesouthernrebel @sterek-foreverandever @kirstenisntkirsty @frecklefaceb

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

A huge thank you to my beta, right hand and Jai-sister @iammarylastar ! Quelle equipe!

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

****** TRIGGER WARNINGS - Mentions of Rough (consensual) sex, Violent sex ********

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

Fox warily poked her head out of the bedroom the next morning. She’d tossed and turned and paced all night, running over and over again in her mind what had happened the night before. Her body throbbed in a dozen different places, and her thoughts were a tangled mess. What the fuck! ERIC! There was no denying the sex had been incredible, beyond anything Fox had ever experienced, but whether this was due to the emotions they’d been caught up in or, god forbid, some form of natural chemistry Fox didn’t know, and frankly, right now she didn’t want to.

She'd spent part of the night inspecting her emerging marks and bruises. She and Eric had been rough with each other, no doubt, and Fox looked like she'd gotten into some kind of brawl. Finger-shaped bruises coloured her upper arms and hips, bite marks marred her throat and breasts, and long scratches pulled on her legs. Her muscles ached like she'd been training hard and her throat was sore from yelling. Fox had had wild sex before, but never like this, and the flashbacks, Jesus. His lips on hers, his hands. The moans and rumbling groans deep in his chest. The way he's slammed into her, filling her so completely, punishing her in the most amazing way. She tried not to remember the way it had felt to straddle him, roll her hips, feel him deep inside and see how her body was affecting him, see the raw emotions, rage, anger... the way his face had twisted in sweet pain as he'd finally poured himself inside her, shuddering and roaring in release.

Her entire life at Dauntless so far had been spent butting heads with this man, and last night they had shattered that, crushed their previous dynamic between their straining bodies, battered apart the wall between them with each thrust of Eric’s hips and sinuous roll of Fox’s. Her pulse had raced again just remembering the way he had moved with her, inside her, both of them caught helpless in mind-destroying lust.

Fox froze as she stepped into the kitchen, Eric was leaning against the counter, a cup of coffee steaming in his hand, another sat on the counter beside him. He met her eyes reluctantly and Fox saw instantly that he was struggling with this just as much as she was. Shit.

Fox closed her eyes for a moment as flashes of the night before assaulted her senses and she shook her head to clear it.

“I made you some coffee,” Eric offered, holding out the other cup. Silently Fox accepted it and retreated to the other corner of the kitchen to sip it. Damn, the man could fuck and make a good cup of coffee. Fox wrapped her fingers around the cup to mask her hand’s shaking.

“Fox.... we need to talk about what happened.” Eric began quietly.

Fox shook her head, she wasn’t ready; she’d never be ready.

“Yes we do. Fox, I -”

"No."

"Dammit! Yes! We can't pretend that-"

“No Eric! We don’t need to talk about anything. Nothing happened last night.”

“What? Are you seriously going to try and tell me that?! You know damn well-”

“WHAT HAPPENED WAS A MISTAKE!” Fox screeched, the cup falling from her hand and shattering in a spray of hot liquid. Eric stared at her in shock, but Fox could see he was mounting another attack so she headed that one off too. “It was a mistake and we are NEVER going to talk about it again! Ever!” Fox was shaking, rapidly losing control of herself. She whirled, sprinting into her room and slamming the door.

Still shaking, Fox emerged a few minutes later, dressed in warmer layers, pulling a thick hoodie over her head. Eric was still in the kitchen, he’d cleaned up the mess and was now sitting at the table. Fox avoided his eyes as she walked in, could feel his gaze on her the entire time.

“Where are you going?”

“Out.” Fox replied shortly. “I’m not leaving, I’m just need to be by myself for awhile.” She paused as she passed Eric and heard him inhale then hold his breath, waiting for her to speak, but she turned her head away and continued walking, Eric’s eyes following her as the door slammed.

Eric dropped his gaze wordlessly back to his cup. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fox exhaled once the forest had closed in around her and the cabin was no longer visible. She was wound tight, a bowstring of conflicting emotions right now. Her mind screamed for mercy. Shaking her head, she started to run, letting the cold wind whip her thoughts away. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Eric was aimless, wandering without purpose through the cabin. It was truly a rare day when he didn’t have something or somebody demanding his attention; even on his infrequent days off most people still acted like he was working, but this was different. Eric couldn’t have concentrated on work or leadership duties even if he had to, his thoughts were caught in a continuous loop.

He’d woken up cold on the floor, naked and sprawled out, sticky with their combined fluids, with irrefutable evidence of what they had shared, what they had done. Fox wanted to act like nothing had happened, or worse, that it was all a big mistake, but Eric couldn’t, not yet, maybe not ever.

The remainder of the night had been sleepless, restless. Eric had cleaned himself up then paced in his room, wondering if, across the cabin, the subject of his pacing was doing the same. Eric didn’t know what to think, what to feel. He and Fox had been enemies from day one, their first conversation the template for the rest of their relationship.

She’d been the first jumper of that year, a feat that Eric would have noticed anyway, but her hair and attitude took the cake. Eric had never seen such a vibrant shade, a fox pelt red, but he couldn’t have imagined any other colour fitting the fiery transfer. Her first order of business after landing in the net was to drop to her feet in front of Eric and raise her eyebrow at him, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Not even Eric’s gruff bark of ‘name?’ seemed to shake her.

She’d grinned at him, noticing him eyeing her hair and said quite simply. “Fox.”

“Fox?” He repeated dubiously.

“Did I stutter?”

Eric had opened his mouth to let this cocky little transfer have it but just then the second jumper had landed in the net with an anguished shout. Eric heard the jumper’s arm snap even over the sound of the net and he could only yell over his shoulder, “first jumper, Fox!” before turning back to the howling figure. The Candor transfer had managed to squeak by initiation, using their cast as a battering weapon during fights, and was showing promise as a Fence Commander, but Eric had never forgotten his first conversation with the Amity spitfire. She’d gone on to excel through initiation, her mouth getting her out of as many scrapes as is it started, but the seed had been planted. Fox had gotten his attention, negatively or not, right from the get-go.

His body had throbbed and ached for her the rest of the night; his cock hard and begging for more. Flashbacks had tormented him as they did with Fox, and his body bore the marks of Fox's rage as hers did of his. Fox had been a wild animal on top of him, riding him like he'd never experienced before and it had fired his blood like he'd never thought possible. No woman had ever gotten this deep under his skin, no sex with anyone had ever been this visceral and pure, this emotional and raw and Eric worried that he was now addicted, body and soul. But even as his body strained for her, his mind fought back. They were enemies, polar opposites and one crazy round of, okay, the most amazing sex he’d ever had, was not going to change that. He and Fox didn’t know how to relate to each other, how to communicate with the other like normal people did, their normal was chaos, pranks, indignation and rage.

But, fuck, last night.... Eric couldn’t stop the memories and his body hummed with anticipation and desperate want. Feeling Fox pulsing around him had been incredible, listening to her rage and roar even as she’d fucked his brains out had been the hottest, most amazing thing he’d ever experienced. He wanted more, he needed more, maybe he was addicted, maybe he'd found his ultimate drug.

After Fox had left the cabin, after she’d screamed at him that what they’d undeniably shared ‘was a mistake’ Eric hadn’t known what to do. He wasn’t in the habit of lying to himself, and last night had stirred feelings in him that Eric hadn’t even known he’d had. He needed to think through them, figure out what he wanted, try to decide if what had happened had been a one-time thing, a temporary leave of his senses, or the beginnings of something more. He needed to know if the addiction he felt was surmountable; or was his heart given, to the most unlikely of people.

Either way, he and Fox needed to talk, and soon.

Meanwhile, his body was raging, demanding some type of exertion to relieve the pent-up tension in him. Another round with Fox, on the couch maybe this time, or in bed, would be the ideal solution, but currently not possible; so Eric found himself outside, chopping wood for the fireplace. It was a welcome distraction, even if the burn in his muscles, so akin to the fire that had raged through him as he’d thrust into Fox did little to relieve his current muddled state. Soon a large pile of firewood was stacked beside him and he’d come to a decision.

He wanted more, he wanted to see where this could go.... he wanted Fox. When she returned to the cabin tonight he would be waiting, ready to talk, ready to confess his burgeoning feelings for her and hoping she felt the same. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fox swung her leg over the branch and leaned back against the tree trunk. She’d walked until she’d found the perfect tree to climb and sit in. Her entire childhood she’d escaped to the forest, escaped her hellish home life by disappearing into the trees. She could sit up in the crook of the branches for hours, thinking, decompressing, preparing herself for the misery that waited for her when she got home. She’d learned early, through bitter experience, to never rely on others for support or help, to never show weakness which would then be exploited by those you were supposed to be able to trust, to never, ever show your true feelings. Fox had grown up with the surety that she was lesser, inferior compared to her siblings. Her father, a worthless drunk, had denied his paternity of her for as long as Fox cared to remember, her red hair a flaming scarlet A her mother had painted on her. Her mother, beaten down by life and her husband’s fists, had never spoken of who Fox’s father could be, had taken the secret to her grave a year before Fox was able to drip her blood on the Dauntless coals and escape. Her father had finally drank himself to death last year, and Fox had celebrated with black raven’s wings tattooed across her back, a symbol of her flight, her escape from the prison she had been born into.

Dauntless had been the ideal place for Fox, deep connections with other people wasn’t necessary; they were the protectors of the city, they could die at anytime, having a good time was most important. Fox had soon realized that, in addition to being naturally gifted at it, she loved sex, and Dauntless was the perfect place for no-strings-attached fun. She never had to get close enough to anyone to worry about how they could hurt her, how they could betray her trust or find out her weaknesses to use against her, even her friends were kept at a certain distance, and Fox could almost say that she was happy. Only Max knew that, at his gentle insistence, she’d had a few sessions with a therapist in Amity after becoming a Leader and although those sessions had allowed Fox to let go of the majority of her anger, her wariness of human interaction was learned, too deeply ingrained to be changed.

Her immediate reaction to Eric had been her instinctive mistrust of authority and the power they had over you. They’d started butting heads early, while Fox was still an initiate, and she’d used this as her fire to succeed, to come out the better in at least one of her major acquaintances with someone; her father had won against her, started beating her down literally and figuratively before she was even old enough to try and run away, and Fox wasn’t going to let any other male have that over her again, so she’d fought back, directly, indirectly, until it had become their normal, and, at times, even fun.

The times Fox had lain alone at night and imagined Eric hovering above her, inside her, their bodies joined and straining together, Eric’s grunts of exertion, his helpless groans in her ears, she’d always dismissed it as ridiculous, some convoluted fantasy she was imagining only because she was feeling horny and didn’t have a dick to ride. There was no way she felt anything but competitiveness and begrudging respect for her ex-trainer and co-worker, there was nothing else there, except hate and anger. Eric had always been a dick to her, and she’d been a bitch back, it had worked.... until now.

Fox jolted out of her reverie and realized that it was rapidly growing dark around her, she’d lost hours today thinking, something that used to be commonplace for her but hadn’t happened since she’d transferred to Dauntless.

“Shit,” she muttered, shaking the chill from her limbs and scrabbling down the tree. Jolts shot up her half-asleep legs as she hit the ground but Fox was already turning back towards the cabin. Eric would probably be pissed, if only because she’d left him all day to stew. She’d cobble something together for supper and burrow in front of the fireplace until she was warm, ignoring Coulter if he wanted to buzz around her like a giant fly. Although Fox knew exactly where she was, it still took awhile to get back, she’d wandered farther than she’d first thought, and it was full on dark before the cabin’s lanterns grew visible. Fox saw a large shadow move in the window. Shit.

The door opened before Fox even reached it and she pushed past Eric before he could start the inevitable fight. Fox stormed into the kitchen, her declaration of ‘don’t look at me like that, I told you I’d be gone,’ dying on her lips as she saw the table. Eric had cooked for her, picked wildflowers and set them in a cup. For her. She stumbled to a stop and stared. She heard Eric walk in behind her.

“I told you we needed to talk, so I thought I’d cook for you. I found some flowers... and I thought you’d be more willing to hear me out, but... it’s cold now, so don’t bother.” He brushed past her, crossed the room, then paused and leaned in the doorway, eyes downcast. Reluctantly, Fox raised her gaze to him. She'd never seen him like this, so disheartened.... he'd waited for her, he'd really wanted to talk to her and she'd been her regular selfish self, mooning away up in a tree, tangled up in her own egotistical problems.

“I don’t know what last night meant to you, but to me.... it was amazing. I can't get it out of my mind. Yeah, we were mad at each other and it was rough and it started out as pure hate sex, but,” he rubbed his palms down his jeans, like he was nervous. “Something happened, to me at least. I can’t stop thinking about you, or the way you felt, the way you made me feel. Last night was the.... best sex I’ve ever had, and... I want... more, I want to get to know you, the real you, not the fucking wall I’ve been fighting against for the last two years. I want to see where this could go. I think we have something, I think there’s something there, something real and worth pursuing.... what do you think?” Slowly he raised his head, searching Fox’s face for any sign of what was going on in her head.

Fox was stunned. How could she continue to hate him, keep herself safe by keeping him away when he’d just laid out his heart like this to her? How did he even have that depth, that capability? He was a man, all they felt was power over the weak, and righteous anger, a twisted superiority, they didn’t love, at least not in Fox’s experience. This was too much, Fox just couldn’t right now, she had no idea how she even felt, let alone hearing Eric’s feelings, she couldn’t deal right now, just no.

“Eric, I.... I can’t, not right now.” Fox pushed past Eric, felt him grab her upper arm.

“Fox, wait, just-”

“NO Eric!” Fox shrugged off his grip and, heart pounding, disappeared into the safety of her room, slamming the door behind her.

[scientifically-strange]

Opportunity part 2

Submitted by: God of the Challenge on fanfiction.net

--------

Clint was startled by the ringing that suddenly echoed throughout the living room, looking around, confusion spread across his face. Danny, sitting on the other side of the couch, thought it was amusing.

When the Avengers said he was under their protection, he was thankful for that. It meant he could mend his wounds and be in the skies in a few days, but when they told him he could stay, that he could become a part of the team after they saw what he could do, well, he would have been a fool to turn them down. It's been almost a year now, and some days when he woke up he still couldn't believe he was fighting along side his childhood heroes. And now he wasn't the youngest one anymore, either. Spider-Man had just officially accepted a spot on the team. A part time job, but he was just happy he got to hang out with his friend more often.

"That's a doorbell, Clint," Tony said teasingly, making Clint stick out his tongue.

"Since when does this place have a doorbell?" Wanda asked. Jan and another new member, Carol Danvers, nodded in agreement.

"Since Friday got tired of telling me there were people at the door. Jarvis was so much better," Tony replied.

"I heard that," Friday said, her disembodied voice ringing with irritation. Tony just waved her off and walked down the hall to open the doors. The voice that Danny heard next sent chills down his spine, but nobody seemed to notice as he was the only one in the room with super hearing.

"Mr. Stark," Maddie Fenton bit.

"It would be wise for you to leave, Mrs. Fenton," Tony spat. He remembered what they did to Danny. He's seen the scars and the trauma. He knows Danny still gets up in the middle of the night to make himself the hot cocoa. He knows that Danny really dying was their fault, too, what with their stupid ghost portal. He was going to make sure Danny stayed safe, even if that meant from his own parents.

He hears Danny's screams from down the hall when he sleeps.

"You can't stop me from seeing my son. He;s only sixteen, meaning that I still have custody over him. Tell him to come here."

Danny had been so focused on listening to the argument that he hadn't noticed Jan, Wanda, and Carol standing up to go see what was happening. Clint was still distracted by the fact that they had a doorbell. Once Danny realized the absence of the three women he quickly followed.

"Danny is my son and has to listen to me! I am his mother!" Maddie was yelling at them now. Danny went invisible and moved closer.

"With all due respect," Natasha (when had she gotten there?) said, not hiding the venom in her voice from the shorter red head, "you gave up being his mother when you shot at him."

"Get off our lawn," Carol said, punching one glowing fist into her other glowing palm threateningly. Maddie scoffed.

"You think I'm afraid of you? You're just a bunch of kids in Halloween costumes pretending to be heroes. Now give me my son!"

This was about to get really out of hand, Danny realized. His mom was stubborn and pissed, and that was a horrible combination to see her in. It almost scared him a little.

"You're trespassing. And also lucky I haven't called security," Tony replied. He was tense, and Danny saw how he was trying to hard not to lose his cool. His jaw was tight and his fingers were white from pinching his jacket to tightly. Natasha seemed cool and collected, but he had grown to know her signs of anger as well. Her hip jutted out as she took a sort of power stance, placing her hand on her hip and looking Maddie dead in the eye. Carol her muscular arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the shorter woman. Wanda was seething, tossing a red energy ball back and forth in a threatening matter that, though silent, screamed I dare you.

"He is my son and you will not keep me from him," his mother spoke in a dangerously low tone that Danny knew meant they had three seconds to let her pass or she would try and make them pass. He was preparing to make himself known, to tell her to leave. That she wasn't welcome. But Natasha beat him to it.

"A mother doesn't experiment on their own son, whether he has powers or not. A mother doesn't kill her son. A mother doesn't hunt them down with big guns and glowing nets. A mother doesn't call her son scum. Danny is the best kid I have ever met, and if you even so much as look at him funny your neck will be twisted six ways from Sunday. Do I make myself clear?" As she spoke Natasha had moved closer, getting right in Maddie's face. Her tone stayed a level monotone, but her eyes told them all that she wasn't kidding when she said she'd kill Maddie if she tried anything.

"You don't scare me," Maddie stated, not backing down. "Now move out of my way so I can see my son."

"He does not want to see you," Wanda spat.

That's right, Danny thought. She's a telepath and an empath. She can feel my emotions. She's probably the only one that knows I'm right here.

You don't know my Danny like I do."

"We know him well enough to know he'd be better off without you," Carol stepped in. Maddie, seething with rage now, stepped forward, pulling her hand back. But Danny got there before she could do much else.

He stepped in front of Carol and caught the punch before dropping his invisibility. His blue eyes glared daggers at his birth giver.

"Danny!" Maddie cheered, dropping her hands and bringing him into a hug. Instead of returning the gesture, he gripped her shoulders and pulled him back.

"Stop," he told her. "Go back to Amity." Despite all Maddie had done to him, it still hurt to see her face fall. It still hurt him to break her heart. But it was better this way.

"But-but you're my son. You are going to come home with me this instant, young man!" Maddie said, reaching for his ear. He caught her wrist and put it in a death grip. He felt his anger spike, and judging by the look on her face he guessed that his eyes weren't blue anymore. He snarled and threw her wrist away, making her body turn with it.

"Get lost, Maddie," he said. That seemed to make it more real for her, that he wanted nothing more to do with her. her lips pressed into a thin line as she eyes him for a couple more moments before turning and leaving. Tony put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he just shrugged it off and went inside.

Maddie looked back to her son one last time.

Danny didn't.

[kenzieam]

Fire Fox (Eric X OC)

This is my first Divergent fanfic, so if any of my fellow authors would be willing to read and offer any criticisms or suggestions, I’d appreciate it. Here is the link if you want to read ahead - https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12462583/1/Fire-Fox - please feel free to reblog me!

@beautifulramblingbrains @bookwarm85 @iammarylastar @tigpooh67 @frecklefaceb @equalstrashflavoredtrash

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

Beatrice glanced around the choosing ceremony. The hubbub had died down since she'd chosen Dauntless, and everyone was waiting to hear who would be called next.

"Arianna LaRue." Marcus called out.

Beatrice scanned the factions, eyes alighting on a girl who stood up in Amity. She strode confidently towards the bowls, her head high. Beatrice was stunned by her. She was tall and athletically built, and even from where she sat Beatrice could see that her eyes were huge and long-lashed, her skin flawless. But her most striking feature, by far, was her mane of red hair. Beatrice instantly thought of a fox, an animal she'd studied in science class; this girl's hair was the same vibrant shade, and, Beatrice saw, flowed like the mane of a lion, another animal Beatrice had read about.

Arianna had reached Marcus and the bowls and accepted the knife from his hand. She spun to face the factions, and, turning her head, Beatrice followed her gaze. She gasped quietly when looked at Amity. The peaceful faction was glaring at Arianna with what could only be hostility, anger and defiance. Beatrice looked back and saw the same emotions reflected on Arianna's face. Savagely, the tall girl sliced the knife across her palm and closed her fist. She shot her arm straight out, palm up, and held it over the Amity soil. Beatrice looked back at the faction, their expressions had not changed. Why is Amity so mad at her? Beatrice thought. They're supposed to be peaceful and loving? What has this girl done to make them hate her so?

The girl's beautiful face twisted in anger, and she curled her lip at her old faction. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Then, with a sudden jerk, Arianna snapped her arm to the side and turned her palm down, opening her fist. A large gout of blood splashed onto the Dauntless fire, sizzling and hissing and snapping. Dauntless roared in triumph and Amity visibly relaxed. Beatrice gasped again, realizing that she hadn't drawn a breath since the girl had cut her palm.

Handing the knife back, Arianna accepted a strip of bandage and turned to her new faction. As she was the next one to choose Dauntless after Beatrice, she would have to stand next to her. Beatrice held her breath again as the redhead made her way over, Dauntless still roaring and stomping their feet, impressed by her defiance. Arianna stopped beside Beatrice and faced forward.

"Wow.....that was amazing." Beatrice said, stumbling over her nervousness.

Arianna turned her head and flashed her an amused glance. "Thanks."

"And your hair, it's like...like a fox." Beatrice babbled.

Quirking one side of her mouth, Arianna looked down at Beatrice again. "You talk a lot for Abnegation."

Slightly embarrassed now, Beatrice straightened her spine. “We’re both Dauntless now.” She replied. She saw that Arianna’s eyes were a kaleidoscope of amber and brown, like a Tiger’s Eye gem she once saw in a museum.

Having expected her comment to shut the girl up, Arianna’s eyebrows lifted at Beatrice’s grit. “Yeah,” she grinned. “You’re right.” Her mouth widened into a genuine smile and she turned back to the ceremony as a ‘Jacob Hunter’ was called.

When the ceremony ended Dauntless began filing out. Beatrice looked over at her old faction, at her parents, but Arianna held her head high as they passed Amity. As they neared the stairs, the Dauntless began to yell and broke into a run. Grinning back at Beatrice, Arianna joined the crush and, unwilling to be left behind, Beatrice followed. They stayed side by side as they ran through the streets, Beatrice sensing that Arianna was holding herself back to keep pace with her. As they neared the tracks, they slowed with the crowd and Beatrice and Arianna traded glances when they saw that the Dauntless initiates were beginning to climb up the trestle to leap aboard the an oncoming train. Breathlessly, they followed, reaching the top just as the train began to pass.

“C’mon.” Arianna grinned, sprinting towards the car. She easily leapt in and turned back to help Beatrice. Laughing they flopped against the wall and grinned at the Candor girl beside them.

“I’m Christina.” The girl said, extending her hand.

Arianna nodded at her and Beatrice took her hand, introducing them both.

Too soon, fervour ran through the crowd. The three girls watched in shock as the people in the cars ahead of them started jumping out of the train cars onto a roof.

“Holy shit.” Arianna breathed. Then, “well, you ready?” She glanced back and forth between Beatrice and Christina. At their nods, she turned and sprinted forward, flinging herself out of the car. The two remaining girls, with wide-eyed glances at each other, followed behind. They landed hard, rolling into the gravel and coming to a stop at Arianna’s feet. She appeared unruffled and reached down to help them stand.

"Alright, listen up!" A deep voice called.

They turned and walked with the crowd over to the edge of the building. A tall muscular man stood on the edge, dressed all in black. Tattoos ran up both sides of his neck and his eyebrow was pierced. "I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders."

As he continued speaking, his eyes scanned the initiates. They skimmed over Beatrice and Christina but hitched over Arianna. Something passed through his eyes.

"Someone's gotta go first. Who's it gonna be?" He called.

Beatrice and Arianna traded a glance. Arianna quirked her brow in a 'you first' gesture.

"Me." Beatrice called out, walking towards the leader. Arianna followed her.

Beatrice stood on the ledge, readying herself to jump; Arianna felt eyes on her and glanced to her right. Eric was staring at her, but as she turned, he directed his attention back to Beatrice.

"Today, initiate."

Beatrice leapt.

Arianna followed, landing on the net and rolling off in time to hear the dark-haired man's last words to Beatrice and to hear her answer.

"First jumper, Tris!" He turned his attention to Arianna and raised his eyebrows.

Arianna glanced at the newly named Tris and smirked. Turning her gaze back to the man, she grinned. "Fox."

He nodded and called out. "Second jumper, Fox!"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Training began the next day.

It didn't take long for Fox to see the tension between the two leaders assigned to them, the enigmatic Eric and the dark-haired man, Four, who helped her and Tris out of the net. Although Four had identified himself as the trainer of the transfers, Eric was often there, overriding Four's orders. Fox kept her head down, intent of moving up the board. The physical part came easily to her, she'd always been athletic; and after the Incident, Fox had thrown herself into strength training and conditioning, refusing to be a victim again. She helped Tris as much as she could, as the blonde Abnegation struggled, and was relieved to see that her friend started succeeding, despite all the challenges facing them.

They got tattoos together; Fox chose a stylized fox on her left shoulder blade, and watched Tris closely as she talked lowly with her tattooist while she drew three birds on her collarbone.

Days later, Fox and Tris watched in shock as Eric threw Christina over the chasm and forced her to hang there as he lectured the transfers that Dauntless do not quit.

Christina was spitting mad about it later, and most of the transfers felt the same, but Fox stayed quiet. Once, she might have sympathised, but after the incident, she had hardened and no longer felt such things. She understood tough love and saw what Eric had been trying to accomplish with his demonstration.  

Fox hadn't missed the way Eric watched her during training, and although she found him attractive, she refused to return the stares. She's already broken her own rules by befriending Tris and Christina, and by interacting with the other transfers. She'd been a pariah and loner in Amity, and it had suited her. If you didn't let anyone close, you couldn't get hurt.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Fox prowled the pit late at night. She frequently has nightmares, and learned long ago that she was far more likely to fall back asleep after one if she got up and took a walk, rather than laying there in bed staring at the ceiling. She found herself at the chasm, as she often did, hypnotized and soothed by the rushing water. It was easier not to think about things when she stared at the beautiful chaos beneath her.

Standing up to leave, Fox paused, wiping away liquid on her cheeks that she refused to admit were tears. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she ripped a small dagger from her belt and whirled to face the intruder.

Eric stood not more than a dozen feet away, where the bridge met the rock. If Fox hadn’t been preoccupied, he never would have made it that close.

His eyes narrowed. “Initiates aren’t allowed weapons outside of training.”

Fox sized up the situation. Eric didn't sound as pissed as he could be, there was a slight leniency in his voice and Fox took a chance.

“Good thing you didn’t see anything then.” She replied, replacing the blade in her belt. She walked towards Eric, he was blocking her exit and she was finally tired enough to try sleeping again. Eric let her pass, but suddenly grabbed her shoulders and slammed her back against the rock wall.

“What the hell is your deal, Banjo?” He growled, using Dauntless’s slang for Amity.

Fox understood violence. She tipped her chin up at him and said nothing.

“Well?” He pressed, punctuating his words with another slam backwards.

Fox waited until Eric sighed sharply and released her; he dropped his arms but didn’t step back. Fox realized she was not going to get away without some form of explanation.

“You have access to other faction’s files?” She asked bluntly.

Eric’s brow furrowed. “Maybe.” He hedged.

“If you really want to know why I carry a knife everywhere, go look up Amity’s files from seven years ago.”

When Eric didn’t reply, only stared at Fox like he was trying to see through into her soul, Fox huffed in exasperation and moved to leave. Eric’s arms shot back up to pin her against the wall again. Fox struggled briefly, but Eric was larger and stronger. After a moment, Fox ceased and tipped her chin up, fixing Eric with a cold gaze.

“Why don’t you just tell me?” He asked quietly. Something flashed through his eyes, something akin to empathy and he moved his hands from her shoulders to the rock wall behind her.

His proximity to her, his scent and heat were getting to Fox. He'd managed to get past the wall she usually had up; she’d dropped them momentarily while gazing into the chasm and hadn’t yet shored them back up. Fox wet her lips and Eric’s eyes immediately dropped to them, his breathing becoming heavier. Fox realized that he wanted to kiss her, and jolted slightly when she recognized that she wanted to kiss him back. When the hell did that happen? Still breathing heavily, Eric dragged his gaze back up to Fox’s, his eyes had darkened with desire and Fox realized that, when his face wasn’t twisted into a sneer, he was actually really hot.

Her eyes closed a moment before their lips touched, and a bolt of heat shot through Fox. Without conscious intent, she stepped forward from the wall and leaned into Eric. His lips were softer than she thought they’d be, warmer too. Fox curled her fingers against the back of his head and pulled Eric closer, parting her lips to accept his tongue. A deep groan vibrated in his chest and his arms tightened around Fox, one hand reaching up to cup her cheek. Fox moaned quietly as Eric pulled away, panting, and rested his forehead against hers. They breathed each other’s air a moment before Fox opened her eyes. A moment later, Eric opened his, fixing her with a steel grey stare. His lips brushed hers again and Fox pulled away.

"I can't.” She backed away, then turned and ran, leaving Eric to stand there, his chest heaving.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Days passed, Fox avoiding Eric, making sure to stay with the transfers, to never be alone. He watched her constantly now, enough that Christina noticed and made a biting comment in the cafeteria.

“What’s his problem?” She gritted.

“What?” Tris asked, distracted.

“Eric. He’s always looking over here.”

“Just ignore him.” Fox muttered. She’s woken up from nightmares the last two nights, but hadn’t dared venture out walking. She wasn't scared of Eric, the exact opposite in fact. His kiss has startled something awake in her, something she thought she’d never feel again. Fox wanted to kiss him again, wanted to do so much more, but no, she couldn’t. If you get close you get hurt. If you trust someone you pay for it. She’s spent the last seven years alone, pushed everyone away, became such a loner and outsider that even the most peaceful faction had turned against her, was happy to see her transfer out. With one kiss Eric had shattered all that, made Fox yearn for human contact again. She wanted to breathe in his scent again, wanted to feel his lips on hers, his hands-NO. Fox snapped her head from side to side, banishing these traitorous thoughts. You’ll just get hurt.