#Danny thinks having said basement is normal

[justwannabecat]

The one where having a secret lab in the basement is not as much of a red flag as it should be.

Because somehow, EVERY. SINGLE. ADULT. IN ALL OF AMITY. Have “secret” basements.

Sure, MOST of them have refitted them to act as emergency bunkers in case there’s another large-scale ghost attack, with rations and shields and blankets and all that, BUT. Even BEFORE the portal opened up, they were there.

Some of them were laboratories dedicated to one of many sciences. Some of them were just storage for the more concerning family heirlooms. At least one person kept the taxidermied bodies of each and every pet they had over their lifetime. Really, it was more odd for someone to not have some weird secret in their basement.

So when Danny ran from Amity and learned just how many people didn’t have strange, niche basements for their hobbies, he was a little put off. When he was eventually asked to stay with the Wayne family in Gotham, well, maybe he could have phrased it better.

How was he supposed to know that asking if they had a “super-secret basement either for your job, your personal life, or disaster prevention” would lead to them thinking he knew about their nightlife?

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dcxdp #we always talk about how he would avoid creepy basements #but like? imagine if everyone had one??? #and instead of thinking that it’s weird #Danny thinks having said basement is normal #and so when heroes go around in their civilian ID trying to get a read on this meta runaway #hero: do you need someone to stay? just for one night? #danny: I dunno… do you have a super secret high-tech basement? #hero: …no? #hero: (does he know?) #danny: you don’t? how am I supposed to trust you then smh

[clockwayswrites]

Like Betta Fish Do Part 26

WC 1478, Masterpost CW: Canon typical violence, Aftermath of torture

“It’s Danny. They took Danny,” Babs murmured into the comms.

Dick’s heart skipped a beat.

“Basement or subfloor,” she continued, passing the information along to those of them who had been able to slip away in the chaos.

Dick burst out into the roof, still tugging up one of the hidden zippers on his uniform. He flung himself off the roof without hesitation. “I saw Danny twenty ago. They can’t have taken him far.”

“Twelve,” Cass chimed in.

Twelve was even better.

“Oh God, I just saw the timer,” Babs whispered. “We don’t have—”

“Hey, fish,” Jason’s voice came across the line.

Dick almost missed his grapple as he rushed lower to try and see any suspicious vehicles.

“Tim, city power—”

“Working on it,” Tim ground out, cutting Babs off in a way he normally wouldn’t.

“Forty-five seconds!”

“I can’t do it in that! I’m trying—”

A hitched breath. “I do. I'm sorry.”

Then screaming.

The lights flared and then cut out in one of the smaller office buildings crouched in Wayne Enterprises’ shadow.

Dick twisted and flew towards it. Another black shadow joined him in flight.

The comms were painfully quiet and then filled with a burst of chatter. Dick reached up and brushed his off as he landed on top of a cliché white van with a purposeful thump. Before the blue faced goon had even finished turning towards the noise he was unconscious.

Silently, efficiently, Cass and him worked through henchmen, dodging guns and tasers. That had to be how they took Danny. Dick remembered how the other froze up being shocked with his escrima sticks. Remembered how—

Now Danny had been electrocuted again.

Of all the ways for Danny to die…

Dick left Cass to finish off the room and stalked deeper into the basement. He didn’t try to be quiet. He wanted them to find him. He wanted them to try and stop him. They had killed Danny, the guy who had made Jason so happy, who stood up to Nightwing, who smiled and laughed and tried so hard to live!

Who made his little wing want to live.

Dick wanted them to try and stop him.

He slammed open another door. The room had barely any light from the squat narrow windows.

A chair was in the center of the room.

A body was in it.

Dick choked out a name. “Danny—”

And then Danny moved.

-

“Danny?!” The voice sounded small, choked off, but Danny knew it.

No, villains were involved, that meant it was the one with wings instead.

“Heeey Nightwing,” Danny said. He tried to raise his head to look at the other, but it just lolled back on his weak neck. He was left blinking up at the ceiling. All of him felt like jelly. “I have had… a shockingly bad night. Zero out of ten, would not recommend.”

Nightwing ran across the floor of the warehouse, footsteps loud in the flooded water. “Holy shit Danny, how are you alive?”

“Mmm been killed once by electricity before, ‘m immune now.”

“Yeah, no, Danfish” Nightwing said. His voice and hands both shook as he undid the ropes binding Danny’s wrists. “Pretty sure that’s not how that works.”

“Is too.”

“Is not.”

“Is with me,” Danny slurred. He tried, desperately, to stay sitting upright when the ropes around his chest were undone, but he was still in that jelly state and slumped forward into Nightwing who, thankfully, caught him. “Hey, think I’m gonna get a new set of Lichtenberg scars out of this?”

The arms around him tightened almost painfully before they relaxed. “Don’t know little fish. Guess we’ll have to see at the hospital.”

“No!” Danny tried to struggle against Nightwing as fear gripped him. “No hospitals.”

“Danny. You were just electrocuted— very publicly electrocuted, we have to get you checked out.”

Danny clung to Nightwing. “Nooo… they’ll know and they’ll want to cut me open and that can’t happen—”

“Danny, hey, it’s okay, we won’t let anyone do that to you,” Nightwing soothed. He held Danny’s face in between his hands, making Danny look at him. “We won’t let anyone else hurt you tonight. How about we call in a doctor we trust to the hospital. Is that okay?”

“They won’t tell?”

“Never. She’s always looked out for us, all of us. She’s patched us all up plenty, even Red Hood. Please? We’ll all worry otherwise and there will be more questions.”

Danny nodded, feebly, in the other’s grip. “Okay. Okay, I’ll go if she’s the one. Get the… the case, the ecto.”

He didn’t want anyone to worry about him. Fuck, had he scared them? He bet he had. He’d been a little scared himself. He didn’t want to be dead dead yet.

Things were just getting good.

“I have him,” Danny heard Nightwing say as the other man scooped him up. He pressed his ear to the chest, relaxing at the rumble of the words. “I have him and he’s alive.”

-

Two Face was saying something. Laughing at him, applauding him. Jason couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t hear anything but Danny’s screaming.

The TV was nothing but static.

Jason was aware, distantly, of the bomb being pulled off the hostages. Of Bruce having to hold back Damian from leaping at Two Face. Of the mayor pulling Bruce back from doing the same. Of another window shattering as Red Robin came through and the Bats descended on the henchmen scattered throughout the room.

Jason could still hear Danny screaming.

Screaming and static.

He lunged.

He was on Two Face before anyone could stop him. The man’s head hit the ground with a sickening thunk. Jason didn’t care. He started punching. He felt the delicate bone under that shocked yellow eye give under his fist. He swung again and again. Two Face clawed at Jason, but he didn’t stop— not until Bruce pulled Jason off the rogue and into his arms.

Jason curled into the hold like he was fourteen and small again. He clung to Bruce with cracked and bleeding knuckles and sobbed. He needed to stop, to pull himself together, to…

“…need to find him. Bruce, I need to find him!”

“Maybe we should let the others,” Bruce murmured. He ran a hand through Jason’s hair.

“No, I need to—” Oh. Bruce thought Danny had to be dead. He could be. He might be. But there was a chance that he wasn’t. And Jason’t couldn’t— “I need to.”

Bruce was silent before he sighed, softly. “Alright, Jaylad, let’s—”

The chatter in their comms that Jason hadn’t even been listening to. Hadn’t been able to listen to, went silent.

“Repeat?” It was Cass who asked, her voice small and demanding.

Barbara reached over and passed him her phone, using it as a cover for what they heard next.

“I have Danny,” Dick said. “I have Danny and he’s alive.”

“Damian, stay with Barbara,” Bruce ordered, already running.

Bruce and Jason took off through the aftermath of the hostage situation, dodging the crowd and downed goons, police and reporters.

“Nightwing,” Bruce urged into the comms.

“He’s alive and conscious but very out of it,” Dick said and continued before there could be any more questions. “Agent A, we need the doctor at the hospital. Call her and then head there yourself. You need to bring a case from inside the Cave. It’s in with the old training equipment, behind the dummies. The case is metal with a green ghost drawn on top.”

The ectoshots. Dick had remembered the ectoshots.

“Right away,” Alfred’s cool tone came across the comms.

“Nightwing,” Bruce said again.

“Not now. Just… fuck, B, he’s alive,” Dick said. Jason could hear the near heartbreak in his brother’s voice. The growing sound of ambulance sirens couldn’t cover it. “Just get here. The Jasper building.”

Jason’s slick dress shoes skidded on the damp concrete as they made it out the back door of the building. The flashing lights were already visible. The fog drenched buildings seemed to glow with them. Danny was so close and they still had failed him.

A police officer stepped forward to stop them as they came around a corner. Bruce intercepted the bracing arm and pushed it back; it gave Jason enough room to rush past and towards the ambulance. Paramedics and police were crowded around it. Nightwing was standing guard.

Jason shoved past them all.

Danny.

He slid to his knees and clutched at Danny where the other was sat on the back of the ambulance.

“Danny.”

“Hey, dead boy. I guess… I guess you get to keep your nickname still. Not mine yet,” Danny rasped behind the oxygen mask.

Jason choked out a laugh against his will. He buried face against Danny’s neck and squeezed the other tighter. He didn’t manage to hold back his tears. “Yeah, guess I do, fish.”

---

AN: *jazz hands* See! It's going to be fiiiiiiiiiiine.

I no longer tag, you can subscribe to the masterpost instead!

#dp x dc #dead on main #like betta fish do

[nelkcats]

Not everything is what it seems

When Young Justice found Superboy, the heroes began to think, were there other similar places? Were there more cloned heroes? How had it all started?

So they investigated, there wasn't much to salvage from the destroyed place but they managed to trace the plans of the cloning pods to an abandoned mansion in Wisconsin. It appeared to be normal at first glance, although no one had set foot there in a while, that was until they got to the basement.

The basement was a mess, one side was destroyed as if something had exploded, on the other side were notes, capsules and DNA samples, though these were clearly useless, if the files could be trusted. It appeared to be old research, all of this was addressed at the weekly League meeting.

The worst part of it all was learning that the sample did not belong to any of them; what might have seemed like relief turned into torture when they discovered the existence of a "hero" in the past, a young hero who had acted before them all, and about whom no one knew anything. Another concern was a possible clone of said hero on the loose, though they didn't know how to address either issue.

Bruce couldn't get out of his head the image of a scared kid, out there without any support, fighting an evil version of himself. The League's priority was to find that boy immediately, and see if his clone was still active. They had to do something about it.

Most of them ignored Captain Marvel's advice to leave the matter alone, as it had been a long time and they didn't know the current circumstances.

At Amity Park, Danny felt a chill, he had a bad feeling. He decided to ignore it as he continued to scold Dan and Dani for using their powers irresponsibly, he knew the citizens of Amity wouldn't care, but the rest of the world would. Danny feared the world wasn't ready for them.

It really was hard being a single parent, although it didn't bother him, after the initial awkwardness everyone had adjusted and were quite happy.

#dpxdc #Danny retired long ago #Amity kinda retired from the world #they don't care #Amity is a safe place and that's it #They don't communicate with the outside world often #The things that Amity needs are provided by the Infinite Realms #dp x dc #dc x dp #Vlad moved to Amity too #Danny and Vlad are in peace now #Although Danny collects child support from Vlad #he's raising Dan and Dani after all #Vlad doesn't mind #Since he moved he didn't leave anything important in his mansion #just useless papers #The League expects to find a lost hero who needs help and guidance #Instead they will find a single father and a reformed villain #This is full of misunderstandings #Somebody should listen to Billy

[wolfjackle-creates]

Bring Me Home Arc 2 Part 16

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone! Sorry I missed last week, but I think I should be good to get back on track going forward. Finished making most of the baby things I want to make for my soon-to-be nephew, so I'll be able to spend more time writing than crocheting again.

Story Summary: Tim and Danny are both neglected by parents who care more about their work than their families. They deal with this by spending too much time online and find each other playing MMORPGs. They keep up their friendship as Tim becomes Robin and Danny becomes Phantom and don't bother keeping secrets from each other.

First, Previous

Word Count: 1.4k

-----

An hour later, all eight of them were ensconced in the theater in Sam’s basement with a few pizzas and salads spread around them. Wulf again refused any and the rest dug in.

“All right, Tuck, we need to figure out what Walker’s up to. Can you ask Wulf?”

Tim watched as Tucker asked and Wulf responded. Then Tucker burst out laughing and slapped his knee.

Tim’s eyes narrowed. He wouldn’t.

Sam scoffed. “You have no idea what he said, do you?”

“Not a clue,” Tucker admitted.

Tim groaned.

Bart cocked his head. “Give me five minutes, I’ll be right back!”

Before Danny could even finish asking, “Where are you going?” Bart was gone.

Conner grabbed another slice of pizza and said, “He’s off to learn Esperanto. Hang tight and he’ll be right back.”

“How can he learn a language so fast?” asked Sam.

Tim swallowed. “He’s a speedster. His normal is faster than our brains can comprehend. He slows himself down so he can interact with us mere mortals. He’ll be back.”

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, Bart was back among them. He repeated Tucker’s question. This time, when Wulf responded, the ghost was understood.

“So, Walker is pissed at Danny,” translated Bart. “And he totally wants to ruin your entire life and drag you back to his prison in the ghost zone. Apparently he and his guards are overshadowing a bunch of the people you’re close to in the town to trap you in their web of lies.”

Danny groaned and buried his face in his hands. “How do I fight against that? I can’t just soup them all! I don’t even know who all is overshadowed!”

Cassie butt in then. “We know some of them. Dash and your classmates are definitely overshadowed.”

“Your reputation improved thanks to the other night,” commented Conner. “That might help mitigate Walker’s plans.”

“Doubt it,” said Danny. “Most people think I’m a menace. One night of good publicity won’t turn them around. Especially not with my parents there to dirty my name.”

“Let’s prepare a press release,” suggested Tim. “I bet the Young Justice team could get themselves on the local news. And if we speak up for you, it might help.”

Danny exchanged looks with his two friends. Tucker shrugged, “Couldn’t hurt, dude.”

“Fine,” bit out Danny. “What else?”

Conner looked at Wulf curiously. “Bart, does Wulf know how we can get his collar off?”

“Oooh, good question.” Bart asked, but Wulf shook his head as he answered.

“Will he let me look at it?” asked Tucker.

“I might be able to help, too,” added Tim as he stepped closer and reached out to touch.

Before he could actually touch the collar, though, Wulf snarled at him and jumped back several feet. Tim held up his hands in apology and took a step back himself. “Sorry!”

Bart grinned at him. “He said don’t touch it.”

Tim grimaced and nodded. “Think I got that.”

Tucker was already typing away on one of his devices. “I’m gonna try something. Might help.”

And that’s when Wulf screamed out in pain and fell to the floor clawing at the collar.

“Shit!” shouted Tucker as he rushed forward. He managed to plug his device into a port on the collar. Electricity arced back along the connection, causing Tucker to yelp in pain and drop his PDA.

But a moment later, there was a beep and the collar fell to pieces.

Wulf looked down in shock, then up at all of them. “Mi libras?”

“You’re free, dude,” said Tucker.

Bart added something in Esperanto.

Wulf grinned at them, sharp teeth shining in the light. “Mi libras!” Then he turned and disappeared as he jumped through the wall.

Conner groaned and collapsed backwards. “Jerk couldn’t even stick around long enough to help us after everything we did for him.”

Tim sighed and sat down as well. “Well, we’ll figure it out ourselves. Just like we always do. So, operation Fix Danny’s Reputation. We’ll start with talking to the press. What else?”

“Can we write up op-eds describing what really happened in some of his ghost fights?” asked Cassie. “Set the record straight?”

“What if we make you easier to reach?” added Tim. “Get a number the police or the mayor can reach you at so you can show them you’re willing to work with them instead of just on your own?”

“Do you think that’ll work?” asked Danny.

Tim shrugged. “Worked for Batman. Don’t see why it wouldn’t help you.”

Danny sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Great,” said Tim. “I’ll send out some emails asking for interviews. And then we can start working on the op-eds. How about we split into three groups, Danny and me in one, the rest of you can split up how we like. Then we can go over the major ghost fights that have happened and write tell-all articles that don’t run the risk of spoiling Danny’s identity.”

Conner shrugged. “Sam, wanna work with me?”

Sam grinned. “You betcha.”

Bart disappeared and reappeared next to Tucker. “Tucker and I will work together, too!”

Cassie moved until she was next to Conner. “I call working with Sam and Kon.”

“Great. Now, Tuck, do you happen to know the best contact info for local reporters?” Tim pulled out his laptop and powered it on as he spoke.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll get it for you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Tim had sent out a dozen emails asking for interviews. As he and Tucker were working, Danny and Sam had gone through which ghost fights would be the best to write about and divided up the attacks between the three groups.

Once he was ready to start on the articles, Tim sat down next to Danny. “So, what are we starting with?”

Danny grinned. “We’re going to go over my first fight. The one with Lunch Lady. She wasn’t bad, but caused a lot of clean up for the school and wasted a lot of resources. Most people still don’t even know that was a ghost attack.”

“Great, let’s get started.”

Tim had heard about most of Danny’s fights before, but being next to him in person definitely made a difference. They were sitting with their arms pressed against each other so they could both see the computer screen and add or delete bits as they went. It was nice.

They’d been working for a few hours when Sam’s parents came down.

“Children!” called her mom.

Tim wasn’t the only one to hide a grimace at the term.

Jeremy Manson continued, “The mayor has instituted a curfew for the city due to all the ghosts. No one is allowed out on the streets after nine PM.”

Pamela Manson giggled. “And it’s nine PM now! So looks like you’ll all be staying here. Tim, dear, be sure to tell your father how seriously we took your safety. I don’t want any of you leaving the house until morning.”

Tim turned on his gala smile. “My dad is in a coma, I’m afraid. But I’ll be sure to tell Bruce just how considerate all the people of Amity have been.”

Jeremy let out a forced laugh. “Of course, our mistake. We wish our best to your father, as well. I hope his prognosis is good?”

Tim blinked at him. “He’s been in a coma for months.”

Pamela giggled again. “Of course, we knew that. Right, dear?” She smacked her husband lightly on the arm.

“Sure did!” he agreed. “Well, I hope to hear news of his miraculous recovery. I’m sure he is getting the best of care.”

“Of course he is,” agreed Tim. “I wouldn’t put up with anything less.”

A few more giggles and well wishes, then Pamela and Jeremy made a hasty retreat.

Once they were alone, Conner looked at him with concern. “Tim—”

“I’m fine, Conner.”

Before anyone else could try and say anything, his email beeped. Tim took the excuse and read it over. The most popular morning radio talk show wanted to have the Young Justice on. Tim grinned.

“We’re getting up early, guys. Radio interview at six AM.”

Cassie laughed. “I can do that, can you?”

Tim shrugged. “I just won’t go to sleep. Easier to stay up that late than drag myself out of bed that early.”

Conner shook his head. “You and your family are insane, Rob.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s get back to work.”

-----

Next

This is where I definitely go off the rails of what happened in the show. But that's half the fun of an AU! Hope you like it.

I no longer tag for this fic, but if you want to be notified of updates, please check out the Subscription Post.

Scroll down to the next post on my blog to see the really cool birthday comic @stealingyourbones made for me!

#dpxdc #tim drake #danny fenton #will they be able to repair danny's rep before walker enacts his plan? #wait and find out! #there absolutely wont be any long term consequences to whats about to happen #nope #none at all #*evil laugh*

[nat-space-obsessed]

For @kinglazrus !! Super excited abt this one! I love corpse aus so I just had to do this one.

AO3 Link

"There's a shallow grave in the woods. The only marker is a stone with the name "Danny" scratched into it. Judging by the fresh-turned soil, it hasn't been empty for long."

The call came in from a hiker early in the morning.

She'd been going on her daily hike when she decided to go on a route that was different from her normal route.

When she tripped over the rock, she should have known that there was something wrong. At first, she started to walk past, and continue on her hike.

It was on her way back that she really noticed the issue.

The rock she had tripped over had writing that she didn't notice the first time.

It was a simple engraving, probably done with another rock or a different sharp tool, definitely not professionally done.

There was one word.

A name.

'DANNY'

It was at that point that she realized that the dirt path seemed to be disturbed near the edges, as if someone had gone digging.

Oh god, someone had been digging .

As she looked at the disturbed dirt, she saw something odd. It was an odd color, looking as if it had been burned or melted, blackened.

It was a bone.

A charred, dirty, old bone, covered in a material that had melted and fused to it.

It was like one of those horror stories, of certain toys made from plastic materials melting onto skin if exposed to too much heat.

She called the police station the second she was in range of a cell tower.

All the operator at the call center heard was, "God, the bones , they're black, they're burned. There's bones in the woods ."

The CSI left the station immediately.

.

..

...

"She wasn't kidding, these bones were definitely burned, but they're weird. It's more reminiscent of electrical burns. What could output enough power to burn a body so thoroughly by electrocution?" The lead CSI said. She was wearing gloves and slowly unburying the body.

The more they uncovered, the more horrified they were.

"This is a kid," A member of the team said, "Either a kid or a small person. The size of the bones indicate that the owner of this body was under 5 ft. Maybe a small kid? What name did the stone say?"

"Danny, I think, it's a little hard to read, but that looks like the right name."

"Wait, wasn't there a kid that went missing a year ago from Amity named Danny?"

"Yeah, but I thought the parents were under suspicion, with that weird lab in their basement."

"Didn't the sister call it in?" The one handling the bones said.

The case they were talking about was the case of Daniel Fenton. He had gone missing four weeks before his freshman year, except he was only reported missing when his sister came back from a college summer camp. Two weeks after he supposedly went missing.

Because of this, nobody actually figured out when he went missing. The police had searched the entire Fenton home, which had uncovered the lab in the basement of the home.

The Fentons had a portal. An interdimensional portal to some place they called the Ghost Zone, and it had corresponded with sightings of weird, translucent, flying people that had been sighted in the city.

They had been taken into custody, but then later released due to a lack of evidence. His sister was still advocating for missing children, especially kids who weren't reported until long after they vanished.

"But this body is too decomposed for only a few months. Maybe the burns accelerated it?"

"I mean, if this is the Fenton kid-"

"Don't start being a conspiracy theorist now, Sean." The lead investigator said, shaking her head.

"You never know!"

.

..

...

The coroner's office was cold. The autopsy room was colder.

The body on the table was small, a kid, wearing a plastic material that had seemed to fuse with the bones it was covering.

The bones, God the bones. They were blackened, covered in a dark material, flesh that had been burnt to a blackened crisp.

The coroner looked at the body in front of him and sighed.

The only thing he could easily use for identification that wasn't fingerprints or DNA were dental records. Luckily, while the corpse was completely desecrated, the bones were somehow intact.

He was able to take a scan of the teeth and send them off to be compared with all local dentist offices within a 50 mile radius.

It was a few minutes later when he got the ping.

There's a match.

"Shit."

.

..

...

The Fentons were in their lab when they got a phone call.

"Hello, this is Jack Fenton of Fentonworks, how can I help you?" The burly man said into the receiver.

"Hello, Mr. Fenton. This is the Briggersdale Police Department, calling you to inform you that a few days ago, we found a body in the woods. This body has been identified as the body of your son, Daniel." The voice on the other end said to him.

"What?" Jack stood with the phone in hand in shock. Maddie chose that moment to walk into the room.

"Are you okay, Jack?"

Jack thanked the officer and hung up. "They... found a body."

"A body? Why did they contact you? Where was this?"

"The next town over. The body was identified. It was Danny's."

A sharp intake of breath could be heard from Maddie. "We need to call Jazz."

"She isn't speaking to us, she'd just ignore anything we have to say to her."

"She'll listen, it's about Danny."

.

..

...

Jazz Fenton had been having a good day. She had only one class that morning, her favorite introduction to developmental psychology course, and she had just finished speaking with her roommate about their date next weekend with their longtime girlfriend. She was happy for them. She was having a good time, reading one of her favorite books at her desk.

It was a good day, until she got the phone call.

It was from her parents.

She refused the call at first. This was the third time that week her parents had tried to contact her, and the third time she refused their call.

Usually they stopped trying to call her, and just left her a few texts after she refused their call, but this time was different.

She should have known something was wrong.

"What is it? I thought I told you guys to never contact me again." Jazz spoke before either of her parents could even get one word out.

"Jazz... They found it."

"What, what did they find?" Jazz stood up. She was really getting annoyed now, with them being all cryptic towards her.

"His body. Jazz, they found Danny's body."

Jazz's phone slipped out of her hands.

What?

They found his body. They found his body.

Oh god, he was actually dead.

Jazz knew after the first few days she realized her brother was missing that the chances of finding him again were slim to none, and after the first two weeks, she knew that she would probably sooner see a body bag than see her brother alive again.

But this? This made it real.

He was dead.

He was gone .

She was never going to see him again.

Oh god, this was real .

She stared in front of her. She stared at the wall.

Her knees gave out and she slumped to the ground.

She could feel her eyes well up with tears.

She could hear her roommate shouting her name and kneeling in front of her as she sobbed, crying and trying to say anything, but no words would come out of her mouth.

Oh god, she had to tell Sam and Tucker.

No way would her parents even know that he had them as his friends, and they were always the first people that she gave updates to, even before her parents. They deserved to know he was... dead. That they had found his body.

.

..

...

Sam and Tucker were hanging out at Tucker's house when Sam's phone rang.

She picked it up, recognizing the number as Jazz's.

Tucker watched as emotions crossed her face, beginning with worry, and ending in dread.

"Oh my god. Tucker. They found it."

“Shit.” He said.

“Shit.” She nodded in agreement.

#corpse au #danny phantom #ao3 fanfic #danny fenton #phic phight #phic phight 2024 #fanfiction #a couple ocs #but not really #Sam and tucker #they know something you don't #they know something you will never know #angst #kind of #description of a corpse #My forensic knowledge comes from trye crime and the show Bones #innacurate forensics #maybe #idk #sam and tucker just looking at each other like 'oh no #might do a part 2

[scarletsaphire]

For @nanaarchy for this prompt list: Everlasting Trio Number 45: Feeling Their Temperature

Feel free to send me any pairing and number!

The day was cloudy, but warm. Nice out. A completely normal day, just like the other dozen days that had come before it, and just like every other day that would follow it. Sam and Tucker were sitting at the same place on the park bench they'd sat at every other time they met. Danny was walking down the same path he'd walked down every day this summer, slotting into the same spot he'd sat every time. It was a normal day. Everything was normal.

"Jesus!" Tucker said, jumping backwards and nearly falling off the bench. That was a decidedly not normal reaction. "You have to warn a guy before you do that!"

"I just sat down?" Danny asked, confused.

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked, rubbing arm closest to Danny. "Because it felt like you just dropped an ice cub down my arm."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Well, then you are cold as balls man."

"Are balls cold?" Sam asked. "I'd think that they were warm."

"Well- I mean- I don't," Danny stuttered.

He didn't need to see her to know she rolled her eyes. "I'm teasing, dork." She pushed her shoulder into his before pulling away with a sharp hiss. "You are cold."

"I don't feel cold? If anything, I feel hot. It's like, really warm out," Danny replied.

Sam lifted her hand to his forehead. He could feel the warmth emanating from it before her hand even touched. By the look on her face, she could feel the cold of his skin.

The three of them sat in silence for a moment. Something was wrong; they all knew that. Danny was cold. Far colder than any healthy person should ever be. Far colder than even a corpse could be. 

(The same bone permeating chill came off of the portal in the basement of Fentonworks, keeping the basement just barely above freezing constantly.)

"You're just sick," Sam said, no room for argument in her tone.

Tucker nodded his head . "Yeah. Just sick. Completely regular sick. You just need rest, or something. And then you'll be fine."

Danny wasn't sick. He felt fine, outside of the... well. Maybe he was sick. Just a really weird sickness, that made his hand fall through cups and had him waking up in a cold sweat stuck halfway through his bed, eyes glowing with such a bright, vivid green that he could see the rest of his room in perfect detail.

"Yeah," he said softly. "It'll go away."

It had to.

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #danny fenton #sam manson #tucker foley #everlasting trio #pre canon #ask game #technically even though she didnt send me the ask jdasfjns

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

A Shade of Gray: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Your abilities are put to the test when you have to gather evidence based on what your psyche is telling you. Hotch believes in you, and that’s the only thing that matters.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

You and Rossi walk down to the kitchen to see what Bill was called away for. You need to inspect every inch of this house so you'll know where to start looking.

"Our tech guys found this dishrag and a glass of water. Kyle's fingerprints were all over it," Bill says.

"So, he wakes up thirsty, comes to the kitchen, and gets some water."

"When we got here, the deadbolt on the French doors was unlocked."

"That must have been his exit."

"Rossi! Y/N! Check this out!" Derek calls from the basement. You and Rossi join Derek in the basement. You're immediately floored at the energy left behind down here. "This window was definitely broken from the outside. Given the size of it, the unsub would have to be really small to get through it. What did you find upstairs?"

"There were signs of a struggle. It looks like Kyle was abducted from his room. The unsub went out through the family room door."

"So, he finds a safe and quiet place to break in."

"Everything about how Kyle was taken is consistent with the previous abductions."

Yeah, too consistent.

Hotch, JJ, Spencer, and Penelope came up with a short list of suspects they thought might have done this. You'll be back to this house to inspect it further so you leave with Derek, Bill, and Rossi back to the police station to find out what list they have.

"We've already narrowed the list to five men."

"Already?"

"Hugh Rollins, forty-three, lived in Camden County his whole life, in and out of foster care since he was a toddler, and acquired quite the nice rap sheet."

"What's his connection to the victims?"

"Two years ago, he got a steady job installing TVs. The first two families recently purchased a new one. Garcia found something else. Rollins had no cell or bank activity on the days the boys were abducted."

Relief washes over you, and you look at Bill to see his eyes closed. Why is he relieved at this news?

"We haven't been able to connect Rollins to Kyle yet," you say.

"You're saying you wanna wait for more evidence?"

"No, there isn't time. We have sufficient probable cause."

"Hotch, you need to hear what Y/N has to say," Rossi says.

All eyes are on you, and you look at Bill who is waiting for you to say something. Rossi understands what needs to happen, so he makes up some bullshit and takes him off to the side.

"What is it?" Hotch asks.

"I don't think Rollins did it. At least not with Kyle. I know you told me to gather physical evidence, but forget that for a moment. Sarah and Dan are racked with guilt. There's so much there that I started to feel guilty about things from my past. Danny is the complete opposite. He has no emotion about any of this. When I was talking to his dad, he was sitting next to him with a clear bored expression on his face. It felt forced when he started crying.

"The reason why I don't think Rollins did it is because the first two victims were taken from their homes, right? There is not an energy out of place in that house. I've never met Rollins, but I would have noticed a stray energy. Plus, I saw Kyle. He's dead.

"Soley based on this energy, I think Danny killed his brother in a fit of rage, and based on his parents' energies, I think they're covering it up or they know what happened. The relief I felt from Bill when you said Rollins might be responsible for this is concerning. Bill knows what happened and they're all keeping it a secret."

"Y/N--"

"I know what you're going to say," you cut Derek off. "I need physical proof to back my theory up. I get it. I'm telling you this because I'd like you to give me a little leash." You turn to Hotch. "Give me some time to gather what I can. I'm not saying Rollins didn't kill those two little boys, but he didn't kill Kyle. Please."

"Fine. You and Reid go to the Murphy house and the rest of us will take Rollins. You'll have your leash. Don't choke me with it."

"Thank you. Come on, Spencer."

The Murphys are surprised to see you back at their place so shortly after leaving.

"Agents. I didn't expect you to come back so quickly," Dan says.

"Yes. Could we take a look inside? I want to make sure we didn't miss anything in our initial sweep. Can we start with Kyle's room?"

"Of course. Come in."

You and Spencer walk into the house and take a look around. Dan and Sarah stay downstairs while you and Spencer head up to Kyle's room which is still in a state of array.

"So, what are we looking for?"

"Anything that would suggest Danny killed his brother or that Sarah and Dan covered it up. I have the crime scene photos of the first two victims' bedrooms." You take out the folder and put the two pictures side by side to compare it to the state of Kyle's room. "Take a look at the sheets. The first two were ripped as if the kids tried to fight back. Look at Kyle's."

Kyle's sheets are thrown on the ground as if someone placed them there instead of an actual struggle occurring. You take your phone out and take a picture of Kyle's room so that you can compare it to the other two later on.

"Isn't there something off about this room?"

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like this was staged. Like someone came in here and messed everything up to make it look like a struggle. Did he even sleep in this room last night?"

"It does look that way compared to the other two, but that doesn't mean Danny killed his brother."

"No, but it helps my theory. Come on." You take Spencer over to Danny's room which is neat for a kid. The only thing out of place is the bunk beds because both beds are messed up like two people slept here and not one. "I thought only one kid lives here."

"They do."

"I think Kyle slept in here last night. The sheets wouldn't look slept in if he didn't." You walk closer to the bed and notice a dark spot in the middle of the bed underneath a teddy bear. "Kyle wet the bed. Come on." You take Spencer back downstairs where Dan is waiting eagerly. He stands up as soon as he sees you, and he wipes his hands on his jeans as if they're starting to clam up. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just want my little boy to come home."

"I understand. Thank you for letting us do this," Spencer says.

"Anything you need that might help."

You notice Dan's knuckles are freshly busted like he hit something over and over again. You didn't see any workout equipment in the house, so you're not sure where he got that if he got that here.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your hand?" you ask.

Dan puts his left hand over his right to hide it but you've already seen it.

"I was working out at the gym and forgot to bring my gloves. I'm always forgetting things like that," he chuckles.

"Right, well, give us five more minutes and we'll be out of your hair." You take Spencer down to the basement where the collective energy of the family resides. "This is where most of the energy is."

"What do you feel?"

"Well, it doesn't really matter what I feel. According to Hotch, I need physical proof."

"Come on, don't do that. He's not here. It's just me. What do you feel?"

"A lot of anger. A lot of pain. Whatever happened to Kyle happened in this room."

"How can you be sure?"

"He's standing in the corner watching us. Hotch doesn't understand. This is why I don't rely on physical evidence. I know people's secrets and when you confront them about it, nine out of ten times, they crack."

The glass from the broken window catches the light, and you walk over to it carefully. They've cleaned the glass up but the hole is still there. Ghost pieces of glass hover off the ground and fit back into place. All the pieces are there but one. Why would one be missing? The police have the pieces of glass in evidence, so you'll need to get those to reconstruct what the window looked like before it was smashed. Dan was nervous when you asked him about his hand which is more suspicious when you know a piece of the window is missing.

"We'll need to get those glass pieces back. I bet one of them is missing. I don't think Dan was working out when he busted his knuckles." You look out the broken window to see the neighbor across the street working in her flower garden, and she periodically looks over at the Murphy house. "Let's talk to her."

"Why? Police already talked to all the neighbors."

"We didn't."

As soon as you thank the Murphys, you leave their house and head over to the neighbor's house. She is working in her garden when she hears the clack of your heels on the concrete.

"May I help you?"

"Yes. I'm Agent Y/N and he's Dr. Spencer Reid. We're investigating the disappearance of Kyle Murphy. I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

"I already told the police everything I know."

"Still. I'd appreciate it if you give me a moment of your time. I promise to keep this short." The woman stands up, wipes her dirt-covered hands on her jeans, and gives you the okay. "Thank you. Do you spend a lot of time in your garden?"

"Yes. I grow rare flowers that need my attention multiple times a day."

"Would you say you have a good view of the Murphy house?"

"Yes."

"Have you noticed anyone lingering around their house? It could be a car you don't recognize or someone passing by their house multiple times a day."

"No. I lost my job recently so I've been home all day to tend to my garden. I know everyone in this neighborhood because I attend the weekly meetings at the church. I would have noticed someone out of place."

You look up at her house and notice a small security camera in the corner that points toward the Murphy house.

"Excuse me, is your camera on?" you ask.

"Always. I don't want people stealing my flowers."

"Does it point to the Murphy house?"

"Not in the way you're hoping. It doesn't capture the whole house. The police already asked to see the footage but it didn't help them."

"Do you mind releasing footage to us? It might help us."

"Sure. I'll be right back." The woman goes inside and returns moments later with a file in her hand. "I've already looked. I don't know what you're going to find."

"Thank you for your help. If you can think of anything else, please give me a call." You turn to Spencer. "We need to get this to Garcia, and I think we should check the woods next. We might find Kyle there."

You'd call this successful and wonder if the other half of the team is doing well. Emily and Derek found child pornography on his computer but nothing that connects him to the three boys. However, they did find a black bag filled with children's toys, more specifically, his victims'.

"I'll check out back," Bill announces.

When he gets back there, Rollins can be seen trying to run away. Bill takes out his gun and starts firing without trying to pursue him on foot.

"Stop! Bill, stop!" Derek yells when he runs outside. Derek and Emily take off running toward Rollins who tries to climb the fence to get out. Derek tackles him to the ground and arrests him right there and then. Emily takes him to the police car while Derek walks back to Bill with an angry look on his face. "What the hell was that about?"

"I thought he might get away. I wasn't thinking."

"You're damn right you weren't."

"I know. It was stupid."

"What if you'd killed him? He's the only one who knows where Kyle is."

"I said I know."

The relief I felt from Bill when you said Rollins might be responsible for this is concerning. Bill knows what happened and they're all keeping it a secret.

Derek thinks about your words from earlier and looks between Bill and Rollins. If you're right about this, and he knows you probably are, then Bill knows the truth about what happened to Kyle.

"Lancaster, I've been where you are. I was a cop, too. That's why I knew this wasn't a good idea. You are way too close."

"I'm not gonna stop until we find Kyle," Bill glares and leaves Derek's side.

"Kyle isn't here," Rossi says and leaves the house with Emily.

"No, and if he isn't on this property, he's already in the woods. So, Rollins goes to the trouble of breaking into the Murphys' house? It's a big risk to take Kyle. If he's already in the woods, then he only kept him for a few hours. This doesn't make any sense."

I saw Kyle downstairs as a spirit. He died, and not that long ago.

The reason why I don't think Rollins did it is because the first two victims were taken from their homes, right? There is not an energy out of place in that house. I've never met Rollins, but I would have noticed a stray energy.

Soley based on this energy, I think Danny killed his brother in a fit of rage, and based on his parents' energies, I think they're covering it up or they know what happened.

Rossi thinks back to your words.

"I think Y/N might be right on this one. We need to find Kyle's body to be sure."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

#spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fan fic #spencer reid fan fiction #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid angst #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fic #criminal minds fan fiction #criminal minds fan fic #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds fluff #criminal minds angst #criminal minds series rewrite #series rewrite #cm season 4

[channajen]

Chapter 11 of "Fly Like a Bat" is now posted!

Summary: It's time for Danny to have a talk with his dad and grandpa about Amity Park and the events that happened there. The Bats learn a lot of stuff that they don't like, and Danny presents them with a breathtaking gift.

Teaser below cut:

“Um, my old family, the Fentons were scientists. They studied ghosts and stuff. Their big project was to make a portal to the Ghost Zone so that they could learn more about the people that live there.”

“What’s the Ghost Zone, Danny?” Bruce asked.

“It’s where all the ghosts live. Sometimes it’s called the Infinite Realms.” Danny happily answered his grandpa’s question. He was proud when he saw Bruce making notes about what he said. “It’s a whole ‘nother dimension!”

“Your adoptive parents made a portal to another dimension in your house?” Bruce wasn’t sure what was more terrifying: the fact that these people had actually opened a portal to the afterlife…or the fact that they did it in their home.

Danny nodded, totally missing Bruce’s horror. “Yep, it was in the basement!”

“And did it work?” Jason was curious, until he saw the look on Danny’s face.

The child had tears in his eyes. He was gripping the pillow under him with white knuckles. “It didn’t work—at first…” Danny swallowed. “I…I made it work. I turned it on. That wasn’t fun at all.”

“What’s wrong, buddy? Why does the memory make you so sad?” Jason pulled his son into his lap.

Danny stared hard at the floor. No one said anything for a long moment. Finally, the child sniffled and started speaking quietly. “See, Momma Maddie and Daddy Jack were really smart about a lot of stuff, but safety stuff was hard for them. It took them a long time to build the portal. When they finally got it finished, they were really excited, but it wouldn’t turn on. They were so sad that they left the house, and they left the portal plugged in. I didn’t know. My…my friends, Sam and Tucker came over and wanted to see the portal, and I did something stupid.”

Jason squeezed his little boy. “That sounds harsh, kiddo. You said you didn’t know that the thing had power. It wasn’t your fault. Can you tell us what happened that day?”

Danny kicked his feet against the couch. Tiny tears dripped down on Jason’s pants. Bruce looked worriedly at Jason. Just what had this child been through??

~~~~~~~~~

“Danny,” Bruce used his most soothing voice. “Do you know the name of the people who are after you?”

Danny nodded. “Yeah, they’re the GIW—the Guys In White. ‘Cept I think they have a different real name. Maybe like ‘Ghost Investigation War’ or somethin’.”

Bruce quickly tapped that information into his phone and sent it off to Oracle. He looked at his grandson. “They can’t get you here. I promise.”

“But they have guns! And they killed Momma and Daddy and Jazz!”

“They aren’t going to kill us.” Jason’s rage was barely contained. “People have tried to take us out before and failed every time. We just keep coming back stronger. We’re going to figure this stuff out, alright kiddo? I don’t want you to worry about anything. We’ll handle it.”

“What if the bad ghosts come after me? Or Fruitloop? You can’t hurt them like normal people.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

#dp x dc #danny phantom #batman #jason todd #dpxdc

[underforeversgrace]

Share the Burden

DP Side Hoes Week! Day 1 (2 days late oops) Tucker - Power Up

Also on AO3!

Share the Burden

He’d be lying if he said the hole in the basement wasn’t calling his name, wasn’t giving him desire so strong he felt intoxicated. He wanted it, he wanted to go in, he wanted to become more.

The portal had been shut down for maintenance. It would be brought back up soon - the Fentons knew what Danny was and knew he needed the ectoplasm to maintain his strength.

But now it was just Tucker and the empty portal in front of him.

He wouldn’t admit to anyone what had pulled him down here, what his mind begged him to do, what his body begged him not to do even as he had unlocked the Fenton’s front door when he knew no one was home.

Tucker had been there for Danny’s accident three years ago. He remembered how it happened. He remembered the small click before the screams and light began. Remembered the smell of Danny’s charred flesh even as the burns healed in front of Tucker’s own eyes. The fear, the confusion, the uncertainty.

At the time, the only thing they knew without a doubt was that things had changed, but even then they’d had no idea just how much change was about to drown out their normal lives.

When they finally realized, it was far too late to do anything except accept it and let the current drag them beneath. Danny had stepped up as a hero, fighting the ghosts that came through his parent’s portal. He would insist it was his fault, it was his responsibility to clean up. He had been the sacrifice the portal needed to start, it was his decisions that caused the ghosts to even be able to come here. Sam had settled well into her role as sidekick - what else could she be, after all? She was only human, she had no powers. She’d thrown herself into it without doubt or hesitation. Tucker suspected that she blamed herself for what had happened as well. It was her idea, her camera, her insistence for Danny to go in.

Tucker walked closer to the inactive portal, running a hand along the outside edge, cool metal beneath his palm.

Tucker had taken up the sidekick mantle as well. He was instrumental, he’d been repeatedly told. His hacking had given them advantages they needed across the board - in fighting and in school, triggering alarms to help Danny slip out. Some ghosts had only been defeated because of him - only because of his technological know-how had Danny won.

But it was always Danny. It was Danny who was helped, it was Danny who won. Then again, it was also always Danny who fought. It was Danny who broke bones as he was thrown through buildings, Danny who bore the bruises. 

And Tucker was tired. He was tired of being a background character in his own life, as Danny also seemed to be the main character of Tucker’s existence. Tucker came when called, Tucker did what he was asked. But it was never Tucker trading blows, never Tucker getting the glory. Never Tucker who was hurt and stitched up, who was hiding the blood that stained through his clothes in class.

Tucker’s hand fell from the metal as he walked into the dark, gaping mouth of the portal. 

And Tucker was sick of it. He was sick of watching his friend bear the brunt of what was thrown at them. He was sick of watching Danny be thrown through glass windows, knowing he’d have to stitch Danny up once this next foe was inevitably caught by the swirling blue light of the Thermos in Danny’s hands. Tired of watching his friend scream as a knife caught his gut or an ecto blast burned his shoulder. That’s what he was telling himself, at least, as he stood there, eyes adjusting to the darkness. He’d already plugged it in.

He’d been there for Danny’s accident. He knew how to replicate it.

And why shouldn’t he? Why shouldn’t he do everything he could to help Danny more? To pull the punches to his own body, to pull the blame onto himself.

To pull the glory, to pull the attention. To be powerful.

Danny and Sam would stop him if they knew what he was thinking of doing. Even his own body was pleading with him to not go forward, to get out, to go home, to be safe. But his mind and his heart were pulling him to the button along the left wall, the one he could see now that his eyes had become used to the dimness.

He could have power. He could have everything Danny had - even the bad parts.

The memory of burnt flesh settled into his brain. Danny’s agonized screams as thousands of volts pulsed through him. Danny coming out wrong as eerie green swirled dangerously behind him.

But what was his goal here? Was it generosity, a love for his friend and desire to help that caused that button to sing it’s siren song at him? Or was it jealousy, a desire for power and popularity. Who was he more like? Was he Danny or was he Vlad? Selfless or selfish?

Tucker moved forward, though the world around him didn’t feel real. It was his body that was moving, but was he moving it? He stood in front of the button. Such an innocent little thing. Such a small item to wield such power.

His friends’ voices echoed in his head. He could imagine what they would say. To not to do it, don’t risk his life. Danny risked his life every day, though, how much of a hypocrite was he? Nearly dying constantly for the greater good, yet telling Tucker not to do the same thing?

Tucker reached forward, holding his hand against the button. Not pressing it yet. It was smooth beneath his skin, cool to the touch.

But Tucker could help. Tucker could discard his sidekick mantle and take up a hero one as well. He could give Danny a break, even if Danny didn’t want it.

Tucker deep a breath, calming his nerves. This was his last chance. There was no turning back after this. If he died, he was gone forever.

Pushing his doubt away, Tucker pressed the button.

And the portal turned on with him inside.

#danny phantom #tucker foley #dp side hoes week 2023 #grace writes

[bigfemboyenergy]

CHAPTER 1 - NEW FACES IN AMITY FALLS

    Summer is upon the town of Amity Falls, Oregon. Innocent residents of Amity Falls, unaware of what will soon plague their summer, begin to ready themselves for vacation. Students go to school for the last day before it officially lets out, setting them up for the season.

    It is mid-afternoon, and school has just let out. Danny, Tucker, and Sam find themselves walking home, excitement hanging in the air due to their break.

    Danny smiles absentmindedly as Tucker strikes up conversation. “So, Danny, what do you plan on doing during summer break? I know me and Sam have plans, but you haven’t told us about what you’re going to do yet,” Tucker says, with a grin. Danny snaps out of his “trance” and looks over at Tucker, keeping the walking pace. “I wasn’t planning on doing much. Maybe a bit of stargazing? I think exploring the area would be nice. I don’t have anything definitive, if that’s what you mean, Tuck,” Danny responds. Sam chimes in, “You know, Danny, wouldn’t it be nice to get away? Maybe a week of traveling? We should make our plans concrete. Though, if we don’t go anywhere, I bet there would be enough local stuff for us to do.” With a chuckle, Danny shrugs at his two best friends. “Whatever works best for you guys. I seem to have completely forgotten everything I like.” The trio laughs softly as they continue on their way home, each stopping when it’s their turn to split and head to their respective houses.

    Soon enough, Danny arrives at his over-advertised home. The large sign on the top of his house is lit up and flashing, as if trying to celebrate the end of a school year with the now-free students. He enters slowly, turning the doorknob with caution. Breathing out a sigh of relief at the lack of his parents’ presence, he steps inside. It doesn’t seem like anyone is home. Danny, in a bit of an impulsive manner, decides to head to the basement, just for a quick look at his parents’ Ghost Portal. It isn’t functional, not yet, but he finds himself intrigued by it. He wishes he could take a quick look inside it..but chooses to play it safe and go back upstairs. While Danny begins to head upstairs from the main floor, he hears the front door open, signaling Jazz’s arrival. Turning to face her, he smiles and waves, greeting his sister as he walks up the stairs and over to his room. Without a thought, he enters his room and plops down onto his bed. He allows his thoughts to flood his brain, thinking to himself about how the school year is finally over, like it had gone in a flash of months that felt like minutes. I wonder what I should do this summer, he thought. Don’t wanna get too bored. Danny stretches out on his bed, losing himself in his ideas and fantasies. Oh right, I have to go to work tomorrow.

    A bus comes to a halt in front of its stop. Two short, similar-looking children, clearly twins, get off of said bus, and look around. Dipper, the slightly uninterested one of the two, looks around boredly; Mabel, the excited one, gazes around at all of the people. With a sigh, Dipper looks at Mabel. “Do you think there could be anything abnormal here? It’s all I can think about. This place looks almost..too normal,” Dipper says, with a small frown. Mabel grins excitedly, showing her braces, and shrugs in response. “I know it’s going to be fun, Dipstick, just look on the bright side! I can’t wait to look around!” As she giggles to herself, Dipper notices a sign in the distance. It reads, “The Mystery Shack”, and has an arrow pointing towards where it might be. With an eyebrow raised, Dipper grabs ahold of Mabel’s wrist and brings her to the sign, to get a closer look. Quietly, he says, “Look. Isn’t this where we’re supposed to go?” Mabel nods, her grin growing wider. She looks in the direction of the arrow, turning her head. “Oh, wow! It’s so..fun looking!” She runs off towards the building in the distance, noticing more “fun” details as she gets closer. Dipper sighs to himself and runs after her. When they both reach the building, they see what looks like a regular house..if not for the intense advertisement of it. There are several signs nearby pointing to it that say “The Mystery Shack!”, and it even says so on the roof, though the “S” has fallen off, confirming that this is their destination. Mabel reaches for the front door, in a hurry to look around. She rushes inside, leaving an unnerved Dipper following after her.

    Inside of the Mystery Shack, Dipper and Mabel see many odd things. There are jars of shrunken heads, vials with eyes, and taxidermy creatures that don’t seem quite real. At first, the two are a bit fearful of the sinister objects. But this is just the giftshop, and there is much more for them to see. As they continue to look around, Mabel finds things that appear much more lighthearted and fun. There are pins, t-shirts, and tons of interesting people. She can’t help but feel very excited.. Dipper, however, is looking for, not merch or people, but exhibits. He hurries off behind a curtain and finds that he’s found the place he and Mabel will be staying; the part of the house that hasn’t been turned into a tourist trap. Beginning to wander off on his own, straying from Mabel, he walks through to a living room. Seconds later, he hears someone come up behind him… “Boo!”

    Dipper jumps up and turns around, with a high-pitched shriek. He looks up at the person, noting that they’re probably an employee. They hold out their hand for him to shake as they say, “Sorry, couldn’t resist. I’m Wendy Corduroy, by the way. You can just call me Wendy.” Dipper looks up at her, with a small smile. He clears his throat, hoping she “didn’t notice” his girly scream. Taking her hand and shaking it, he says, “Nice to meet you, I’m Dipper Pines.” He immediately notices her chill attitude and cool appearance, and that she’s awfully tall. She is wearing a brown hat, a green plaid jacket with the sleeves rolled up, deep blue jeans, and boots. Dipper truly thinks she looks cool. She grins down at him. “Well, I better get back to work. See ya, Dipper,” she says, as she heads through the curtain and to the gift shop. Silently, Dipper stares at her as she walks away. Mabel pops up suddenly beside him and whispers, “Ooh, you talked to someone? How unexpected! And it was a girl!” with a joking smile on her face. He lightly socks her in the shoulder, with a small grin. “Hey, it’s not like I’m that socially awkward!” They laugh together for a few seconds, before a big, middle-aged man walks up to them.

    The man, in an oddly professional outfit coupled with a fez, stands before them. It takes a second, but they remember him. “Welcome to the Mystery Shack! I’m sure you kids are just bubbling with interest!” He chuckles to himself. “Anyway, let me show you to your rooms.” As Stan leads them up the stairs and to the attic, Dipper and Mabel whisper to each other. “So that’s Grunkle Stan. It’s been so long since we last saw him,” Dipper murmurs. Mabel nods, with a fun-loving grin. It’s clear that she’s been looking forward to spending her summer here, in such a different environment. “You’re right, it’s been forever!! Too long. I can’t wait to explore the town and get to know our Grunkle better!” She speeds up, reaching the top of the stairs before Dipper can say anything. He huffs in annoyance at her sudden energy and hurries up to follow her and Stan. When he steps onto the floor, Stan looks back at them, and opens the door to Dipper and Mabel’s new, shared room. Stan grins as he speaks: “Heh, it’s not much yet, but you can decorate it and fill it with whatever you want!” Mabel’s eyes light up with creativity as she bounds into the room and claims the bed on the right. Dipper walks over to the bed on the left. Stan waves goodbye as he closes the door, quickly saying, “Ask me if you need anything!” and leaving them to themselves. Bouncing on the bed, Mabel giggles, “I need glue, I need yarn! Homemade decor, here I come!” She quickly starts unpacking her stuff, aiming to make the room comfortable and covered in decorative crafts. Dipper cautiously unpacks his own bag, with much less enthusiasm. He isn’t the type to care nearly as much about mere decorations, but he does want to add personality to the almost empty room.

    After unpacking, Dipper looks out the triangular window. It’s only then that he notices how weird it is to have this type of window..but he doesn’t mind. Surely it has little to no significance, right? He looks back and sees Mabel taping posters to the walls and throwing stuffed animals on her bed. This place doesn’t seem half bad, Dipper thinks to himself. A change of scenery can be a great breath of fresh air. With a tiny grin and a new enthusiasm for tomorrow, he plops onto his bed and decides to think about what he’ll do first.

    Danny gets up with a start. He knows his parents are working on something new, since he can hear their yells from his room, though they’ve already started to die down. Too bad he didn’t get to rest much longer. It’s..only 5:30 pm. Ahh, well, I still have the night to sleep through. The nap was nice, though, he thinks. He smiles softly to himself as he leaves his room, heading down the stairs and to the kitchen. With more energy than earlier, Danny greets Jazz when he sees her, and rustles up a quick meal. It isn’t much, but it’ll do; just a sandwich, a bag of chips, and some juice. Nothing wrong with a light meal, is there? Suddenly, his mom, also known as Maddie, walks in the room, giving him a loving hug and wishing him good luck at his job tomorrow, since she won’t be home the next morning, or for the rest of the evening. “I bet tourists will be flooding in, come tomorrow. Better get ready for real business at that old shack!” Danny just nods, agreeing, with a pleasant expression. He hopes it’ll go well, and not be too packed. But, alas, that is a thing for tomorrow Danny to worry about.

    As his parents finish up their tinkering and leave their house once more, Danny calls up Tucker and Sam. Jazz is up in her room, which means that Danny and his two best friends have the house mostly to themselves. He hears a knock on the door, walks over, and opens it, inviting his friends in. Tucker steps in first. “So, Danny, anything in particular that you invited us for?” Tucker asks, as he removes his shoes and leaves them next to the door. Danny shrugs: “I mean, I know we’re not really supposed to mess with it, but d’ya wanna go check out the GZ portal? I lowkey can’t stop thinking about how interesting it’d be.” Sam enters, and with a snicker, she proclaims, “Hell yeah, I definitely wanna see. Bet it doesn’t even work, though.” Danny leads Sam and Tucker to the basement, a bit determined to look around in and mess with the portal, hoping it works, just to prove Sam wrong. Soon enough, they all stand in front of the portal, Danny now wearing a Fenton jumpsuit for safety reasons. Sam snatches the Jack Fenton picture off of the suit, with the argument that it looks lame. 

    Danny steps into the Ghost Zone portal, intrigue and wonder filling every bone in his body, as if anything could happen. He searches for the on button, as he turns around and gives his friends a thumbs up. He finds the button and presses it. An intense flash of green comes from the portal, as Danny screams in complete agony, blasted back by the force. Seconds later, he lays in a heap on the floor, hair white, and eyes green. Even his outfit has swapped colors. Sam and Tucker have no idea how to deal with this shocking, and quite frankly, horrifying situation. Especially since he’s floating in the air.

    Back in the Mystery Shack, Dipper is snapped out of his thoughts by an excited, yet tired, Mabel. “Dipstick, look what I did!” she yells, as she waves her arms around her and twirls, as if to show off some sort of transformation. Clearly, she’s talking about what she’s done to make their room feel homier. Now there are arts and crafts decorating every corner of the room, and fun posters covering the walls on her side. She has a knack for art, and Dipper knows this. With a smile, Dipper shoots her a thumbs up. “Looks great, Mabel. Can’t wait for when I find things to decorate my side with.” Now, a shout from Stan interrupts any further conversation: “Dipper, Mabel, dinner’s ready!” Mabel races down the stairs, leaving Dipper to rush down after her. “Hey, wait up!” he shouts, a bit startled by her sudden energy and speed. When they reach the kitchen, Stan offers them some food, and they eat together calmly. Casual conversation overtakes the room.

    When the initial conversation ends, Dipper pipes up, “Could we explore the area around the Shack today?” Stan shrugs and laughs, “Do whatever ya want, kid.” Dipper can’t help but feel excited to learn more about the area. He hurriedly finishes eating and dashes out the door, questioning what awaits him.

    Outside, in the forest around the Mystery Shack, Dipper drags Mabel along with him, as she still tries to finish her dinner. She’s mildly upset that he forced her to come before she was ready. But she doesn’t seem to mind too much, since she wants to look around too. Dipper eagerly observes the nature he sees, every animal and plant inspiring him. After a long while, he finds something out of the ordinary. A tree, but it seems to be a bit different?    He taps on the tree, in a spot where it looks oddly like there is no bark. A metal clanging sound comes from it. He screams to Mabel, “Did you hear that?! Wow, this is so cool-,” before hearing soft snoring coming from Mabel. Seems like she got bored. With a slight frown of discontentment and a shrug, he goes back to looking at the tree. Dipper’s excitement comes back quickly, as he dusts off the tiny metal “door” on the tree. It’s..strange, he thinks to himself. I wonder who did this. Maybe there really are things to research here. He grabs at the hinges of the door, not knowing which side it opens from, at first. With a loud slam, it opens, and inside it, lay a book. Mabel shoots up, startled awake by the noise. The book seems to be some sort of journal, one that has already been written in. With a curious look, Mabel turns to Dipper, in silence. He grabs the book and pockets it. Now this sounds like an adventure.

#help i actually have to leave rn #read it and give feedback #new writer #dp x gf #gf x dp #opinions please #dipper pines #dipper #mabel #mabel pines #danny phantom #danny fenton #new writers on tumblr #random #fun little thing #phantom falls

[justrandomfanfictionskh]

Dp x Gravity Falls One Shot

(Ford has travelled across multiple dimensions. He has met many beings of various origins and powers. What happens when one of them decides to visit?) ao3

It was just a normal day at the Mystery Shack, where everything was sure to go horribly wrong. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. Waddles was eating the carpet. Stan was committing tax fraud. Mabel was pouring glitter on her eggs. Dipper was mindlessly shoveling food into his mouth while reading. And Ford was breaking something in the secret basement. All was right in the world, as the family blissfully ignored the looming threat of Bill for the thirty minutes it would take them to eat, trash the kitchen, and start an argument between one of the two pairs of twins. Of course their unique form of domesticity had to be interrupted by a swirling green portal of doom suddenly appearing about the kitchen table, causing frost and wind to send the entire kitchen into chaos. 

"It's Bill!" Dipper shouted. "Gruncle Ford! Bill is attacking!"

"Just try it you yellow floating freak!" Stan yelled as he pulled out a gun from behind the fridge, "Soos protect the merchandise!"

"Yes sir!" Soos shouted as he ran to the gift shop.

"Not today Satan!" Mabel shouted whipping out her crossbow, "Waddles get behind me!"

The pig looked up from the carpet and then returned to his meal. Maniacal laughter poured from the black and green void, as the Pines readied them selves for battle. Ford burst through the door shouting, "Bill! Where? I thought...Oh no!"

"Gruncle Ford! What do we do?! We're not ready!" Dipper cried. 

"Oh Dipper," Ford said somberly, "I'm afraid, that this was caused by something far worse than Bill."

"What?!" the three other Pines screamed. 

"Yes! Something far, far worse. I didn't think he'd ever be able to find me! Not in this dimension! I was a fool! I should have known, that he'd never just leave me alone!"

"Who Gruncle Ford? Who?" Mable pleaded, as the wind picked up and the laughter grew.

"My greatest tormentor! The Ruler of the Infinite Realms! The Ghost King!...Danny Phantom!"

A great flash of light blinded everyone in the kitchen, and there was silence. Slowly, the Pines' recovered their vision, and blinked at their new enemy. It was...a boy. A young down no older than sixteen, or fifteen floating lazily above the table without a care in the world. He was clearly not human with his misty white hair and glowing green eyes, so none of them lowered their weapons. And yet...he seemed so young. His bright smile showed too sharp teeth, but it was full of laughter as he surveyed the kitchen. And in his back and white jumpsuit with the stylized D emblem, he almost looked like a super hero. But what confused the family the most was when, upon seeing Ford, the glowing ghost teen threw up his arms and cried,

"Fordy! How you doin' old buddy old pal! I haven't seen you in ages! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be running from a chaos demon or two?"

"Phantom," Ford said gruffly, as the ghost kid circled his head at a dizzying pace, "Good to see you again. Shouldn't you be running an interdimensional kingdom of infinite proportions?"

If this "Danny" heard the growing aggravation in Ford's voice, he obviously didn't care as he slowed lounge in the air in front of the disgruntled scientist and casually said, "Yeah, well I'm taking a break! Fright Knight can handle things while I'm gone, besides I wanted to catch up on all my old friends. See how their doing! Make sure their not all dead, and such! By the way why are there two of you? Haaaaahh! Did some one clone you against you're well, cause buddy I've been there!"

Stan and the twins exchanged confused looks and then turned to Ford as they all slowly lowered their weapons. Finally Ford sighed and said, "No, Phantom, I was not cloned. This is my twin brother, Stanley. You can call him Stan. And these are my great niece and nephew, Dipper and Mabel. Stan, Dipper, Mabel, this is Danny Phantom. He's...a...friend." 

It was clear that the word was dragged from Ford's lips as if they'd been pulling teeth. But that didn't stop his family from gasping in shock and wonder, at the absolute miracle before them. Ford had a friend, who...wasn't evil! It was incredible! It took a moment for the rest of the family to comprehend the news before Mabel began to squeal like a tea kettle coming to boil. A sound which was quickly followed by her jumping and shouting,

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Hi! I'm Mabel! It rhymes with table! And you are sooo cool! Are you really a ghost? Are you going to kill us? Can we hang out? Do you have a girl friend? I can't believe Gruncle Ford has a friend! Oh my gosh!" 

Danny grinned at the sparkily girl before floating down to he eye level saying, "Hi Mabel, rhymes with table. Yes, I am cool! Yes, I'm a ghost. No I'm not going to kill you. Of course we can hang out! But I do have a girl friend, her name is Sam, and she's the best! And of course I'm Fordy's friend! What else would I be? His enemy?" Phantom let out a roaring laugh at that last comment, but the rest of the family only chuckled nervously as Ford mumbled in annoyance. 

Dipper decided to end the awkwardness by stepping forward while clearing his throat. "Ahem...uh, hi! Mr. Phantom, you're majesty. Um...I'm sorry but do you have time to answer one or two thousand questions about yourself, kingdom, and the multiverse please?" He said eagerly sheepish, as he flipped through his journal and began clicking his pen rapidly. 

"Wow!" Danny said, "Mini Ford, what do you know! and sure kid I can answer a few questions! But now one or two thousand...how about, you think of three questions for each topic. I'll answer them. And then when I come back, you can ask three more! Sound good, kid?" 

"Uh yeah, ok great!" Dipper said, now barley restraining himself from bouncing alongside his sister. 

"Wait!" Ford shouted suddenly desperate, "You're planning on visiting? More than once?!"

"Well, yeah dude!" Danny said as he drifted around the kitchen ceiling in lazy circles. "Like I said you're my friend. And I like to make sure my friends are, you know---not dead! Besides, dude! You're like super old! And I mean like really, really, super duper old! I'm surprised you haven't just keeled over by now, I mean seriously dude! How are you even still alive?" 

Ford groaned as he rubbed his temples, "Phantom how old do you think I am?"

"I don't know!" Danny said with a smirk, "Like thirty?"

Ford growled, but Stan held him back, clearly trying not to laugh. "Oh, come one now poindexter! Lay off the kid, he's just having a laugh!" 

"Stanley," Ford muttered, "Phantom is over four thousand years old! He is the absolute ruler of the afterlife, all after lives! He is the embodiment of balance between life and death! His 'girl friend' is the guardian of nature, meaning that she is technically Mother Nature for the entirety of the multiverse! And this is how he behaves!" 

The brothers looked to where Danny holding Dipper's hat just out of reach while the twins laughed, trying to jump for it. Stan just shrugged his shoulders with a roll of his eyes and said, "A kids and kid, poindexter, no matter what crazy, magical, hoody haw is going on! Besides he seems harmless!"

CRASH!!! Everyone jumped and stared at the broken chandelier lying in the center of a shattered table. Perceiving the adults watching them, all three of the kids shouted,

"Dipper did it!"

"Danny did it!"

"Mabel did it!"

Ford facepalmed with a load smack, as Ford grinned and saying, "Oh this is going to be fun!"

However, before anyone could do anything else, Soos ran in with a broom screaming, "Begone foul daemon! Stay away from my dudes! Dude! In the name of the all powerful spirit of Azerath! begone! Now get! Get! Get!" All while trying to swat Danny with the broom as if her were a spider on the ceiling. 

"Hey!" Danny shouted, "Not cool man! I'm not a daemon! Leave me alone!" 

Stan bellowed in laughter, as the twins tried to get Soos to stop. Which was interrupted by Danny freezing Soos to the floor. Now the three kids, were trying to unfreeze the human gopher, as Stan continued to laugh, and Ford groaned into his hands. "Where's Bill when you need him?" He muttered as he attempted to disappear into the basement. It was going to be a long day. Or week, depending on how long Phantom decided to stay.  

#danny phantom #gravity falls #dp x gravity falls #gravity falls x danny phantom crossover #ghost king danny #dipper pines #mabel pines #stan pines #grunkle stan #ford pines #fluff #funny #oneshot #crossover #fanfiction #drabble

[yetanothergreyjedi]

So, you saw your ending... Cool! Did you blink?

Danny Phantom x The Magnus Archives Crossover

Chapter 1

"Story of Daniel James Fenton" Allison wrote at the top of the page. The typewriter drummed in the near silence, the boy in the chair across from her gulped.

"You aren't with any institutions right? I don't want—"

"No." She assured, "I'm a StoryKeeper, not the Archivist."

"Okaaaay, I just want to make sure that—"

"No Hunters." She said, typing the line under the title. His eyes widened in confusion, then understanding, but he didn't ask.

"My parents are Hunters," He told her, whether by choice or because the compulsion had begun, it didn't matter. This StoryKeeper typed along. "Not great ones, but I think that's because of the prey, not because they're bad at hunting...

"They like ghosts, War-ghosts mostly, but they're not picky about it. As long as it's not completely tangible and used to be a living person it's good enough for them. The problem is that you can't really make a ghost feel fear, or, uh, a Hunter can't... not normally... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

"They never really gave themselves to it, to the Thing that Wants the Chase. So for a long time my sister and I just thought they were crazy. Then, when I was fourteen, they built this thing. They called it a portal, but it was really just this big electrical hazard tunnel in the basement. And I of course, waited until they'd left it alone and went to check it out..." He paused for a moment, pain suddenly lacing his face.

"I'm not telling you more about that." He snapped. Then spead through the next few words so this StoryKeeper had to focus on typing instead of the compulsion. "Not the details. I will tell you, it killed me, and I wasn't ready. So when there was a choice, I took it.

"My friends were there, they managed to revive me just before the ambulance got there..."

He hesitated again, fighting to keep the story in the direction he wanted it to go, she let him even if she wished he'd tell both tales.

"My parents blamed the ghosts. And that's how it really started. They started hunting a lot more, and war ghosts don't really run away much. They don't fear being hunted, but they do fear ending. So mom and dad do the same old same old, ghosts get scared of me, they give chase, the world has one less mindless killer and fast food is more satisfying on the way home. All fun and games, right? Well it has been, but ghosts stopped have being enough for either of us... they want to go find other monsters and they don't realize that I'm not the same thing as they are. These things already have bargains that I'm not supposed to interfere with... that I can't interfere with. And not all of them... not all of us are trying to be evil...

"They're supposed to be having these friends come over, to show us the ropes or something. I have this feeling that they're going to take one look at me and Know. So uh, that's why I'm here. I thought, maybe if The Thing that Sees has already seen me, that maybe it will let me be..."

He laughed suddenly. "But it's not like it matters is it. What's the worse that could happen? I die? Again?"

-

-

-

Yes, I did post this twice, I'm trying a little experiment. See, earlier I just posted the Ao3 link, and it has gotten very little traction... I think it's cause it was just a link and no hook. So I'm posting the first chapter and we'll see if that does better. Or it yall just prefer other crossovers. I'm curious!

Ao3

#danny phantom crossover #the magnus archives #tma #dp crossover #dp x tma #grey writes

[melancholicmarionette]

A scene in my head, of my kids being cute.

—

“So here’s my thought. Or…idea. Of the kinda date I’d take you on if we were like…normal.”

The conversation came out of nowhere, as most of these particular ones did. Danny and Sam had to take whatever chances they got, make the most of every moment of peace the universe granted them.

This time it was in one of their hideouts, an unused shed in the woods fallen into disrepair, full of unused gardening tools. It was the middle of the night, they didn’t quite know the hour anymore. Sam stitched Danny up an hour ago, and bandaged a gash on Tucker’s leg that the boy was trying to sleep off. Sam was almost asleep as well, but hyper vigilance kept her eyes open. She only really caught “if we were normal” and replied on instinct.

“Gross.”

“Get in the fiction,” Danny told her, his chuckle quiet, but still there. “I’ve been thinking real hard.”

“I’m in the fiction,” Sam told him, head resting on crossed arms as she lay flat on the dusty floor beside him. “Paint me a picture.”

“Okay,” he said, “so we go out to eat. I take you to that Korean place in the strip mall.”

“The one where the lady insists you meet her granddaughter?” Sam interjected, “making me jealous, huh?”

“It’s part of the bigger strategy,” he insisted, “we go there and I try the vegan kimbap and I don’t complain about it.”

“Be careful, I’m swooning.”

“And then,” he said, his tone serious in a way that made it hard not to laugh. “And then we go to a movie. But not a good one.”

“Like what?” She asked, honestly intrigued by the idea. She did love a terrible movie now and then.

“Piranha 2,” he said almost too quickly, “something with a puppet. A killer one. And we sit in the back and Mystery Science Theater it until we’re asked to leave.”

Sam pursed her lips as though honestly judging his idea, appraising his plan the way a jeweler would a Diamond.

“I see,” she said, “and then?”

“And thennnn,” he let it drag out, exhaustion becoming more evident, “we go stargazing. And I tell you all about the constellations and stuff that I see, and then you feign interest.”

“I wouldn’t be feigning interest,” she objected. “I would lay down and I would look and listen until the earth reclaims me.”

“Until you die.”

“I’ll have to reapply my makeup beforehand. You know it’s my goal to leave a good-looking corpse.”

Danny couldn’t handle it anymore, his face collapsing into laughter, and Sam joined in shortly after.

“That’s—“ he began, the laughs still settling, “and that’s what we do on a date if we were normal.”

“Oh god. What would we do for real?”

“There’s basically a portal to hell in my basement, I’d think of something.”

#danny phantom #sam manson #amethyst ocean #fakeout makeout #fanfics #there’s a lot of dxs fanfics that are very schmaltzy and cute and I like those #but you see #they are very weird losers #and I love that for them

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

Halfa Jazz AU

Except it’s not 16 year old Jazz. No. It’s 14 year old Jazz who gets shocked by the portal.

You see the day after their parents failed to make the portal work, and left 14 year old Jazz to look after 12 year old Danny (and the two friends he’d invited over). Jazz got shocked by the portal and turned into a half-ghost. With Danny, Sam and Tucker as witnesses.

How’d this happen?

Easy. Sam wanted to see the creepy ghost lab she’d heard Tucker talk about at school when talking about going to Danny’s house. She thinks Tucker is exaggerating about how scary it is. Danny, wanting to impress the new friend he’d only had for a bit longer than a month, agrees to sneak her and Tucker down into the basement too look around when his parents were out of the house.

So after the Fenton parents are gone, and Jazz goes to her room to do her homework leaving Danny, Sam, and Tucker alone in the living room to watch cartoons (or so she thought). The three 12 year olds sneak down into the lab to start poking around, as nosy 12 year olds without supervision are wont to do.

While at first the two non-Fenton kids were enthralled by the strange inventions and mysterious substances in tubes, they eventually got bored and less careful. And started messing around. Sam fishes a hacky sack out of her backpack, and starts doing tricks, Tucker makes a bet he can do more tricks than her.

Which escalates to a said hacky sack ending up at the back of the non-functional Fenton portal. And Jazz coming down to check on them and to get a snack, see they’re not in the living room, search the rest of the house, and walk into the basement to see Danny start putting on his hazmat suit to go and fetch a hacky sack.

Which Jazz puts a stop to immediately. Danny is far too young to be climbing around inside their parents’ dangerous inventions, even if they seemingly don’t work. Jazz also knows she can’t leave the hacky sack in the portal because more likely than not her parents will get home, return to their obsession with the portal, try to turn it on, and the hacky sack will catch fire and burn the house down. [Can you tell she’s catastophizing? Cause she is. She lives in the Fenton house, this is her normal setting, and it tends to work out pretty well for her 90% of the time. Things that can go wrong tend to in that house.]

She can’t leave the hacky sack in there, it will inevitably end with them being homeless due to a house fire. She can’t trust her parents to fish it out before they try to start tinkering with the portal again, she knows them too well, so the end result is the same. So the only option is to go in and get it out herself, and then give Danny and his friends a stern talking to about messing around in the lab, and even bringing his friends into the lab in the first place in Danny’s case.

So she puts on her hazmat suit, firmly telling Danny and his friends to stay well away from the portal. And well...

Jazz Fenton was just 14 when she’d entered her parent’s very strange machine and unintentionally opened the door to a world unseen.

Jazz’s ghost hero name is Psyche. Jazz doesn’t intend to become a ghostly superhero, but finds she can’t sit back and do nothing, when the news comes on to tell her that her little brother’s middle school is getting attacked by a giant meat monster.

Psyche has different relationships to the ghostly rogues than Canon!Phantom does.

She’s got a bitter nemesis-ship with Spectra for example. Jazz might have called the ghost psychiatrist an “Unethical Hack” who “Was licenced in the 1800s” and “Thinks the lobotomy is the pinnacle of psychiatric treatment”.

Nocturne is her Ancient/ghostly guardian (in place of how a lot of the phandom sees Clockwork as that for Danny) correlation, due to the connection between dreams and psychology.

Psyche vs Plasmius is truly wild. Because after getting his offer of fatherhood/evil mentor is rejected too many times, Vlad doesn’t try to clone Jazz. No, he kidnaps Danny and attempts to turn him into a halfa.

With the idea being that due to Danny being younger, he’d be more easily influenced. Along with the fact that if Vlad was the first strongest presence Danny’s newly formed ghost core sensed, if Vlad played his cards right, there’s a serious chance Danny’s newly formed child ghost core would imprint on Vlad’s ghostly signature like a baby duckling. Making Vlad his ghostly parent, and giving him significant influence over Danny’s mental state.

I haven’t decided if Jazz manages to stop Vlad in time and rescue Danny. At least, not quick enough to leave him completely human that is.

#danny phantom #halfa jazz au #danny phantom au #DP au Psyche

[lexosaurus]

Everything Was White: Part 17

[see all chapters]

read on: [ao3] [ffn]

Summary: After being accidentally revealed to the public and taken away by the government, Danny deals with the aftermath of his time with the GiW.

---

“He did really well today,” his physical therapist told Maddie. “We’re making great progress.”

Maddie beamed down at him. “That’s wonderful, sweetie.”

“Keep exercising and stretching at home—especially those stairs—and I think we’ll be able to start incorporating the crutches into our sessions next week.”

Danny’s ears perked up. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” the physical therapist said. “It’s really incredible how strong your healing factor is. Your spasticity is decreasing, your foot drop tendencies are decreasing, and it really seems like your body is also healing the nerves on its own. In the last month alone, you’ve progressed at an astronomical rate, which is unusual given the timeline for your injury. Normally, after a few months, we see progress begin to slow, but in your case, it almost seems like it’s speeding up. Once we can get your balance a little bit better, we’ll have more options for your mobility at home aside from just the walker and wheelchair.”

Maddie smoothed the hair on Danny’s head. “Ectoplasm typically acts as a poison to a human. But with the way Danny’s biology is, he managed to land in an extremely rare and specific circumstance where his ectoplasm and white blood cells can get along. So when an injury happens to the body, the ectoplasm acts as an aid to heal it.”

“Yeah, it’s amazing. I don’t know many people who could bounce back from an injury like this, kid. You should be really proud of yourself.”

Danny let out a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks.”

“Alright, skedaddle.” The therapist waved toward the clock mounted on the wall. “My next patient’s waiting for me.”

“Thanks so much, we’ll see you on Thursday!” Maddie said.

Danny followed his mother out the door and fluidly transferred into the passenger seat of the car. He’d been back at school for a few weeks now, and things had fallen back into a routine. School, then he went either home, to PT, or therapy, and he had his IOP meeting, and then he was home for the evening. His days were busy, but they were structured.

And the structure was good. He could handle that.

IOP turned out to be just a shorter version of PHP. It lasted just a few hours, and the topics mainly focused on practicing coping strategies at home. Coping strategies that Danny found he didn’t really need.

He already had coping strategies.

Nevertheless, he participated. And then each week, the therapists told his parents how fantastic he was doing, and his parents showered him with praise, and then they went home and disappeared into the lab.

They never invited Danny into the basement, and Danny never asked to join.

He knew that they were hoping he would just give up on getting the chip out. But if they were truly expert ecto-researchers, they should have known that their hopes were futile.

Because, like it or not, Danny had a core. And as a halfa, he needed access to it.

Whatever. If they wanted to live in a sea of their own denial, then Danny would let them. He had his coping strategies, he was getting better, and that’s what was important.

IOP that day was just like all the others, and when Maddie picked him up afterward, she once again told him how well he was doing before settling into their usual silence in the car ride home.

Only this time, Danny had something else on his mind. Which was the problem in his drawer.

Thankfully, he had found another bottle of painkillers in his parents’ medicine cabinet. But that didn’t change the fact that he was now down to his last bottle. Once this ran out, he would have nothing left. 

And based on how much his parents were ignoring the elephant in the room, Danny was going to need extra assistance.

“Mom,” Danny kept his eyes on his lap. “My uh—you know, my chest…”

From the corner of his eyes, he could see Maddie’s hands tighten their grip on the steering wheel. And he didn’t blame her. His chest wasn’t exactly a topic either of them had brought up outside of therapy before.

And even in therapy, he hadn’t gone that far in detail about what really happened. Granted, he didn’t remember much, but that didn’t mean that the parts he was conscious for hadn’t tattooed themselves into his brain.

He powered on. “It’s—well, uh, it’s…it’s not really good.”

“What do you mean by that, hun?” Maddie asked. “Has it been hurting a lot?”

“Yeah.” He pressed his hand to his shirt. “Especially now that—now that I’m walking more. My back and legs too. It’s really—really affecting everything.”

That part wasn’t even a lie. Now that those muscles were getting more use, most of his time off the heavy painkillers was spent in a constant stream of burning pain.

“Have you told this to the physical therapist?”

“Yeah, but—and she gave me stretches. But they’re not—they—they’re not really working. I don’t know, can’t the doctors just give me something?”

Maddie sighed. “I can take you back to your doctor, but hun, I don’t know how much more pain management they can give you. Your dosages are already very high.”

“Can we just try? Please?” Danny tried to not let the desperation leak into his voice.

“Yeah, we can try. But don’t get your hopes up,” Maddie said. “Unfortunately, despite your physiology, there are still laws that the doctors have to follow. Even if your body can handle higher doses, they may not be able to prescribe it. I’m sorry, it’s just one of the things you’re going to have to deal with.”

Danny folded his arms and glared out the window.

“Sorry, hun. We can see about switching you to something else, but I don’t know how much better it’ll be.”

“It’s just unfair.”

“I know. But there’s not much we can really do about it.”

“So—so what, I’m just ex—expected to be in pain for the—for the rest of my life?”

Maddie pursed her lips. “It won’t be forever. Your nerves will heal eventually; it’s one of the perks of having ectoplasm in your system. It’s just going to take a little while.”

“Wonderful.” Danny rolled his eyes. “Well, can I at—can I at least talk to him first?”

“Sure.”

That wasn’t necessarily an optimistic view. If he couldn’t get more painkillers from his doctor, he would have to find another way to get them.

In an ideal world, he would just break into a drugstore as Phantom invisible and steal a prescription. But there were a few issues with that. First off, he didn’t even have access to Phantom. Second, stealing from a drugstore would mean taking medication away from someone it was actually prescribed for, which would cause the victim more pain. This went against the very nature of his Obsession, so that too was off the table.

The other option would be to find a local drug dealer and get something from him. The problem was, he was Danny Phantom. He was recognizable anywhere. If he started asking around for information, people would notice. Not to mention, ask the wrong person and they’d instantly report him to the police to be arrested again.

And thus, that solution was an instant failure as well.

Danny slumped in his seat. Well, it wasn’t like he really needed the painkillers anymore. He was doing fine on his own. He could probably just wean himself off at the end of this bottle and he would be fine.

But wasn’t it only thanks to these extra painkillers that you’re doing well now? A little voice in his head whispered. If you stop taking them, won’t the façade be ruined? 

No, he insisted. There was no façade, he was better now.

Then that settled it. If he couldn’t get more from his doctor, then he would wean himself off of the painkillers. And then he would be back to normal.

---

The door flew open with such speed that Danny wondered how its hinges didn’t fall onto the concrete.

“Danny!” Tucker yelled, jumping down the front steps. “Hey, glad you could make it!”

“Um…” Danny raised a gift bag from his lap. “My—uh, my mom told me—told me to bring this for your mom. As a thank-you.”

Maddie hadn’t explained it in so many words, but Danny could only assume that Angela Foley, a longtime friend of Maddie, had taken to baking more than a few casseroles during Danny’s trial. Hence, the bottle of Chardonnay in the shiny green bag.

“Oh, dope!” Tucker stopped in front of Danny and held out his hand. “Here, I got it. Let’s get inside. Oh, hang on, one sec. Where’s Sam?”

As if on cue, a black bob popped out from the open doorway. Out came Sam, a wide smile adorning her face. 

“Hey, Danny! You made it!” she exclaimed, skipping down the porch. 

“Course.” Danny felt the last of his nerves wash away, and he offered his giddy friends a small smile in return. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

“My mom’s so excited,” Tucker said, passing off the gift bag to Sam. “You better be hungry, she cooked enough food to feed a family of twelve.”

Danny snorted, standing up and taking his first steps forward on the uneven driveway. While the Foley residence was far more “homey” than the Fentons’, it wasn’t exactly wheelchair friendly. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as far as his physical therapist was concerned. She kept telling him he needed to get more practice using his walker in public anyway. While Tucker’s house wasn’t necessarily public, it was a good first step.

“Good thing that chair was out, huh?” Tucker said, nodding towards the metal folding chair that Danny had been occupying. One that Danny was sure was just pure coincidence that it happened to be hanging around outside next to Tucker’s driveway, despite it living exclusively in their basement before.

“Sure,” Danny said. “Crazy that it ended up there. Good thing I found it.”

“You’re a true hero in my heart.”

“Oh, shut up.”

The drop-off had been a point of contention between Danny and Maddie that day. She had spent the majority of the day insisting that she was going to help him inside. But since Danny couldn’t think of anything more humiliating than being helped inside Tucker’s residence in front of all of his neighbors by his mother, they compromised on this plan instead. 

That way, Danny could have some semblance of dignity. 

“Alright, just a couple steps.” 

Danny grabbed onto Tucker’s arm with one hand and maneuvered his walker sideways with the other.

“You okay?” Sam asked.

“All good,” Danny said, hoping his voice didn’t sound too breathy. Stairs were somewhat of a new addition to his exercise plan. 

“Okay, just keep holding onto me. Sorry, we haven’t replaced our railing yet after Uncle Frankie fell through it.”

Danny nodded absentmindedly, focusing on making sure the walker wasn’t about to slip out from under him. But after a torturous minute, they managed to reach Tucker’s porch. 

He paused at the top, leaning onto his walker for support. Like hell he was going to greet Angela for the first time after months sounding like he’d just run a marathon. Thankfully, Sam and Tucker didn’t say anything. And if they were giving him pitying looks, well, Danny was too busy studying the ground to notice.

“Sorry, I’m good,” Danny said after a moment. 

“You want me to get a chair?” Sam asked.

“No, no. I’ll be—I’m fine. Just…” Danny took a few deep breaths. “Okay. Okay, I’m good now.”

After ascending the creaking porch steps, taking that final step into their house was a piece of cake.

And what a delightful cake it was.

Instantly, Danny was hit with the aroma of home-cooked food wafting from the kitchen. The living room was warm against the December air drafting from the open door, and the home was decorated in deep, earthy colors that reminded Danny of a log cabin in the woods.

“Mom! Danny’s here!” Tucker shouted, kicking off his shoes.

Danny could hear a pan slam down on the counter before footsteps hurried around the kitchen arch.

“Danny!” Angela hurried over, dusting her hands off on her purple dress. Her dark eyes shone in the lamplight, and she surveyed him once before gently wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into her warm embrace.

“Hi, Mrs. Foley.” Danny felt his voice crack, and he blinked away the mist that threatened to form in his eyes. He melted into her shoulder, wrapping his own arms around her.

He had been so preoccupied in the last few months, that he had almost forgotten how good an Angela hug was.

“Oh, sweetheart, it’s so good to see you. So wonderful.” Angela pulled back and took stock of him again. “Look at you, standing tall and everything. Oh, you’ve grown so much.”

He ducked his head, hiding the blush that he was sure was forming on his cheeks. “I don’t know about that.”

“Nonsense! You’re definitely taller than when I last saw you.” She cupped her hand on his cheek, bringing his eyes back to hers. “You’re so grown now. Definitely not a little kid anymore, huh? Oh, sweetheart, I’m just so glad to see you.”

“You too.”

“And Danny, I am just so proud of you, you know that? So proud. You’re such a wonderful boy and I’m so thankful that you’re home now.”

Something slimy wormed in his stomach. Something that felt fake, like guilt.

He shook that feeling away.

She stepped back to wag a finger at him. “And don’t you ever scare us like that again, young man. You hear me?”

“Lay off, Mom,” Tucker said from behind him. “It wasn’t his fault the government got handsy.”

“Tucker Norris Foley!” Angela dropped her hand from Danny’s face and glared past him. “Watch your mouth!”

“Yeah, Tuck.” Danny could feel Sam’s facepalm.

“It’s fine,” Danny reassured.

Seeming to remember that Danny was standing in front of her, Angela melted into a smile again. She patted his shoulder with a “good boy” and turned back to the kitchen. 

“I hope you kids are hungry,” she said, beckoning them forward. “I have the chicken in the oven with mashed potatoes and beans on the stove. Maurice called a few minutes ago, his meeting ran late but he should be home any minute now.”

“Thank you.” Danny carefully lowered himself onto the couch and bent down to take off his shoes.

“Oh, sweetie,” Mrs. Foley’s concerned voice called out. “Is it easier if you keep your shoes on? You don’t need to take them off, no need.”

Tucker’s face morphed into one of complete shock and awe as if he couldn’t believe the words he was hearing from his mother.

Warmth pooled in Danny. But naturally, he tried to downplay it. “No, it’s fine. I don’t want to—I walk without shoes in my home.”

If anything, that just made Angela even more concerned. “Well, whatever is easier for you!”

Danny quickly slipped his sneakers off and set them to the side. “Thank you.”

“Well, come on in! Tucker, don’t be rude, get your friend a drink.”

Danny tried not to act too sheepish as he awkwardly pulled himself up from the low, squishy couch, well aware that Mrs. Foley was studying his every move.

Thankfully, Sam came to the rescue. “Mrs. Foley? This is from Mrs. Fenton.”

Angela plucked the bag from Sam’s grasp and read the little note attached to the strings. “Oh, she didn’t have to do this! Danny, your mother is so sweet.”

“You know her,” Danny said, gesturing to the air as if that explained everything.

“Still, tell her I said thank you.”

“You want a soda or water?” Tucker called from the kitchen.

“Water’s fine.”

Sam pressed a hand on his back and peered over at him, her expression back to that strangely shy visage she’d been wearing ever since he’d gotten back from inpatient. “Let’s grab seats in the kitchen.”

They followed Tucker into the kitchen, and Danny slumped down into a chair that Sam had pulled out for him, feeling more than a bit useless as the others bustled around him, setting plates and silverware down on the table.

“Anything I can do to help?” Danny offered, knowing that there was, in fact, nothing he could help with.

As expected, Angela waved him off. “No! You just get comfortable. We’re nearly done here.”

“Okay.”

“So how have you been? You’ve been healing well?”

“Uh, yeah. It’s going well. I’ve been doing—going to PT. Um, for my spine and everything.”

“That’s wonderful, Danny. They’ve been good to you?”

“Yeah, they have a lot of stuff there. You know, to wake my muscles up. Some of it—it is really cool.”

And he meant it. Despite his wishes to avoid any celebrity treatment, he wasn’t blind to the fact that the newest rehabilitation center he’d been attending was paying special attention to him. There wasn’t just one physical therapist assisting him during sessions—there were three. All of them specialized in treating spinal cord injuries, and he’d been told the physical therapist leading his sessions was one of the best in the country. He had access to all the equipment and modern technology that he could dream of, and he knew that if there was anything he ever needed, it would be ridiculously easy to get ahold of it.

Part of him did feel more than a little guilty. If he were just Danny Fenton, and not Phantom, he wouldn’t have half the support he did now. And he could see it online, the jealousy from other SCI patients as they caught glimpses through photos and videos of his progress. 

He’d seen the comments.

Damn, imagine how much that all costs.

Wish I could afford that treatment.

And he felt them all. He knew how lucky he was, and he was aware that he had taken it for granted before. He knew the weeks he’d spent moping about his disability and rejecting help were a slap in the face to everyone out there begging for even a sliver of the tools he had now.

But he had grown, he was stronger, and he was determined. Now that he was ready to work hard, he might as well take advantage of all the tools available to him.

Angela’s voice cut through his thoughts. “And how’s school going? You been catching up alright?”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s been fine. School, you know.”

“The other kids aren’t giving you any trouble, are they?”

Tucker shot his mom a look of pure embarrassment and let out a low, “Mom!”

Out of politeness, Danny pretended not to notice the interaction. “No, it’s been fine.”

“That’s good, that’s good.” Angela set a casserole dish full of mashed potatoes on the table. 

Just then, a rumbling sounded from the garage.

“Oh good, Maurice is home. Just in time,” Angela said, leaving the kitchen to greet her husband.

Danny sipped from his water glass, glad to have a break from the questions. Talking so casually about his situation still felt odd. The last time he’d seen Angela was at their Fourth of July barbeque, and they’d spoken about his plans for the summer and going to the gaming convention with Tucker.

It felt like so long ago, and at the same time, it felt like he’d just seen her yesterday. He wished he could go back to that barbeque and that they all could have just had the fun, lazy summer they had been planning.

“Refill?” Tucker asked.

To Danny’s surprise, he realized that his water glass was empty. “Sure, thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Sam slipped into the seat next to him, giving him that silent look that asked “you okay?” 

Danny quirked his lips into a small smile and offered a subtle nod.

“Well, well, well!” Maurice’s jovial voice entered the kitchen. “If it isn’t Danny Phantom himself! How you doing, kid?”

Instead of feeling taken aback by Maurice’s forthcoming words, Danny felt his stomach unknot as gratitude washed over him. He never said it out loud, but he had been stressing over this dinner all week. For two years, he had been Phantom. And for two years, he had been inadvertently putting their son in danger just by association. 

He expected them to be angry and disgusted with him. He expected them to want nothing to do with him, to curse him out and shame him for daring to associate with their son. 

But he should have known better.

Maurice and Angela weren’t like those people online, the woman who yelled at him in the PHP lobby, or the Mansons who had made it explicitly clear that they wanted nothing to do with him anymore. They weren’t the type of people to cut someone out of their lives for being a little different.

Hell, they raised Tucker. Even though they were both self-proclaimed “technologically illiterate,” they still did their best to engage in their son’s hobby with him. It was silly to think that they might shut Danny out because he was Phantom.

Danny stood, using the table for support with one hand and the other to reach out and offer a handshake.

Maurice’s bushy mustache rose into a genuine smile, and he clasped Danny’s hand with his own. “Wow, look at you! You bounced back quickly, eh?”

Danny motioned over to the walker that Sam had put against the wall. “Not totally, but—but we’re getting there.”

Maurice waved him off and dropped his work bag against the wall. “That’s alright, kid. Just keep working hard!”

Grinning, Danny sat back down. “Thanks.”

Tucker and Angela settled into their seats, and Maurice grabbed two wine glasses from the cabinet. The comfortable routine and open ease of the Foleys were not lost on Danny. He wished his family’s dinners were like this. Well, for his parents and Jazz they certainly were, but not for him. 

But the Foleys weren’t ones for stewing in silence.

“So, Phantom, huh?” Maurice said, casually pouring wine into the glasses. 

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“The whole time?”

Tucker facepalmed. “Dad.”

“What? I’m only asking!”

“It’s fine, Tuck.” Danny chuckled. Weirdly enough, Tucker’s dad seemed like the most reasonably curious person Danny had talked to since his identity was blown. “Yeah. It’s been—been me the whole time.”

“Huh, how ‘bout that,” Maurice mused, setting one of the glasses down in front of Angela, who accepted it readily.

“Well,” Maurice continued. “I guess this is a bit late, but I should thank you for saving my life when that box guy showed up in our office that day. What was his name again?”

Danny racked his brain for the memory of this. “The Box Ghost?”

“Yeah, that’s the guy!”

“Dad, I don’t know if Danny capturing the Box Ghost is exactly saving your life, but okay.”

Sam snorted, covering her face with her hand.

But Maurice took the jabs in stride, wearing his own grin to match. “Well, maybe not in the literal sense, but he certainly saved me from having to spend hours redoing all that filing! Old Boxy was about to make a mess out of our archive papers! Thanks to Danny, there were only a few boxes that got messed up instead of the entire shelving unit.”

“Well, I’m glad to have been of service.”

“Okay, food’s ready, everyone! Let’s eat. Oh, Sam, I accidentally left your tofu next to the stove—”

“I got it, Mrs. Foley! Thank you!”

Following Tucker’s lead, Danny plopped some food onto his plate and dug in. As brilliant as his own parents were, the culinary skill didn’t exactly run in the Fenton family genes, and he could only take so many reanimated chicken legs jumping off his plate before he started seeking food elsewhere. Namely, the Foley household.

Angela and Maurice had never shooed him away, and they never made him feel unwelcome in their home. And over the years, Danny had become such a staple in their lives that they often jokingly introduced him as their pseudo-adopted son to their friends and guests.

It was amazing how some things didn’t change.

Even after everything, the nightly routine didn’t falter. Tucker still rambled to his father about some new technological breakthrough, Sam and Angela still talked about their backyard vegetable gardens, and Danny was still the quiet observer, occasionally chiming into whichever conversation grabbed his attention.

It was as if he’d never left.

“So Danny, do you think you’ll be back out there soon?” Maurice asked, turning the conversation back to him once more.

Tucker gave him a sideways glance, one that Danny couldn’t decipher, but otherwise didn’t say anything.

“Soon, hopefully. At—at the rate that I’m…progressing. Hopefully,” Danny said.

“You taken your ghost side for a spin yet at least?”

“No.” Danny poked at his mashed potatoes, careful to not let his face show his annoyance. “We’re being…cautious.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Angela said. “You don’t want to do anything too dangerous while your body is still healing.”

Danny wanted to explain how his ectoplasm was actually beneficial to his human side, but he bit his tongue. 

“Well, whenever you get the pass from your doctors, we’ll be there for you!” Sam said.

“Yeah, ‘course,” Tucker agreed.

“You’ll have a lot less to do now with all those new companies anyway,” Angela said.

Danny glanced over at her. “Huh?” 

“You know,” she continued, waving her fork. “All the new popups in the city. Ghost control is becoming much more popular now. There’s even a license that the government developed for people wanting certification for their businesses.”

“Ghost control?”

“It’s a lot nicer sounding than ‘ghost hunting,’” Sam quipped. “But it’s basically the same thing.”

Something ugly curled in Danny’s stomach.

New ghost hunting businesses? In Amity Park?

How had he not heard of this?

Was this yet another thing his parents were keeping from him? Sam and Tucker too? Why had no one told him that other hunters were trying to take over his turf?

“Don’t worry ‘bout ‘em,” Tucker said through a mouthful of food. He swallowed at the glare of his mother and offered Danny a cheesy thumbs-up. “They’re all idiots. Not nearly as good as you.”

“Still, a bit of a break never hurt anyone,” Angela said. “Especially with all the college entrance testing and applications coming up soon!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Tucker made a show of fake gagging, to which Angela rolled her eyes.

“My parents are still hopeful I’ll become a lawyer,” Sam said.

“In their defense, you would be pretty good at it.”

“Oh, shove off, Tuck.”

“What do you want to do, Sam? Have you thought about it at all?” Angela asked.

Sam cocked her head, resting her hand under her chin. “I dunno, something with the environment. Somebody needs to do something about climate change if the government won’t.”

“Very fitting for you, dear! And what about you, Danny? I know you’re rather busy right now, but have you given any thought to it lately?”

Before he could answer, Maurice snapped his fingers. “Didn’t you want to work for NASA? I bet they’d love to have a half-ghost on board their rockets!”

Danny blinked, once again shaking off the shock of how easily the Foley family adapted to the concept of Danny being not all human.

“I—uh—yeah…” Danny sputtered. “I mean, that’s still the goal. I just don’t know…with my physiology…”

“Bah!” Maurice waved him off. “What’s there not to know? They’d be lucky to have you, kid.”

Warmth crept along Danny’s skin, and he felt a genuine smile flicker on his lips. “Thanks.”

“Whatever, while you losers worry about your careers, I’ll be making bank from my computer programmer salary!”

“You have to get into college first, Tucker,” Angela said.

“Have you no faith in me, mother?”

Angela took a bite of her food, chewing slowly as her eyes glinted in an unsaid comment.

Tucker blanched. “Okay, okay, I hear ya loud and clear. I solemnly swear that I will study for my next math test. Happy?”

“Very.” 

Danny snickered, covering his mouth as he did so. He caught Sam’s eye, who grinned in return.

Damn, he really had missed simple nights like these. Ones where he didn’t have to worry about the Guys in White, PT, his parents, school, or anything else interfering with his life. He could just sit here and have a normal night of banter with his friends and the Foleys. 

“There’s plenty more food if you want it, dear,” Angela said. “Don’t be shy!”

“Thanks, Mrs. Foley.”

Yeah, this was nice. Maybe he should do this more often.

---

“We have to think of a plan,” Danny said.

“Oh?” Sam tilted her head. “What plan?”

“To get in contact with Frostbite so he can remove my chip.”

“Chip?” Tucker asked.

“Yeah, the one in my neck that’s blocking off my powers.”

Sam gave him an odd look. “Why don’t you just ask your parents to remove it?”

Danny huffed and flopped back on Tucker’s red and gray rug, staring up at the textured ceiling. The painkiller had worn off and his chest was starting to burn, but the mild stretch he got from lying down felt nice. “Because they won’t remove it. I already—I already asked them. Multiple times. They won’t…won’t do it.”

“Did they say why?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.” Danny made a face. “Said that I wasn’t ready. Or something, I don’t know. They’re scared of Phantom, I think. Just like—just like before.”

“That can’t be right,” Sam said. “Danny, they were stuck in their ways before, but it seems like they’ve really come around.”

“They won’t take the chip out, though. That doesn’t really sound like coming around to me,” Danny said bitterly.

“Well, it sounds like they just don’t think you’re ready for Phantom. I’m sure they’re collaborating with your doctors—”

“What do you mean, ready?” 

Sam looked thoroughly uncomfortable. “You know, I mean your physical health. You’re still in PT, and—”

“Why are you defending them?” 

Sam and Tucker exchanged a glance.

“What?” Danny asked, annoyed.

Tucker diverted his gaze, and Sam just sighed. 

“Danny…” she started.

Danny really didn’t like that tone she was using.

“You haven’t been home for that long. You’re still healing.”

“And?”

“Well…”

Danny sat up, deciding he didn’t want to hear whatever excuse she was trying to dance around her feelings with. “What about you, Tuck? Why—why so quiet? You can’t agree with them.”

Tucker pointedly refused to make eye contact.

“Come on.” Danny heard the tension in his voice. “You’re my—my best friend. You can’t…you’re gonna help me, right?”

Tucker’s eyes flickered up to the ceiling. Finally, he breathed out, though that didn’t help his tone sound any less stiff. “Danny, don’t you think it’s a little soon?”

“Soon? It’s fucking December.”

“I know, but—”

“The Guys in White had me in July.” 

“Right, I get that, but I mean…I don’t know, you know what I’m saying, dude, right?”

No. Danny did not know what he was saying. And he couldn’t hold back the mix of disbelief and anger in his voice when he responded with, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Sam opened her mouth, arms poised to backtrack, but Danny wasn’t having it. “You both—you guys both—you’re siding with them?”

“Now, hang on, Danny—”

“You both know me! You—you guys used to encourage me to embrace my ghost half! But now…but now you’re side—siding with my fucking parents?”

“Danny, just listen to us,” Sam said. “We’re not siding with them. I personally think it’s wrong to keep Phantom from you, and I know Tucker feels the same.”

“So then what’s the issue?”

“What we’re trying to say is that we don’t think, with everything going on, that it’s a good idea for you to go behind their back on this one so soon. You nearly died, Danny. It’s way more complicated than it used to be.”

Danny felt his eyes flare. He may still have had some trouble processing speech, but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew backtracking when he saw it.

“Phantom is me. I don’t—I don’t care that he makes my parents uncomfortable. I can’t just…bury him because it’s hard for them. I thought you guys understood that.”

“We do understand!” Sam insisted.

“No, you obviously don’t.”

“But if you are having conflict,” Sam continued as if Danny hadn’t refuted her. “Then you need to bring it up at therapy! That’s what it’s there for!”

Danny couldn’t help but laugh sardonically. “Oh, that’s fucking rich coming from—from you, the one who has such healthy communication standards at—at home!”

“Come on, guys.” Tucker looked pained. “Don’t do this.”

“What’s your goddamn problem, Danny?”

“My problem is all of you! You’re all keeping things from me—”

“Keeping things? Us? Danny, we’ve been on your side this entire time!”

“My parents with the—the court case. And—and the freaking core, how nobody wants me…apparently, nobody wants me to have—to have my core! And now you two with the whole ghost control business thing!”

“What?” Tucker asked. “Us with the what?”

“You know, the government ghost control!”

“You mean those popup businesses?” 

“Yes, those fucking things!”

“Because we didn’t think that mattered, Danny!” Sam said in an exasperated tone. “It’s not like it’s the first time some stupid untrained ghost hunters have moved into this town. You had more important things to worry about—”

Danny knew that by now his eyes were fully glowing. “That’s just it! That’s the fucking problem!” 

“What?”

“This all is!” The itch to stand up and pace around the room had never been so strong. “You—you all are! Everyone’s deciding for me and keep—keeping the truth from me because you think I can’t handle it!”

“That’s not true.”

“It is true! You’re all cutting me out—”

Sam guffawed. “Us cutting you out? Oh, that’s rich.”

“Guys, stop.”

“No, please continue. I would love to hear the truth for once!” Danny spat out.

“Oh, you want the truth?” Sam said, finally rearing her glare at Danny. “You want the truth but apparently you couldn’t even be bothered to come to us when you hit rock bottom! Do you even know what that was like? To find out that your best friend tried to kill himself at school from Dash of all people?”

“Sam!” Tucker hissed.

Danny saw red, and then his vision was blanketed in green.

How dare she bring that up when he had worked so hard to forget about it.

“Dash spent years tormenting us!” Sam continued. “And yet he and the rest of his fucking friends had to be the ones to tell us what happened! Even beyond just that, we don’t know anything about the Guys in White that’s not secondhand information because you won’t tell us!”

“Jeez, I’m so fucking sorry that I had a psychotic break with Dash and not you. Next time I’ll be sure to plan it around your fucking—”

“That’s not the point, Danny! The point is that you don’t trust us. We’re your best friends and we care about you and want to be there for you but that’s impossible when you shut us off but let people like Dash in!”

“Well, I’ll let Dash know he can join the fucking club, then! Along with Vlad and the Guys in White and all—all of my other fucking enemies who now know more about me than anyone I actually give a shit about!”

“If you would just talk to us—”

“Vlad? What’s Vlad got to do with this?” Tucker cut in, his brow furrowed. When he looked up at Danny, his eyes were piercing. “What did Vlad do?”

“Nothing! I don’t know!” Danny yelled, throwing his hands up. “He’s Vlad, what do you expect?”

“Danny, does Vlad know something? About what happened? Like, with the government?”

Danny’s mouth snapped shut, and he was sure his glare was bright enough to cook an egg. 

“You’re kidding.” Sam laughed, her voice full of tired vitriol. She dragged her hand over her eyes. “You’re fucking kidding me. You don’t trust us, but Vlad knows everything. That’s fantastic, Danny, what a great support system you have.”

“Shut up. You don’t know what happened.”

“But Vlad does?” Sam crossed her arms defensively. “Since he knows so much, why bother coming to us about the chip at all? Why not ask him for advice?”

“Oh yeah, because I obviously wanted him to find out everything! Are you really that stupid?”

“Guys, calm down—”

“Then fucking talk to us! We weren’t there, we don’t know what the hell happened!”

“Exactly! You weren’t the one who spent weeks dying in—dying in a fucking cell surrounded by your own blood and piss!” Danny yelled.

The room was deathly silent.

“You weren’t there. You have no idea—no idea what it was…you have no idea.” 

Sam looked stricken. She knelt down on the floor and lightly clasped Danny’s hand between her own. “Danny, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—”

Danny tugged his hand out from her grip. She didn’t fight it.

“Just forget it,” he said. Exhaustion washed over him, and he debated asking to leave.

“I’m sorry,” said Sam. “I’m just frustrated, and I feel useless.”

Danny knew a way she could feel less useless, but he bit his tongue.

Sam sniffed, wiping her eyes. “I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Danny, I think what Sam is trying to say is that we miss you a lot. And we really want to be there for you. You’re our best friend, you know? Sometimes it feels like you’re closing off and…we’re not trying to pressure you, but we just can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.”

Well, that was too bad for them because Danny was never going to tell the full story.

Never.

He just wanted a normal life, he just wanted his friends back. The friends who didn’t treat him like a delicate flower, friends who didn’t give him pitying looks every time they saw him. Why would he risk giving that up over clueing them into the hell he’d gone through?

Especially since he already had a support system to deal with it. He had done the trauma processing in therapy, he had retold the story of the vivisection, the story of his spine injury, the story of being starved, beaten, electrocuted. 

Sure, he wasn’t perfect, maybe he’d left a few things out along the way, but he was already dealing with this. Why involve more people? Why make this more difficult than it had to be?

Sam and Tucker would never look at him the same way again. Not if they knew what was in the red bag, not if he explained what Operative O’s little pet name for him really meant. Not if he told them about why the nerves in his chest were so damaged, not if he admitted to them that it wasn’t a surgery the Guys in White had done to get his core, that it was a vivisection, that he had been conscious for parts of it, that they hadn’t given him pain medication or anesthesia before they started.

He couldn’t…he couldn’t…

He blinked, his brain snapping back to reality.

“I know…” he said slowly, mulling over how best to make them drop the topic. “I know I’m being…secretive. But I’m just not ready. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, dude. We understand, don’t we, Sam?”

Sam nodded, her head held low, bangs covering her eyes.

“When you are ready, though, we’ll be here.”

“Thanks.” The words tasted sour on his lips.

“I’m sorry,” Sam whispered.

“It’s fine.”

Though, it really wasn’t. Because now he knew that Sam and Tucker weren’t going to help him. And without their help, getting in touch with Frostbite was essentially futile.

Without Frostbite, he couldn’t get the chip out. He would be stuck like this, a ghost blocked from its own core, completely trapped and at the mercy of his ghost-hunter parents who didn’t seem at all worried about what that was doing to him.

Sam and Tucker may not have agreed with his parents, but his friends’ actions aligned with theirs too. Like his parents, they didn’t trust him. And because of this, he couldn’t trust them in return.

But it was fine. He could handle this on his own. He didn’t need to panic. 

Not yet.

---

Sam, 12/06, 7:55am: Hey Danny. I feel really awful for what happened last night at Tucker’s, and I just wanted to apologize. It was never my intention to pressure you into doing something you weren’t comfortable with. You’re my best friend, and I just know that there’s a lot you’re still holding inside. Even if you never feel okay to tell us what happened, I hope that you’ll be able to confide in someone. In the meantime, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, no matter the time of day, I’m here.

Sam, 12/06, 7:57am: I’m serious though, we have your back. Nothing will ever change that.

Read, 7:57am

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<previous / next>

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As always, thanks to @imekitty for reading! If you like this, she just released Disillusioned, the 3rd installment of the Disparaged series, and it is amazing so far so go check it out!

#danny phantom #everything was white #the foleys #phicc #my writing

[ghoulisheous]

DP x DC au. Whump in the aftermath of Vlad's cloning experiments. Warnings: depression

After everything that happened with Vlad's cloning projects, Danny felt something in him break. He had never felt so in over his head, so helpless as he had when he watched several clones melt into puddles. The horrifyed and helpless looks on their faces were etched into his brain. And there was a thought that sat like a rock in his gut: they died mirroring him. Just like they were supposed to. Like Vlad wanted them to.

Danny swallowed harshly.

None of them were even given names distinct from his.

They were murdered. There was no other word for it. Vlad murdered them.

Danny saw it happen.

Danny saw a murder. Murders. Massacre.

There was a poisonous thought in his head that said Danny was the one who did that to them.

He was the one fighting them.

But no. Vlad made them. And sent them out knowing they couldn't withstand a fight. He sent them to die. Danny wasn't a--he didn't do anything wrong.

At least. He hoped not.

He felt sick. But he couldn't throw up anymore. There was nothing left in his stomach. He hunched his head further over the toilet.

His throat hurt so bad. Danny was sure if he spit, it'd see blood.

Would it be red or would he be the one mirroring--

Feeling unsteady, Danny pushed off from the bathroom floor and made his way back to his room.

How was he supposed to deal with something like this? Ghost hunting seemed like harmless fun in comparison. Like kids huddling around a ouija board telling ghost stories and doing their utmost to scare each other.

Danny had witnessed a murder.

He witnessed it. That was all.

It was everything.

Two days ago he didn't know what that was like.

As Danny entered his room, he haphazardly shoved at his door, uncaring that it didn't latch. It didn't matter. Jazz wasn't home and his parents wouldn't leave the basement till dinner.

If that.

Danny didn't throw himself on his bed so much as he collapsed into it, cheek first onto his pillow. His legs were half off the bed. He didn't move.

Danny heaved a threatening breath and bit back on the sting in his eyes.

He just wanted to sleep. He didn't want to think about anything. He didn't want to deal with anything. He shouldn't have ever tried to deal with everything.

From somewhere in a corner of his room, his sensitive ears picked up frantic vibrating from a cellphone with a probably cracked screen. His chest clenched hard with a ferocious anxiety. He especially didn't want to deal with that.

He didn't tell Sam or Tucker.

He wanted to so bad. Wanted to curl up on a couch somewhere and binge as many movies with them as they could until the images in his brain were shaken loose.

At the same time, he didn't want to tell them either. It felt selfish, and at the same time it felt like his right.

He was ashamed.

He didn't want to admit what he saw. Didn't want to admit his part in it.

What was he even supposed to do about this? He was 15, for Christ's sake. Who did he think he was playing superhero like he had any idea what he was doing? Like he was a Leaguer? Like he was Robin as if he could be Robin without a Batman who knew better. Like he had any idea what he was dealing with? Please. He was an egoist, just like he always said Vla--

Two days ago he thought he understood what kind of man he was. And how far he would stoop.

Danny ignored his phone again and peeled his crusty eyes open. He reached up to wipe at his eyes.

And stopped.

Two days ago it was a normal day. He'd been in school. Goofing off with his friends and so damn stupid.

Beneath the bruises his arm was marked in faded ink. Sam had done it, bored in Study Hall.

And suddenly it hit him. It was dumb what inspired it.

He almost disregarded it.

What good would that do? He couldn't even talk to his own friends about it. What evidence was there? The lab was in ruins. Any other evidence was melt--

He blinked slowly as he studied his arm, feeling so damn tired.

Sam had doodled all over his arm. It was faded. The marks closer to his wrist almost completely gone. The bruises and burns obscuring others. But he could still see a good amount. Little spiders on the top, sitting in webs. A Phantom emblem, tiny and crowded by more eye catching doodles. Bouncy looking blob ghosts that looked far happier than they had any right to be, inked on Danny's skin.

But other than that..

Tiny bats.

It was stupid how the thought came to him. It was stupid how he was still thinking about it.

But now there was a new idea stuck in Danny's head.

It was starting to feel crowded in there.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #batman #dp x dc #crossover #ghouly tag #finally figured out how to do read more on mobile #im so happy