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scarletsaphire · 4 months

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This is the first @phandomholidaytruce I've done, and I got @darthfrodophantom! They gave some incredible prompts, with this one being for: "After a reveal goes poorly with his parents, Danny can't hide out with Tucker or Sam because they'd find him. He finds refuge from an unlikely source (surprise me on who that is!)" I hope you like who I chose! (Also there is something else for you in the end notes. Just something else I wanted to say. So. Be aware of that.)

Danny's life could be a lot worse. After all, he was still somewhat alive. Sure, he couldn't leave the house, and his parents were keeping a close eye on him after… what had happened. But it was fine. He was fine. He just needed to sleep it off.

It could be worse. That had been Danny's silent mantra for the past three years now, even if it didn't help much. If nothing else, it was always proved true. After the accident, it had been followed by "At least I'm not dead!" and then they figured out that no, he very much was dead, if not completely. That revelation had come along with the ghost attacks, where the mantra was completed with "At least no one's getting hurt!" Sam promptly got kidnapped by the Lunch Lady. She may have made it out largely unscathed, but that didn't mean it didn't count. Then the saying moved to "at least its only other ghosts I have to worry about." Then "at least its people who can defend themselves." Then "at least most people are supporting me." Then... well. It didn't stay on one concluding phrase for long.

Right now, Danny repeated the new phrase in his head, just like he'd been doing for the better part of a week. "It could be worse. At least they noticed my heart was still beating. At least they stopped cutting before they could stop it. At least they haven't turned me in."

It was true. Danny was sitting at the table in Fentonworks, with a spoon gripped in one hand and a bowl of cereal in front of him. His mother was by the counter, pouring herself a bowl. His father was at the couch behind him. They only looked at him when they thought he wasn't looking, with hands resting a bit too close to holsters to be natural. They talked at him, not to him, and it was always stilted half baked conversations, the things they felt they were supposed to say.

None of them had talked about it. Danny was beginning to doubt that they ever would.

It could have been worse. At least Danny still had a place to stay, even if he couldn't stop his eyes from wandering to the basement stairs every time he could see them, couldn't stop the feeling of his skin crawling along the lines where it had been peeled back and pinned down. He was still here, and he had to stay here, no matter how much his stomach churned just being inside these walls. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go.

He couldn't leave Amity Park. He'd figured that out ages ago, had come to terms with it through many unwilling discussions with Jazz. It was too dangerous for him to leave while the portal still stood, and the portal wasn't going to close. Probably ever, if he understood the science correctly. He wasn't old enough to move out yet, and even if he was, he didn't have the money or time to be able to support him with. Mr. and Mrs. Foley might let him stay for a little while, but they wouldn't be able to accommodate him forever, and while Sam's parents could accommodate him, they would leave him on the streets the moment they thought Sam wasn't looking. Or maybe sooner.

Danny had no where else to go. But that was fine because he didn't need anywhere else to go. He was allowed to stay here, and he was fine with staying here, and-

There was a flash of metal in Maddie's hand. A scalpel, pristine and sharpened, glinting in the lights of the operating table. He couldn't see her face, hidden under a medical mask and the goggles she always wore, a face so alien that he couldn't quite compute that it was his mother slicing him open, his mother peeling his skin back, his mother removing his innards, his mother-

His mother dropped the spoon into her bowl of cereal and turned to face him. She wasn't wearing a mask, or goggles, and the hood of her jumpsuit was pulled down. She was getting breakfast. Danny was eating breakfast.

Or he was. The spoon he'd been holding was crushed in his hand, a mangled mass of unidentifiable metal. Danny shoved it in his pocket before either of his parents could notice.

Standing up was a painful endeavor. You didn't need to be a doctor to know that standing uses a lot of muscles in the stomach, and while Danny's stomach was no longer gaping open, it was being held together by sloppy stitches he'd done himself. It took every ounce of strength to pull himself up without crying, and the shambled half steps he started taking to the stairs brought tears to his eyes.

He mumbled something unintelligible. He knew by now that his parents wouldn't listen to him, but him saying something had them take their hands off of their blasters. Danny could feel their eyes burning into the back of his skull as he shambled to the stairs. They made no sounds of concern, no moves to help him.

A week ago, he would've described climbing the stairs as hell. He could feel his skin puckering as the stitches holding him together tore. He wouldn't call it hell now. Hell was the table in the basement. This wasn't even close.

Danny collapsed into his bed, trying to gulp down air without moving. It didn't work. It never worked. He tried anyway.

The handful of minutes it took for Danny's torso to go from burning, pulsating agony to only just below unbearable seemed to stretch out for hours. He didn't dare move, couldn't even think through the haze of pain clouding his mind. When it cleared enough for him to hear his own thoughts, they carried nothing good.

He wasn't getting any better. It wasn't surprising; he hadn't done anything to get better. He couldn't. He needed food and rest and ectoplasm, and he couldn't get any of that without giving up something of the other. Maybe if Jazz was still home, he'd be able to get her to cover for him. She'd always brought him the supplies he needed, no complaining or questions. At least, not until after he'd felt better.

Jazz wasn't here anymore. She was off in some other state, living her dreams of becoming a psychologists, and Danny was left here, with his parents, who wouldn't let him within 10 feet of the basement door, meaning he didn't have access to ectoplasm like he normally did. They wouldn't bring food to him, or even let him bring food to his room despite never caring before, meaning he needed to go up and down the stairs to eat anything. They would wake him up and insist on him coming down to eat three times a day, meaning he couldn't even lay there in misery.

Sam and Tucker had noticed his radio silence a few days ago. Sam had snuck in through his bedroom window to check on him. Danny had barely been able to get a word out, hadn't been able to decide whether he wanted to show her what had happened or not, before his parents were in the room.

"Danny's just feeling a little under the weather the past few days," his mom had said with a smile. It felt more like she was baring her teeth.

"I'm sure he'll be right as rain soon enough kiddo!" his dad had said. He wrapped his arms around Sam's shoulders and guided her out of the room. She'd wanted to argue. Danny saw it on her face. Danny also saw how Jack's hand tightened just enough to draw her gaze back to him, just enough that even Sam bit her tongue.

At least they weren't making him go to school. He didn't think he'd make it five steps out the door before collapsing. Maybe that was why they weren't making him; it would raise too many red flags.

Danny was trying very hard to not think of himself as a prisoner. He wasn't a prisoner. His parents were just concerned, and showing it in a... less than ideal way. It was fine. Everything was fine. He wasn't trapped. Even though he couldn't leave, and could barely move, he wasn't trapped. He'd spent his whole life in this house, he couldn't be trapped.

Danny pushed the train of thought to the side, just like he'd done the other dozens of times he'd started to think that. It wasn't any good to dwell on things that weren't real. He needed to focus on doing something to help, which in this case meant getting better. He just needed to sleep.

That was easier said than done. The pain was still terrible, and the incision on his chest meant that he only had one option to try and get comfortable in. It didn't help that he already knew what was awaiting for him when he finally got tired or bored enough to fall asleep. He didn't think it was fair that he had already lived through that once, and his prize was getting to live through it over and over again every time he closed his eyes.

He didn't bother keeping track of how long passed before he slipped into sleep, but he knew instantly when he did. That was odd. Most of the time, he wasn't able to figure out he was dreaming until he was sitting upright, panting and grasping at torn stitches in a mixture of pain and desperation to feel his own, still beating heart. This time however, he knew he was dreaming immediately.

He wasn't on the operating table either, like he had been at the start of all of his other dreams. He wouldn't really describe himself as being anywhere, actually; he was surrounded by nothing but blackness.

Danny pushed himself up with his arms, and the world shifted with him. It was as if he hadn't moved it all, but the world had moved to make it seem like he had, interspersing spots of white that seemed to come out from behind nothing. It made his stomach churn and his head spin, and he brought one free arm to rub at his now aching temples.

"It seems as if I was correct. It is the little hero that needs saving this time." The voice was horribly familiar, and seemed to come from every direction at once. He should've known this was Nocturne's doing; the entire ordeal was covered in signs.

Danny stood to his feet in a flash whirling around to try and find where exactly this other ghost was, but he was only met with more of the void around him, shifting in that same unfamiliar way. He pushed the nausea down further; he couldn't worry about that now. "What do you want, Nocturne?" He called into the abyss. "I've beaten you once and I will do it again."

"You have," the voice focused on the spot in front of him, and the abyss seemed to gather in front of Danny, coming together to form Nocturne. "That is part of the reason why I'm here."

"Why, you looking for a rematch? Needed to wait until the odds were stacked in your favorite?" Danny spit out. He didn't bother trying to transform, or to fight Nocturne as he was; it wouldn't do him much good. Instead, he focused all his energy on waking up.

Nocturne floated closer, clicking his tongue in disappointment. "You will not wake up until I let you. It's a waste of energy to try."

"I've done it before," Danny pointed out.

"When I was busy with the rest of your town, yes," Nocturne agreed. "I am not spread so thin this time."

Danny knew he was telling the truth. He could feel the power threading through the air, reinforcing the barriers of the dream even as he strained against it. It was comforting, in a weird way. At least now Danny knew that, when he did wake up, he wouldn't be met with a city wide sleep epidemic. Again. It didn't bode well for him right now though. "So you're what, trapping me here?"

"No," Nocturne replied. "Nor am I looking for a fight. I am here to offer you a deal, nothing more. Once I receive my answer, you will be free to go, if you wish."

Danny set his jaw and crossed his arms. "Fine. But if you don't let me out after, I’ll kick your ass here, and then I’ll kick you ass when I wake up too.”

“I suppose that is a fair trade,” Nocturne replied. “You are not safe in your home. You have not felt safe in your home for years.”

“Hey, that’s not-“ Danny protested.

“You cannot lie to me here, child.” Nocturne shut him down immediately. “Even if you can lie to yourself.”

Danny snapped his mouth shut.

“I have come with an option. A way for you to turn back the clock on your... situation and return to the way things were before. Or better, if that is what you'd wish.”

"...how would you do that?" Danny asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I will create it for you. Your town, your friends, your family. Whatever it is you wish, in your own world. You wouldn't even be able to tell the difference."

Danny rolled his eyes and snorted. "Yeah, cause that's not something I've heard before. Lock me in some imperfectly perfect make believe so you can take over the world or whatever, or so I can waste away without even realizing. No thanks."

Nocturne moved closer, the surrounding starscape moving with him. "Your town would be safe from me, and while I will be the first to admit I can do nothing for your body, I'd have hoped that by now you would have realized that you are far more than just the skin you wear. I am promising you more than just a reprieve from your current predicament. I am offering you an eternity with those you love, where you are certain to keep them safe and protected. The real them, tied to the same dream as you, in the same way. That is not the kind of safety you will ever be able to offer on your own. Is that not what you desire?"

Danny hated just how right Nocturne was. He hated how tempting the offer was even more. He'd be lying to himself if he said he hadn't worried about the state of his friends once they'd moved away from Amity, that he hadn't paced his room worried about Jazz when she'd moved away to college, forcing himself to not run to the phone and try to call her again.

He shook his head anyway. "I can't just leave everyone else. I can't just live in a fantasy while who knows who does who knows what to Amity Park. I need to keep it safe, not whatever replica you're promising."

Nocturne floated closer, until he was barely a foot away from Danny, and lowered his mask to look Danny in the eyes. Nocturne's expression did not change. "You are a fascinating creature," he said, before pulling away.

"You're going to let me go now, right?" Danny asked, as Nocturne pulled away. "You said-"

"I am aware, child," Nocturne interrupted. "And I will keep my word. But I have something else to offer you, though this will require something from you in return."

"Why?" Danny asked. "Why do you care so much?"

"As I said, you are a fascinating creature," Nocturne said. Danny didn't like the way he said it. It made him feel like an insect to be studied.

He decided that thought was better left unsaid. "Well, if you're just going to try and trap me in some other dream, I'm going to pass."

Nocturne pulled away, moving around Danny in a slow circle. "It will be nothing of that sort. You have made your stance on that clear, and I respect your wishes. But my powers can extend to the waking world. I can help you protect your little town far better than you are able to now."

That had Danny's interest, and his suspicion. He narrowed his eyes, rotating to keep Nocturne in his sights. "And how would you do that?"

"I can make the... recent events the dream, in your mind and your parents."

"What, so I won't remember it?" Danny asked. "That's not going to do anyone any good when I have this mess to deal with." Danny gestured to his chest.

"Tell me, child. How does 'that mess,' as you so eloquently put it, feel?"

It took Danny a second to figure out what exactly Nocturne meant. And then it dawned on him; it took him a second to figure out how the wound felt. He'd been hyper aware of it for a week now, constantly in pain, constantly tiptoeing around it. He'd spent every moment, awake and asleep, trying to do whatever he could to make it better. Now, he could barely feel it.

He still could. It still hurt. But it was a dull throb, the kind of pain he'd learned to push aside and ignore with years of practice.

"You will feel like this once you wake up. You will be able to return to your place as protector of your town. The wound will not be healed. You will still need to tend to it. But it will not interfere, and you should heal."

"And... my parents?" Danny asked.

"Their memories of the event, and yours will grow distant. You will all know that it happened, but become difficult to recall."

"Like trying to remember a dream?" Danny asked.

Nocturne tilted his head in affirmative, and raised his hand out towards Danny. "So tell me, little dreamer. Do we have a deal?"

Danny stared down at it. "You said there would be a price," Danny said slowly. "I'm not agreeing to anything until I've heard this price."

"Does it matter?" Nocturne's mask didn't move, just as static as it had been the whole time, but Danny couldn't help but feel like the smile was mocking him now. "If I was to tell you that the price was to serve me for an eternity, after you have no town left to protect, would you say no? If I gave you the ability to keep fighting, is there any price you wouldn't be willing to pay?"

Danny's breath caught in his throat. He wanted to say no. He wanted to deny it. But he couldn't. It was true. Nocturne didn't wait for his answer. Danny couldn't shake the feeling that it was because he already knew.

"I have no interest in any of that." Nocturne pulled away, and Danny could breathe again. "All I am interested in is another set of hands with a brain attached. My sleepwalkers are helpful, but they cannot do much with my more delicate work."

"And... and you won't make me leave?"

Nocturne tilted his head. "I am more than capable of collecting your side of the bargain while you sleep."

Danny hesitated for only a moment. He knew he couldn't be locked inside as he had been for much longer; he refused to leave the town in Valerie's hands alone. He just couldn't.

Danny tried to shake Nocturne's hand, but when he tried to tighten his grip, he met no resistance. It felt like he had plunged his hand into a jar of jello straight out of the fridge, with nothing underneath it. He tried to pull his hand away, only to find that it was stuck. He watched as the tar continued to move past his wrist, and then up his arm.

He looked up at Nocturne in horror. He was still smiling. Of course he was. "What's happening?"

Nocturne tilted his head. "You truly are a fascinating creature." His voice was distorted, as if Danny was underwater. "Even I cannot keep the nightmares from finding you."

—

Danny awoke gasping for air, sitting up in bed suddenly. Despite his rude awakening, he felt... good. Better than he had in the past week, for certain. He wouldn’t quite describe himself as well rested, but he was certainly less tired that he was before. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table and blinked in surprise. It was late afternoon. He'd slept for six hours. A full six hours of mostly uninterrupted sleep. That was more than Danny could ask on any regular day.

The fact that he was sitting up took a moment to dawn on him, and then hit him all at once. His hand went to his chest. His pajama shirt was damp, though he wasn't sure if it was from blood or sweat. Despite this, he didn't hurt; at least, not as much as he should. There was still a dull throb through his abdomen, like he was pressing on a bruise, but no where near the pain it had been only a few hours previously.

The dream came rushing back to Danny all at once, bringing with it a sense of relief. He hadn't trusted Nocturne at any point in the dream. The fact that he was awake at all was surprising, but the fact that Nocturne had actually withheld his part of the bargain was even more so. Hopefully that meant that Danny could get back to his "normal" half-life quickly.

He reached over and switched on his bedside lamp. The dampness had been a mixture of both sweat and blood, which was better than just blood but still meant he had yet another shirt to burn. He changed quickly, faster than he had since everything had happened, and went downstairs.

Danny could hear the sound of his parents in the lab. He remembered how his heart would race when he would hear that, or even so much as look at the door. Now, he felt... maybe a little nervous, distantly, but nothing like the sheer, gripping panic he'd had to fight off before.

Going down the stairs was harder, but he needed to do it. He needed to prove to himself that Nocturne had followed through on every part of the bargain, not just where Danny was concerned. The metal was cold underneath his feet, a familiar feeling that helped to ground him. He peaked his head around the corner, taking in the lab.

His mother was standing at one of the workbenches, hammering away at a lump of something that Danny couldn't identify. His father sat at one of the desks, squinting at a piece of paper and mumbling to himself. They were working on normal projects, just like they always did. Danny cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Oh, there you are Danny boy!" Jack said, looking up from his papers with a wide smile. "We were beginning to get worried about you! Feeling any better, son?"

"Uh, yea, Dad," Danny said, fumbling over his words.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Maddie said. "If you're hungry, there's some cans of soup in the cupboard, or you can order yourself takeout. You know how. Hopefully, you'll be feeling good enough to go to school tomorrow. Don't want you to fall any further behind, isn't that right young man?" Her tone was playful. Teasing. Something she hadn't done since figuring it out.

Danny stifled his sigh of relief, and shot her a smile, though she hadn't turned around from the table she was working at. "Thanks mom. I hope so too."

He turned around and made his way out of the basement slowly. Clearly, Nocturne had followed through on his deal, just like he said he would.

Let's just hope Danny didn't regret it when he had to do the same.

---

I am now talking directly to darthfrodophantom. Hello, I hope you enjoyed it, when I said you gave some really good prompts, I meant it. Your prompts have inspired me with two other fics that I would like to do at some point down the line, both gray ghost, one of them being a multichapter thing. If you are interested in me tagging you and saying "hey this was inspired by their truce prompts!" I can, if not, they'll be getting written anyway. I just wanted to make you aware of that fact.

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #danny fenton #nocturne dp #dp nocturne #starry eyed dreamer #tw dissection #tw gore #tw manipulation #phandom holiday truce 2023

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