Danny Fenton moaned softly, slowly awakening from what felt like a long rest. He lay still, basking in the sluggishness of sleep and enjoying it for a few blessed minutes. His closed eyes cracked open half-lidded, but the surrounding brightness forced them to shut quickly, retinas stinging. He wearily groaned, but the noise tapered off to a sound of confusion when he noticed the stiff surface against his back instead of a soft one. He was not in his bed.
His hand reflexively reached out beside him, touching something gritty that reminded him of dirt. The hard surface and the brightness of his surroundings oddly reminded him of being strapped to an examination table in some laboratory. Danny was unsure where this thought had come from, as it slipped his mind as quickly as it had surfaced and he shrugged it off as some lingering dream. He eased his eyes open again, still bothered by the brightness of the area, but he merely blinked a few times to focus his vision. It took a moment to process what he was staring at, and when his mind had become coherent enough, Danny sat up quickly, feeling lightheaded from such a hasty movement.
His eyes darted about, but wherever he looked, green assaulted his vision. Objects floated about the infinite-distance, taking the shape of doors, clumps of land, some objects moving beyond a mere hover—specters or ghosts no doubt. The air was still, yet there was a sense of movement that was so unlike wind, it was ethereal and rather eerie as though the atmosphere itself were alive. Danny was unsure if it was day or night, for the Ghost Zone held neither, something that set it quite apart from the human realm.
He averted his gaze and looked upon himself, checking to see if anything was amiss, mildly startled to see a black and white hazmat suit instead of jeans and a T-shirt; he was his alter-ego Danny Phantom. "Well, this shouldn't be too surprising; I am in the home of my enemies." Danny shrugged; it never hurt to be prepared, even if it was subconsciously. "Now the real question is how did I get here?"
Now that Danny was awake, he could think on the reason that he was within the Ghost Zone, but no immediate memories surfaced. Once he discovered his whereabouts, it was only natural to start thinking through the why's and how's of the situation, but he couldn't, he couldn't remember. If he were in human form he was sure that his heart would be palpitating against his chest.
"Okay, there's no need to panic, Fenton; there's got to be a perfectly good explanation for all this," the slight waver in Danny's voice betrayed his true emotions on the matter. Memories shouldn't just vanish, there had to be something he could recall; he still knew who he was, so it wasn't like he had forgotten everything. So Danny concentrated, isolating any recent memories, even if it didn't make the connection to how he had come here; he just wished to remember something.
A fog swirled throughout his mind, a steady blackness remained, but he was determined and concentrated harder, his efforts rewarded him with an image of a girl his own age. She wore a steady frown on her face and had a crown of ebony hair—some would consider her manner of dress dark and reclusive. This is what Danny had loved most about Sam Manson; she was extraordinary, an individual. He smiled, pleased that he could remember his friend, although how he could ever forget her is true a mystery, one he would keep to himself. The smile wilted when he thought on how hard of a punch he'd receive from the gothic girl if she ever found out that he had momentarily forgotten her. Before he could stop himself, Danny quickly formed another figure next to her, a male this time, of dark ethnicity. He wore a cocky grin reminiscent of a ladies-man, but the image he tried to portray was ruined promptly by the high-tech gizmo clutched in his right hand. Tucker Foley never left home without his glasses and his classy red beret, but especially never without his PDA; that would be considered a crime in the world of techno-geeks.
Now that he had the images of his two best friends formed in his mind, the rest of the picture had built upon itself; he recalled a recent memory. The three of them were together within Danny's room, Tucker sitting in his desk chair facing the bed where Sam sat on the edge and Danny himself stood pacing back and forth. Text books were spilled open on his coverlet, papers spread out as Sam read off some questions while Danny and Tucker answered, the trio studying for an upcoming test. Danny halted when he hiccupped a mist of blue, his ghost sense interrupting Sam mid-sentence before his own moans of dismay cut off the abrupt silence. Danny reluctantly asked for his friends to cover for him as he morphed into his ghost-form and flew out the window to face the newest threat.
It wasn't long until he found it. All around Amity Park Danny had spotted signs of havoc from busted windows to dented cars, these clues acting as a trail of bread-crumbs that lead him to the culprits; Johnny 13 and Kitty were currently in a lover's quarrel. The pair was known throughout the Ghost Zone for having a rocky relationship, but it had never gone beyond Johnny hitting on other woman or Kitty spitefully dating another man. Now it seemed as though they were out to annihilate one another. The fight was rather unfair too, as Johnny and his Shadow were teaming up against Kitty, who was struggling to hold her own in this fight. Danny was uncertain what propelled him forward, his heroics, the limited time he was with Kitty, or sheer stupidity, but before he knew what he was doing, he jumped into the fray, putting a shield up around Kitty, protecting her from an oncoming ecto-blast.
The girl was grateful for his help, but Johnny was rather angry with him for interfering in their business. Danny tried to argue that their quarrel was tearing up Amity Park, but Johnny's jealously made it impossible for him to listen to reason. Danny was now swayed into the fight and before long he managed to weaken Johnny enough to calm him. The teen had the two ghosts talking to one-another soon after and it seemed as though they managed to settle their differences. When things seemed calm, something decided to break up the moment of respite, and all Danny could recall was astonished faces and a flash of white light, then… nothing.
Everything became dark again, memories fading away to that familiar blackness from before. Danny opened his eyes, releasing his concentration, frowning in disappointment that he couldn't recall why he was in the Ghost Zone, but at least he remembered something. There was a hole in his memories though, set between that strange flash of light to appearing where he was. He was uncertain how long this difference was, whether it was a matter of an hour or even days, it was still a hole that he wished filled. Danny felt uneasy.
"Well, sitting here all day isn't going to get me anywhere." Danny stood and floated into the air, removing himself from the island he awakened on. He took off in a random direction, keeping a leisurely pace and his eyes open. His current location wasn't entirely familiar, but the Ghost Zone had that effect on him, between the constant glow and lack of sunlight, there was no proper sense of direction. If he could locate a few of the lair's he was familiar with, it would be easy to find the Fenton Portal; though he wasn't sure if he wanted to go home quite yet.
It might be more valuable to gather some information before he headed home, especially since he was already within the Ghost Zone; he had an idea of two ghosts he would like to speak with. From what he could remember, things ended on a positive note between Kitty, Johnny, and himself, so he didn't expect a full conflict with them. Kitty would no doubt need the least convincing of the two since he protected her, but anything was possible and he'd still need to keep up his guard.
"And now I just have to find them," Danny spoke, optimism in his tone. Looking around at the unfamiliar, empty area about him Danny felt skeptic at finding anything. "Where's the Infa-Map when you need it?" He huffed in annoyance; this could take some time.
After a few silent minutes, he passed by some more hovering islands—much like the one he awakened on—and in the background supernatural doors filled the empty spaces; he was coming to a populated area within the Ghost Zone. His keen eyes glanced around, keeping aware of his environment, especially when a few unfamiliar ghosts flew about, but they seemed to mostly ignore him. That was odd in itself. In Danny's experience, even when ghosts didn't know him, they still knew of him, so it wasn't surprising when ghosts he didn't recognize attacked. Some ghosts glanced his way, while most flew past him as though he didn't exist. It was odd indeed.
When another ghost had floated quickly past him, eyes downcast, Danny had enough. He spun around and pursued the creature, but it seemed to realize he was following and started flying away at a quicker pace. "Wait, I just wanted to ask for directions!" Danny called out, hoping the ghost would humor him and stop, but the specter continued to fly forward, ignoring his plea. "Well, I tried to be nice, but I guess I can't expect much," Danny grumbled to himself, deciding on a different approach. He shot a small ecto-blast at the shapeless blob, hoping to divert the ghost's attention long enough to get close to it. When he did approach it, however, it feigned getting hit and released some kind of screech, the noise affectively bothering Danny, the teen shoving his hands to his ears in a vain attempt to block the sound. The attack stunned Danny long enough for the ghost to escape and gain a considerable distance between them, however Danny gave it chase anyway, an annoyed growl escaping his throat.
It was comical to anyone watching, like seeing a strange game of cat and mouse. The ghost swerved close to doors and underneath stairs and over unsuspecting ghosts, not stopping for a moment, nor looking back at Danny to see if he still pursued it. "Wait! I won't attack…er…anymore!" Danny yelled, trying not to sound irate, but in his annoyance, anger crept into his voice anyway. He tried to gain ground, but instead the distance between them grew even further apart. "Slow down!" He was ignored again.
Fed up with the speed of this specter, Danny splayed his arms before him, releasing a stream of ice from his finger-tips, catching the blob-ghost off guard by freezing its legs. It was effective in stopping the ghost in place, Danny approaching the creature with ease. It whimpered at him like a kicked puppy and Danny softened his features, feeling bad that he trapped it.
"Look, I won't keep you long, I just need directions, do you know how to—" Danny had begun before a blue glowing net enclosed around him, pinning his arms and legs awkwardly, the material clinging around him like a rope. Now that Danny himself was trapped, the blob-ghost grew excited and squirmed in its icy-prison, releasing itself after a few twist and turns, promptly flying way. Danny watched the ghost flee until it became a spec in the distance and he silently seethed. "I seriously have the worst luck."
Skulker appeared from above, swooping down in front of the captive teen, wicked grin on his face.
"Yeah, definitely the worst luck," Danny grumbled to himself, though he was sure Skulker heard him when he noted how the ghost's smile had widened.
"Long time no see, Ghost Child." Skulker's deep baritone was an enigma to Danny, considering that his voice was normally a lighter tenor outside of his suit.
Danny had tried to keep himself aware of his surroundings, but he inadvertently focused his attention on chasing that single ghost; not a wise decision. Now he had to deal with the obsessed hunter and at times, Skulker could be rather tricky to defeat. Though Danny absently mused that perhaps this could be a good thing too, maybe he could get some answers to help his situation. Or maybe just more bruises.
First, he would need to level the playing field though. Concentrating on his core, Danny built up a small amount of energy and let it burst out of his body at once, effectively ripping the glowing net off of him, the teen floating in place, unhindered. The hunter frowned at the teen's creativity; Danny's eyes lit up in determination. He would not allow Skulker to best him so easily.
"I wish that 'not seeing' part was longer. 'Not at all' would be preferable, but that'd be asking too much, I'm sure." Danny quipped back, hoping his sarcasm angered the hunter a little.
"Very clever, Whelp, but your tongue will not save your pelt from adorning the foot of my bed. It has been months since I have hunted for your pelt and this time it will be mine," his tone was dark, the ghost ready to attack. Metal plates shifted off of the hunter's shoulders, revealing rockets, activated and ready. Skulker let loose a few, the teen turning intangible on first instinct, bobbing and weaving between shots, tucking himself through the air with practiced ease.
Once he dodged the last rocket, Danny went on the offensive, creating an orb of ecto-energy in his hands and throwing it at one of the launchers, blowing the weapon apart from Skulker's shoulder. "I would think after all this time you'd get sick of trying to get my pelt—I know I am. Besides I'm sure you… wait, what do you mean by 'it has been months'?" The second ecto-ball that Danny had begun to form faded away, the confusion clearly shown on his face.
Skulker's remaining launcher dipped back into his shoulder. Instead, the hunter activated the jets on his back and flew at Danny with his fists extended, catching the teen in the face. The strength of the metal fist sent Danny careening backwards into the open air—Danny righted himself, rubbing his stinging cheek, glowering at the ghost.
"It is as I said, Whelp," Skulker spoke, smirking slyly, arms crossed and waiting for a response. Those words didn't tell him much and Danny wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin off the ghost's face. To counter the hunter's previous attack, Danny formed two more ecto-balls, releasing them towards the hunter. While Skulker dodged the attack, Danny raced forward and engaged him with a flurry of punches and kicks, driving the ghost backwards. The teen lashed his left foot out for a final strike to the chest, but his ankle was caught in a firm grip.
"Oh, this can't be good…" Danny whined as he was suddenly whipped around the air like a ragdoll and thrown straight at a floating purple door, his back bashing into the hard wood. Before he could respond, Skulker was upon him, one hand latching onto his hair and the other shoved harshly into his chest to pin him against the wood. Fingers dug painfully into his scalp, clenching the white strands in order to pull his head back, revealing the teen's neck. Skulker removed the hand ground against Danny's chest, flicking out his glowing dagger and placing the ethereal blade lightly against his exposed neck. Danny could only gulp, a little more than worried by the close proximity of this blade.
"Any last words, Ghost Child?"
"How about a question instead?" The digits wrapped in his hair pulled harder, gaining a yelp from Danny, the teen glaring hatefully at his captor. "Can you stop doing that?!" Danny growled, annoyed at the hunter for tearing at his sensitive scalp, the pain lingering. "You still didn't answer my question from before; what did you mean by months? You annoyed me just last week; how can you say you haven't hunted me in months?"
"That was more than one question, Ghost Child." The blade drew closer to Danny's neck, drawing a pinprick of green ectoplasm from the area. Danny gripped the hunter's arm in order to pull the blade away from his neck, but it did little to alleviate the problem—Skulker's arm wouldn't budge. The teen felt the familiar bite of panic well up inside of him, minus the thumping heartbeat.
For an intense moment, their eyes trained upon one another, until Danny's attention was drawn off to a point behind Skulker. The air there seemed to get colder, solidifying its form into something corporal, something icy; he wasn't sure if Skulker noticed this change like Danny himself had. Before he could process what this had meant, the hand fisted in Danny's hair, slowly froze with a layer of hoarfrost; Danny took advantage of this sudden fortune. In one fluid motion he released his left hand from Skulker's arm and charged an ecto-blast, discharging it at the frozen appendage. The attack shattered the arm straight from Skulker's body, effectively freeing Danny.
Now that Danny was released, he put as much distance between Skulker and himself, facing the enraged hunter. "You will pay for that, Whelp!"
"If you want to match I could totally get rid of the other arm for you; but I got to say the one-arm look really suits you," Danny countered smirking to himself.
In response to Danny's jibe, more guns expanded out from Skulker's body, training on the teen, wiping the smirk from his face. It had gone from silent to chaotic in only a few seconds, Danny having a harder time dodging the multiple attacks. He swerved off to the left, missing one shot, but getting clipped in the shoulder by another, biting back a cry of pain. The teen concentrated and turned himself intangible, missing a cacophony of blasts aimed for his chest, but when he turned tangible, a stray shot struck him in the calf. It went on like this for a few minutes, Danny escaping most of the shots, but getting dinged by a few minor ones, Skulker's attacks unrelenting.
"I missed watching you squirm, Whelp!" With that Skulker outstretched his remaining arm, a smaller device appearing from the wrist and firing. "But I grow tired of this game…" Too busy dodging the other attacks, Danny had never seen this strike coming, the attack hitting him dead-on. Instead of hurting the teen, however, Danny found that his wrists were now tethered together with a glowing green coil, likewise with both of his ankles. The teen tried to pry apart the bindings, but they wouldn't budge, so he reached for his ghostly powers instead only to feel…nothing. He winced at the familiar situation, these tethers canceling out his ghost powers; he was now a sitting duck.
Danny looked up from his bindings, unsettled by how close Skulker was to him now; he noticed that the gun's had retracted back within Skulker's mechanical suit. The hunter's beady eyes were lowered dangerously, Skulker's toothy grin wicked and foreboding; he was acting as though he had finally won. It was a look of pure victory.
The knife was within his hand again, Skulker floating calmly towards Danny, flipping the knife into the desired position—the blade was branded so that it was easy for slashing. Danny tried to edge himself backwards, but the way his limbs were pinned together made it nearly impossible to escape and the feeling of panic returned when Skulker closed in on him. "Goodbye, Ghost Child," the words were whispered as the hunters arm pulled back and then slashed forward, but by this point Danny had slammed his eyes shut. There was a strange crunching sound, an annoyed grunt from his attacker and Danny felt no pain from the slash, which was rather peculiar. In the silence, Danny opened his eyes to see Skulker's knife lodged in a shield of ice surrounding him. He absently wondered how this was possible when his ghostly powers were unreachable for the moment, but he also wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. While Skulker was distracted, his guard lowered causing the bindings from his wrists and ankles to dissipate. Once Danny was free, the ice shield disappeared as well.
Without wasting time, Danny extended his arms before him and trained his eyes on the hunter, simultaneously releasing ice-beams from his eyes and hands, coating the surprised ghost in a thick layer of ice. With his left hand, Danny built up some ecto-energy, letting it coat the surface of his hand, containing the energy therein. Danny rushed forward, flying at Skulker's frozen form, his charged hand punching the ice and releasing the contained energy—both Skulker's suit and the ice shattered on impact.
A mischievous smile crept on the teens face as he spied broken pieces of Skulker's suit and ice shards floating around the air. In the middle of the debris Skulker's tiny form floated in place, the ghost fixing Danny with an enraged glare, "Just you wait, Whelp! The Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter will have your pelt yet!" The teen could barely stifle the laughter escaping him when he was reminded yet again the difference in the ghost's voice once outside the mech. He wasn't very threatening in this form.
"I doubt it," Danny said casually. He watched as Skulker's tiny form floated off, the ghost seething, mumbling angrily to himself. Danny swore he heard something about ice-proof armor for their next hunt and it only encouraged Danny's laughter further.
With the hunter's threatening presence eliminated, Danny could go back to what he was doing prior to their fight—figuring out where he was within the Ghost Zone. He reasoned that chasing around the blob-like ghost and fighting Skulker had positioned him differently, so there was a chance that he was near a familiar lair now. He glanced around, scouting the immediate area and then the distance. To his left Danny spotted Ghostwriter's Library. He could easily reach the Fenton Portal now.
He hesitated moving in that direction when he remembered that he originally sought out either Johnny or Kitty; he still needed to sort out his memories. However, the fight he just had with Skulker left him exhausted and bed sounded more appealing right now. If Danny searched for the two ghosts there was also no guarantee that there wouldn't be another fight involved. The teen found himself flying towards the library, more interested in going home and sleeping.
Before long he was floating towards the opening to the Fenton Portal, the trip quick and discreet; Danny was fortunate enough not to run into any more ghosts along the way. With a final glance back at the Ghost Zone—a precaution to make sure that he wasn't followed—Danny flew through the portal, re-entering the human realm. He landed in his parent's laboratory and found himself to be alone now. An uneasy feeling came over him when he glanced about the lab, noting how unclean it was. Devices were thrown carelessly on the ground, crumpled papers littered amongst them, and coated in sticky green goop. Tables fared no better, frayed wiring, chemical stains, and broken glass beakers covering their surfaces.
Turning intangible, Danny flew through the ceiling of the lab, passing through the living room, and phasing straight into his own room. Flickering tangible he glanced around noticing how clean everything seemed. That was odd—the last time he checked his room was a complete disaster. Too tired to make sense of it, Danny diverted his attention to the window seeing a night sky full of winking stars. A soft smile came to his lips as he sought out the alarm clock on his nightstand, wondering absently what time it was. "One thirty-three, still enough time to get some sleep."
He just needed to shift from Phantom to Fenton and then he would hop into bed and forget about everything for the night; he could sort his memories in the morning. Right now he just didn't care. He reached for his inner humanity, but the familiar warmth was missing and in its place was something bitter-cold. Danny gasped, pulling away, unsure what that unsettling feeling was. He gave it another try, hoping to see the white transformation rings passing over his body. They didn't. He tried a third time, that chilled feeling returning, and he let go, ceasing this sensation. He quivered. "What's wrong with me?" This startled him. Never in his three years of being a half-ghost had he experienced this feeling. "Maybe it was one of Skulker's weapons…" he reasoned logically, but he could still hear the doubt in his own voice.
Danny knew one thing to be true, he couldn't stay home now. It was a bitter thought, because his bed was right next to him and it was a shame that he couldn't lie down on the inviting mattress and sleep. It was simply too risky to stay around his home when he couldn't transform back to human. Right now he was just another ghost and an easier target for his ghost hunting parents. Sure his parents may have not shared Skulker's sentiment about stringing up his carcass for display, but they still wanted to destroy him, rip him apart molecule by molecule. That was just as terrible.
"Where can I go?" It was obvious that he couldn't remain home and returning to the Ghost Zone didn't seem like the best idea either, especially since he had destroyed another one of Skulker's suits. He thought about waking up his friends or sister, but it was the middle of the night and if what Skulker said was actually true, then his sudden appearance might come as more of a shock. "I probably shouldn't stay in Amity Park either." He mused that he would need to leave the city, at least for the night, but he didn't have to go too far. The forest on the outskirts of town would be the perfect place to hide away until morning, hardly anyone entered those woods. Everyone thought they were haunted, go figure.
In the morning he would seek out Sam and Tucker and hopefully sort this mess out. For now, he had to get moving or risk one of his parent's inventions picking up his ecto-signature; his situation was bad enough.
Danny phased through the wall of his room, appearing outside in the chill night air, though the cold had no effect on him. These hours of darkness seemed peaceful, a calm wind ruffling his hair while the blackened sky blanketed the area with glistening stars. The surrounding neighborhoods looked secure and as he flew along, more of the city seemed undamaged.
While he flew above the city, he thought on what Skulker had said earlier. Supposedly the ghost hadn't hunted him in months, eluding that Danny had been missing for that period of time, but he had a hard time believing this to be true. Amity Park looked safe and if Danny had really been missing all that time, he would expect to be faced with utter chaos, destruction, and scores of ghosts. Right now, the city was serene and that meant he couldn't have been missing for too long, maybe just a couple of days at most.
During their fight, Danny had tried to coax more information from the hunter—he wasn't sure if it was intentional or not—but Skulker hadn't revealed much more to him. Once the fight really started to heat up he had forgotten about the comment. It was bothering him now though. Even though the city seemed safe, Danny had that nagging feeling that Skulker was still telling the truth. "He might be my enemy, but…Skulker doesn't lie. But then that means that I was really missing for a few months, I mean you think I'd remember something like that? Oh, wait, that's right I'm like the equivalent of an amnesiac…" Danny slapped a hand to his forehead, gripping his hair in frustration, the strands feeling oddly cold.
He let go of his head and outstretched his arms forward, shifting his lower half to a wispy tale, increasing the speed of his flight. The scenery started passing by in blurs as he soared through the sky and towards his destination.
If Danny had been missing for such a period of time, he wondered if there was some sort of response to his disappearance. He wasn't a very popular guy in school and his family wasn't so well-liked because of their profession and obsession with ghosts; he was an outcast because of this. He absently wondered if the students at Casper High worried for him or even cared if he was gone. What about his parents? Did they blame a ghost for stealing their son, or even worse, did they blame Danny Phantom for his possible disappearance? What about his sister and friends? Did they think he abandoned them? If he was truly missing for a few months, then there was no doubt in his mind that he made his loved ones worried sick. The thought almost made him turn around. Almost.
As Phantom he was viewed differently depending on the person; some saw him as a heroic vigilante, others considered him a destructive pest, while at times he was also perceived as just another ghost. Danny's parents would view him as option number three, except they wouldn't run away screaming, they would likely shoot him instead. With his current inability to shift back to human-form, returning home would have been a mistake and it wasn't worth the risk, especially since his fight with Skulker exhausted him greatly. The teen would merely continue on course, flying towards the outskirts of town where no one would bother him. He would rest, regain strength, and in the morning go seek out his friends. The three of them could put their heads together like always and figure things out.
He couldn't help feeling as though things were different this time. Too many strange things have happened this night. He awakened within the Ghost Zone with no memory of how he had gotten there and the only recent memory he could recall ended abruptly and was incomplete. Then during his fight with Skulker, the hunter revealed to him that he was quite possibly missing for a few months, though Danny was still unsure whether to believe this or not. Finally, he couldn't transform back to his human-form and was uncertain whether or not it had something to do with Skulker's weapons or something else entirely. He wondered if this night could get any worse.
He felt mildly startled when a wet droplet splashed onto his nose from above and gingerly glanced up to see clouds now obscuring the stars. Another droplet plopped onto his bangs and another dripped onto his extended hand, the clouds producing a slight drizzle. Danny signed deeply, "I really do have the worse luck." The subtle droplets shifted their intensity, getting heavier and more aggressive as they fell, the feeling reminding him of piercing needles poking into his suit. The rain pelted him mercilessly.
His piercing eyes scanned the darkness, his ghost-form's night vision enabling him to see that he was nearing the edge of town and would be within the forest soon. Once in the woods he wouldn't need to find cover for the night, as the trees would provide enough for him naturally. Veering downward he slowed himself until he hovered near the forest entrance, landing on the grass and entering thereafter. He didn't wander in too far, keeping shallow enough so that he could leave quickly in the morning, but deep enough so that no human would stumble upon his sleeping form.
Danny found a large tree to sleep beneath and it provided enough cover so that he wouldn't get soaked as he rested. He briefly flickered intangible to remove the water saturating his hazmat suit, but he swore that the water in his hair had frozen on contact and stubbornly remained as ice.
The sudden rain had ruined any chance for Danny to stargaze and he felt mildly disappointed by this. He supposed it was a good thing though, because it would take him longer to go to sleep if he was distracted by looking at the stars, though there was enough on his mind to keep him awake anyway. Still he settled himself on the grass, the strands cushioning his body much like a bed would and he placed his arms behind his head using them as a pillow. Danny slowly relaxed, closing his eyes. He was so exhausted it would only be a matter of time before he was sleeping.
Eventually he succumbed to sleep, even if it meant leaving himself vulnerable.
Even though when he awakened he'd have to face this strange situation once more.
Authors Note: I just wanted to address one little thing, but I figured it's okay to place at the end of the first chapter, because this information won't really affect anything here. This story is technically occurring sometime after the episode D-stabilized and Phantom Planet didn't happen and won't be happening, so consider this AU. Very AU!
Please, read, review, and let me know what you think!