Triggers

Yeah! My very first chapter story! I've been waiting a long time for this. Anyways, I haven't planned the ending yet, so I hope this ends well. There will be some violent scenes later on, but I'll put a warning at the top just in case, so no need to worry. You can tell me if you think that I should change the rating.

Summary:
Danny went missing, yet can't remember any of the time he was gone. Is Vlad behind it or is he here to help? And there's something terribly off about the whole thing... Rated for blood violence, and character death.

I don't own Danny phantom.

Chapter 1: Mondays Suck

Danny Fenton felt himself being slowly pulled towards consciousness. The only thing his fuzzy mind could he could register was that there was a harsh light coming down on his eyes. He dug the palms of his hands into his eyes in an attempt to block out the light. He was exhausted still and he wished he could just go back to sleep, but the light was relentless. (It was only later that Danny realized that this should have been his first clue.) He kept his eyes shielded as he blinked them open.

He gasped and jumped to his feet. His brain immediately went from zero to sixty, clearing away the last strands of fatigue. He tried to figure out just what in the world was going on. His senses screamed warnings making him tense up into a fighting stance. Who's there? Where am I? When-

...Oh.

It was only his room. Danny allowed himself to relax his posture, but his senses were amped from the amount of adrenaline pumping in his veins. He gave a shaky exhale and sat back down on his bed, running his fingers through his sweaty hair. It wasn't uncommon for him to wake up in battle mode. Usually, it happened whenever he had a particularly rough night ghost fighting, especially if it involved someone being in danger. Especially especially if it was someone he knew. Such nights would be followed by a restless sleep or nightmare. When morning came, he would be disorientated for a short period of time, until he realized that he was okay, that everyone was okay. He guessed it was just one of those things that come with the whole 'hero' gig.

He stretched out his limbs, yawning as the fatigue settled back in. Must have stayed up late again. The bed was still made, probably because he just passed out on top of the bed instead of crawling inside it. He flopped down on top of the pillows, piecing together what he remembered before going to bed. He had been walking home with Sam and Tuck... from the Nasty Burger...Then a ghost came... Which ghost was it, again? It was difficult to recall. He felt stupid for not being able to remember. Although, now that he thought about it, he did have a ton of enemies.

Well, he could think some more later. Right now, it was only- he glanced at the clock that sat beside his bed- 10:28 a.m. on Monday, and he just wanted to-

He could've sworn he felt his heart stop for a moment. No, no, no...

He lept up and ran to the bathroom, skipping the shower entirely. He finished cleaning up (thankful that he forgot to change into his pajamas) in record time. He was late! He was so, so, so late for school. He overslept... again! The last time that happened, his parents were close to breaking out the ghost weapons on him... Not that they knew he was half of their hate anyways. Oh man, didn't he have a test in Lancer's today? There was no time to think, no time to waste. He snatched up his backpack and phased out the door. Everyone should've been out of the house by now, so his secret was safe for now.

If it wasn't for his super senses, he would've missed the hushed voices that were carried up stairs. He came to a stop right at the top of the stairwell, listening carefully. Why would anyone be at the house still? Jazz had school, Mom and Dad were, well, hunting ghosts or inventing some new painful weapon for hunting ghosts... Who else could be here right now? His ghost sense didn't go off either. It didn't make sense. Unless... somebody was robbing the his house, or something. So far, he could hear two, maybe three voices whispering. He focused on his sense of hearing, hoping he could pick out words or someone's tone of voice.

"Already tried..."

"What if..."

"...going to my car..."

"...hurry..."

There was the sound of the door being quietly opened and closed. Danny tensed up again. What were they doing? Maybe he was being robbed. Maybe waking up late wasn't so bad after all, if that was the case. He wasn't entirely sure. Only one way to find out. He took a deep breath. It wasn't like they were ghosts. Then he would have been in trouble. No need to get all worked up Fenton, let's just get this over with...

It was dead silent as he crept down the stairs. Any noise at all would be heard a thousand times louder. He controlled his breaths through his mouth to make sure he would be completely silent. Being half dead did have it's perks, like being able to walk around without making a sound. He used this to his advantage, as well as invisibility. He continued to tiptoe down the stairs until he was able to see most of the floor. He readied himself for the worst and crouched down scanning the area.

He sighed in relief. Mom and Dad were looking at maps down on the coffee table in the living room. He was used to seeing them use maps to mark and record the locations of ghost sightings and find natural ghost portals the pop up. Sometimes, they could find patterns between the portals and sightings, which would help them go out on hunts. From the stairs, he could see lots of notes written on the maps, and 'X' marks in various places. Pens and markers were scattered around, as well as other things like scissors. It wasn't like their usual maps that were used to find ghosts and portals. Normally, they were much more neat with their work, being scientists, so seeing them so disorganized was strange. They were in such deep concentration, they didn't notice Danny drop invisibility and walked down the rest of the way. He was too curious to remember that he was hours late for school. But hey, what could he say? Curiosity half killed him and he still didn't learn his lesson.

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing?" he asked, his voice slightly scratchy.

He saw them visible tense, their heads snapping up, staring at him. It startled him, and if he hadn't just checked, Danny would've thought for sure he was Phantom right now. So he just blinked and looked at him, wondering why he felt like he was being dissected by with their eyes. Their faces were haunted, dark circles marking the nights they didn't sleep. Dad's face was unshaven and Mom wasn't wearing her usual make-up. For a long moment, there was nothing but a terrible silence. The tension in the air was too thick to breathe or move in. Danny thought he would scream until Dad finally spoke up.

"D-Danny...?" he whispered. Now Danny was really confused. Who else would he be? Again, he checked himself to make sure he was still Fenton. Yup. He tilted his head slightly, and was just about to speak when the door opened. Guess who came in?

"Sorry it took me a while, I... accidently..." Vlad's voice trailed off when he looked away from the papers in his hand. He found Danny standing at the bottom of the stairs and his jaw dropped slightly. Oh no, please, no more staring contests... it's creepy and unnerving. Seriously, what was wrong with everyone today!? This time, Danny spoke first.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'm sorry. I woke up late today, so I'd appreciate if you would just let me go and save the ... gawking for later." He spoke hurriedly, remembering that he really needed to take that test today. He took about two steps towards the door (which Vlad left open conveniently... speaking of which, why was he here?) before getting pulled into a fierce hug.

"Oh Danny! My sweet baby." To his horror, Mom was crying and stroking his hair. The only thing he could do was stay there, dumbstruck. Dad came up silently, crushing all of them in a hug that was sure to leave a bruise. Danny wasn't sure, but he thought Dad was crying, too.

What?

"Jack, g-go call Jazz. Tell her to come home now." Mom ordered in a shaky voice, before embracing him again whispering her gratitude in his ears. Dad moved off towards the land line and called up Jazz, but his words were lost to Danny. He was just so... shocked. Nothing made any sense.

What... what...

"What?" he said unintentionally. Mom was smiling through her tears as he pulled her son onto the couch. He allowed himself to be pulled around, to numb to react to anything.

"Oh baby," Mom pecked him on the cheek, something he would have been completely disgusted by in any other circumstance. She pulled away and added, "you're not hurt, are you?"

"Um...no," he answered, finding his voice. "Am I supposed to be?" Mom laughed, thinking it was a joke. Dad came back in smiling, yet there was a cold look in his eyes.

"I swear on all of the fudge in the world, I will rip apart the slimy ghost that did this – molecule by molecule!" Dad proclaimed.

"The ghost that did what?" Danny was burning with curiosity. His parents looked at him funny.

"Sweetie, why don't we wait until, your sister gets here, and then you can tell us everything." Mom suggested in a way that made him look like he was tryingto hide something. But he nodded his head in agreement anyways. He would get answers when Jazz was home.

They all waited in a lengthy silence for about minutes, although it felt like an eternity. This had to be the most awkward moments of his half-life. No one said a word. The only sounds were the occasional sniffle or cough. Everyone looked at no one in particular. And Vlad...why was he still here? He hadn't spoken a word to him. Danny sent the this-is-all-your-fault-isn't-it glares his way regularly. It was a fact of life; bad events=Vlad screwing with you. Though, there was a slim chance he wasn't by the way he was looking at Danny. He didn't exactly know what it was. Annoyance? Perplexion? He even dared to say... worry. The calm and collected Vlad Masters experiencing worry for something other than himself. Not something you see everyday. Then again, he was a very good actor. Hmph. Back to glaring.

Just when Danny though he couldn't take it anymore, Jazz came running through the door.

"Danny!" she cried, engulfing him in a hug. Here we go again... He awkwardly patted her on the back, allowing her to get all her tears out. "I kept thinking the worst and...and..."

"I'm alright, Jazz. " her brother assured her. "I'm fine." But he could head the slight trembling in his own voice. He was seriously freaked out by everything. Everyone was so emotional... what was going on? Jazz sat down next to him while everyone else chose seats that faced him.

"Alright, son. Talk to us. Go on. " Dad prompted with a wave of his hand. Danny was beginning to get irritated. What were they expecting him to say? A confession of some sort?

"I, um...Sorry that I woke up late... On the day of a test..." His parents shared a laugh. He sighed. He couldn't understand what they wanted. Jazz looked at him and winked. Then she turned to their parents.

"Mom, Dad, why don't you let me handle this. " She stood up with Danny following her like lost puppy. Vlad stood up too. Oh yeah, real subtle. Half way up the stairs she made a point to turn to Vlad and add icily, "Alone. " Vlad's eyes rolled at the hostile word but sat down regardless.

The siblings headed straight to Danny's room and sat down facing each other on the bed. Jazz put a hand on his shoulder. She didn't fail to notice that he flinched slightly involuntarily.

"No one's here, you can talk to me now." She assured.

"Unless Vlad is sniffing around," he replied, giving a slight grin. She chuckled, but was determined not to be distracted. She continued to wait for him to answer seriously. Danny blew his messy bangs out of his eyes. There was a moment of pause before Jazz saw she would have to talk first.

"Look, I can understand if you don't want talk around Vlad or even Mom and Dad, but you don't have to do this to me. I'm your sister, there's no need to keep me out of anything. " She huffed in agitation.

"What would I keep you out of? You, all of you are hiding something from me. I'm late for school, I come down stairs, see that Mom, Dad, and Vlad are plotting something, and then everyone's all teary and emotional! Tell what's going on." Danny demanded.

Jazz went quiet. She pulled back, visibly shocked. She studied him for a moment or two, probably psycho-analyzing him, before worry began to etch itself into her face. Her next words were very carefully said, as if he were a fragile child.

"Danny, do you know what day it is?" She asked.

"...Monday. Why? What does this have to do with anything?" Danny was only further confused. He wanted answers! Apparently he had answered Jazz wrong. She decided to switch tactics and ask Danny more directly.

"What do you remember? Before you woke up this morning, I mean." Her questions began to disturb Danny, but he answered nonetheless.

"I was walking home from the Nasty Burger with my friends and... I fought a ghost..." He started hitting a mental block. He rubbed his forehead. "What's your point?"

"That was on Saturday... " She agreed in a hushed voice. It took a moment for Danny to process that. Today was Monday, he remembered up until Saturday...

"What happened?" He asked fearfully. He had to know. He was missing something that happened between then and now, and he needed to find out.

"Oh Danny, " her voice broke and she began to cry again. "You were missing..."

Danny pulled her into his arms. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here now. No need to cry. " He tried to comfort her with his words, but to no avail. He himself was creeped out by the fact he couldn't remember. Then he realized something. "Why did you get everyone else involved? You know I can handle myself for a day. I'm alright. " She was usually good with covering for me when I was gone.

Jazz suddenly pulled away. "You're alright? You are most definitely not alright!" Danny was startled by her raised voice. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly. She continued to panic as she said, "How can you be alright? How could I not involve everyone? You... You don't even remember a thing!" Danny's blood ran ice cold with her next words.

"You were missing for three months!"

The journey begins...

Why can't he remember? What can't he remember? What will happen now? Why is Vlad a stalker?

Tell me what you think so far, and if I should keep going.

This was done in only a few days so there might be mistakes – just tell me and I will fix it. It starts off a bit slow, but give it a chance, picks up later.

See you next update!