AN: I'm super new to FFN (both reading and posting) so I hope I'm doing everything right... Also low-key frustrated that apparently blank lines don't work so I have to use horizontal lines everywhere.
Anyway, this is one of several pieces that I wrote for the Ectoberweek 2018 event over on Tumblr.
It was a quiet night in the Fenton household, as midnight fast approached and its residents had already gone to bed. Well, all residents bar one, evidenced by the soft scuffling coming from the basement lab, where Maddie Fenton was making use of the peace and quiet to get some additional work in. While Maddie dearly loved her husband, sometimes she just needed some silence around her so she could tinker in peace, letting her thoughts run wild.
It was the late hour that reminded Maddie of old superstitions, and how they usually found a basis in the truth, even if far derived from it. She had, for example, always wondered why people called it the Witching Hour, rather than something more sensible like the Haunting Hour. It was common knowledge, after all, that the increased supernatural activity after midnight was caused by ghosts.
Well, it was common knowledge that ghosts were more active in the hour after midnight, but Maddie had never heard of anyone figuring out why they were more active during the Witching Hour. A quick glance at the clock told her it was almost midnight, and Maddie decided that she might as well go out and try to decipher this newly revealed mystery. Even if she couldn't find any answers, she might be able to catch a ghost or two for her and Jack to experiment on.
And so, with newfound purpose, Maddie quickly loaded herself up with ghost-hunting weaponry, slinging a large net gun across her back and grabbing a smaller ecto-gun that she could hold in a single hand. Another glance at the clock told her that midnight had now passed, and she quietly left the house. She contemplated taking the GAV, but decided against it, figuring that there would be plenty of ghosts near the house, and not wanting to risk waking up her family.
Roughly thirty minutes later Maddie still had not seen even the slightest hint of a ghost, and she had started to regret not bringing a ghost tracking device like the Fenton Finder. There had been many different papers on the increased activity of ghosts throughout the night, and by many different researchers as well, so clearly it wasn't just common folklore. So then where were the ghosts, who showed themselves so frequently during the day?
She was snapped out of her thoughts by a flash of green light from a nearby alley, which was soon followed by a flash of blue-white light as she cautiously made her way over. Quickly checking that her gun was still charged (it was) and that the safety was off (it was), she suddenly rounded the corner, staring right into a pair of glowing green eyes.
Stepping backwards, she raised the gun and held down the trigger to charge up a shot, watching as the ghost on the other end raised his hands as if surrendering.
There was no mistaking him, between the snow-white hair, the glowing acid-green eyes, and the black jumpsuit with that ridiculous logo. It was the ghost boy himself, Danny Phantom.
It was a rare opportunity to capture him, as Phantom was rarely seen outside of his fights with other ghosts, and was quick to flee once the other ghost was defeated. Oh, if only Jack were here, so he could have captured Phantom while she kept her gun trained on him. She knew that the moment she lowered her gun he would disappear, running off to wherever he went when he wasn't causing trouble in Amity Park.
But perhaps, if she could not capture him, she could still use this moment to learn more about ghosts. After all, she did set out to solve the mystery of why ghosts were more active during the night, and there must have been something that drew Phantom out of hiding.
"Hey, uh, Maddie," the ghost stammered out, apprehensively eyeing the gun in her hands.
Maddie smirked back, knowing that Phantom was at her mercy. This close, there was no way she could miss, and clearly the ghost knew it. Too bad that the ecto-gun wasn't strong enough to stop him from running, only to injure him.
The ghost shuffled his feet, clearly playing up the part of an awkward teen, hands still raised in surrender, eyes now darting between the gun aimed at his chest and her face, as if he were trying to read her expression without losing sight of her weapon.
"So uh, from one ghost hunter to another, any chance you could maybe not shoot me?" he said as his eyes settled on her face, looking at her with a somewhat hopeful expression.
Maddie scoffed and watched as his expression withered in a surprisingly good mimicking of human emotions. "From one ghost hunter to another, huh?"
His eyes darted back to her gun, a calculating look coming over him. She fingered the trigger, a silent warning, and one he clearly understood as he licked his lips and glanced back at her face with no clear emotions on his face. Seeing that he seemed to be contemplating the risk of attacking her, Maddie decided to put out her offer before it was too late.
"Well Phantom, perhaps we can strike a deal then, hmm?" Confusion flooded his face, suspicion clear in his eyes.
"What kind of deal?" he asked, starting to get twitchy. He clearly wanted to flee but was too curious to leave.
"I want information on ghosts. You answer my questions, and I'll let you go without shooting you." The gun in her hands had quieted, having long since reached its maximum charge. Phantom finally took his eyes off of her, and her gun, to dart a glance around their environment, before nodding.
"Yeah, okay. Any chance you'll lower your gun while I'm answering you?" He shot her what was probably supposed to be a disarming smile, but the glowing green eyes ruined the effect for Maddie. Taking her silence for a no, he sighed, dropping his hands slightly.
"Yeah, I figured as much. Let's get this over with, then. What do you want to know?"
"Why are you out here, Phantom?" His brow furrowed in confusion, hands dropping completely as he stammered out a reply. "What?"
Maddie sighed, still keeping the gun aimed at his chest. "I asked, Phantom, what you were doing out here. Why are you out in this alley at this time of night?"
"Oh," he huffed, raising one of his hands to rub the back of his neck. "The Box Ghost was causing a ruckus so I came to capture him."
Now it was Maddie's turn to frown in confusion. "Not out here for your own pleasure, then?"
"No way. The only good thing about being outside this late is the stars. It's kind of amazing how well you can see them in this town, especially considering how bright your sign is," he answered as he dropped the hand that was rubbing his neck.
Maddie bit back her first response trying to defend the FentonWorks sign that her husband loved so much, instead focusing on something else he said. "You… like the stars?"
"Yeah, ever since I was a kid." He shrugged at her, managing to look even more like a teenager than he normally did. "Wanted to be an astronaut, but protecting this town was more important."
Maddie felt her frown deepen as she lowered the gun a little. "An astronaut huh? That's a pretty unlikely career, isn't it?"
Phantom shrugged again before answering. "I mean, I'm a ghost. There's nothing stopping me from going into space. It's not like I need air or anything, and there are no ghost hunters in space either. If anything, it would probably be a lot safer for me."
"So why stay here? Why not go into space and chase your dreams?" Maddie wasn't sure why she asked him. Maybe it was because Phantom reminded her of Danny in the moment, an awkward teenager who dreamed of space, rather than a dangerous ghost.
Phantom frowned, taking his eyes off of her and instead turning away, before sighing deeply. "Somebody has to protect this town from ghosts, Maddie. And while you and Jack and the Huntress are good at this stuff, you're still at a natural disadvantage. I just," he sighs again and runs his hands through his hair, messing his chaotic hair up ever further. "I just don't want anybody to get hurt, you know?"
Maddie had never understood how others had fallen for Phantom's heroic disguise, but suddenly she saw what they had seen. As much as she had always believed her research, that ghosts were purely malevolent beings with no emotions, Phantom simply seemed too genuine. She had always thought of him as a great actor, but this was far beyond the scope of acting.
Conflicted, she fully lowered the gun but kept her finger on the trigger, in case it all turned out to be a ruse to get her to lower her guard, but he didn't even turn around. She was starting to regret her decision to question Phantom. It seemed that for every answer he gave her, she just got more and more confused.
"You don't even want us to get hurt, despite the fact that we hunted you?"
"No, not even you," he said, as he finally turned back around, shaking his head softly but keeping his gaze downward.
Finally releasing the trigger, Maddie let go of the gun with one hand, returning to a more casual stance. Whether Phantom's sentiment was genuine or not, he clearly had no intention of hurting her in the moment, and she had no interest in shooting him anymore. Apparently the movement caught Phantom off guard, as he broke his staring contest with the floor to glance up at her, one brow quirked up in a silent question.
"What? The deal was that if you answered my questions I would let you go without shooting. You've answered my questions, so there is no need for the gun anymore, is there?" she said, quirking up her own brow.
"Uh, no, no, it's fine!" he agreed, wide-eyed as if in disbelief that she would actually let him leave without shooting him. He floated up a little higher, glancing around their surroundings once more before returning his gaze to her.
"Does this mean that you believe what I've been saying all this time? That I just want to protect this town?" Ah, the million-dollar question. Quite honestly, Maddie didn't know if she believed him or not, but she could hardly tell Phantom that. Instead, she attempted to skirt around his question.
"Phantom, even if you do intend to protect this town, surely you've noticed the amount of damage you cause in the process?" Seeing him wince was answer enough, both to the question she asked and the one she didn't. "You do, then."
"Yeah, well, there's only so much I can do to stop a ghost from slamming me into the floor, you know? Plus, imagine the kind of damage they would do if I weren't here to fight them. At least most of their attacks are aimed away from the street if they're shooting at me." He tried to smile at her again, but it looked more like a grimace. He clearly didn't like the damage he caused either.
"I see..." she mumbled, as she tried to process everything she had learned this night. Phantom fidgeted a little, raising himself a little further into the air, as he clearly wanted to leave without breaking the awkward peace they had made.
"I'll need more time to think everything through, Phantom. But maybe-" his wide eyes filled with a hesitant hope, and Maddie damned herself for seeing him as an innocent child instead of the powerful ghost he was. "Maybe we can… establish some sort of truce."
He nodded eagerly, answering with a voice so filled with hope that Maddie could feel the last of her resolve crumble. "Of course, I completely understand. Thanks for listening to me."
Maddie couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face as she waved him off with her empty hand. "Go on then Phantom, I'm sure you have better things to do at this time of night." Seeing him hesitate, she spoke again. "I'm sure we'll speak again, okay?"
He nodded, more firmly this time, before turning around and finally flying off. Maddie watched him disappear into the night sky, spectral tail trailing behind him as he became little more than a glowing dot in the distance, before she lost track of him entirely.
Sighing deeply, she pulled her hood off of her head and stuck the ecto-gun in an empty holster on her belt before looking at her watch. It was past 1 in the morning. The Witching Hour was over, and ghost activity would be declining. She had missed her opportunity to figure out the mystery that she had set out to solve, but she had learned about something much more valuable instead.
Wandering back towards her home, Maddie couldn't help looking up at the stars, wondering if Phantom was watching them as well. As she reached the corner of the street and could finally see FentonWorks in all its glory, she thought that she saw a soft white glow coming from the top of the Ops Center. She frowned, but after she blinked the glow appeared to be gone. Must have been a reflection of the light from the sign, or perhaps she simply imagined it. It was getting late, after all.
Tomorrow, she knew, would be a busy day. She had to work through the conversation she had had with Phantom, to try and decipher any hidden meanings behind his words, and she would have to talk with Jack about it was well.
But first, it was time for bed. Phantom could wait.