This is my xmas truce gift to ectoplasmbender!
Enjoy!
Danny padded across the wooden floors, his bare feet making small noises despite his best efforts to be silent. He was lonely, bored. Mommy and Daddy were in the basement, a place that Mommy had said was too dangerous for four-year-olds. She told him when he was a big kid that he could go see inside of it. But Jazz was a big kid. She already knew how to add and subtract, and she wasn't allowed to go in the basement either.
Which meant she was probably in her room, playing without him.
Danny stopped walking just before her door. It was open, and he heard the sound of her voice imitating her dolls from her room. He leaned forward, peeking around the door to see Jazz in her pink pajamas. She stiffened and turned around to where Danny stood.
Danny shot back from the door, not ready to be seen. He stood frozen in the hallway, straining his ears for any sign that he was quick enough and Jazz didn't see him. Eventually, he heard Jazz begin playing again. He let out a breath and adjusted his onesie. It was blue and had rockets all over it. It was his favorite set of pajamas.
He leaned around the door again to see Jazz's stuffed animal, Bearbert, giving one of the dolls a ride on his back. Jazz turned around to face him again, and he hesitantly stepped through her doorway.
They stared at each other for a moment. Danny rubbed his nose and shyly asked, "Play with me, Jazzy?"
Jazz picked Miss Sally from Bearbert's back and waved it in front of her. "I'm already playing!"
Danny's expression fell. "Oh," he said as he gazed longingly at Jazz's game. He stared at the ground, trying to figure out the best solution to this problem. He wanted to play with Jazz, but Jazz was already playing a game. How could he fix this?
An idea sparked in his brain. His head snapped back up to Jazz, eyes wide and shining with hope. "Well, then can I join your game?"
"Okay!" Jazz said. She picked up Miss Sally's best friend, Miss Emily, and held her out to the approaching child.
Danny snatched the doll from Jazz's grasp and sat down across from his sister. He ran his hand through Miss Emily's black hair and asked, "What do we do now?"
"Miss Sally is climbing a mountain on Bearbert so Miss Emily can help her," Jazz answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
Danny tilted his head. A mountain? "Well, why is she climbing a mountain?"
"Because she has to get the magic sword, of course!" Jazz responded. "If she gets the magic sword, then she can save Amity Park from the evil fairies."
Well, that didn't make sense. Danny had seen some of Jazz's favorite TV shows before that had fairies in them. All the fairies in those shows seemed friendly! "Aren't fairies supposed to be nice?" Danny asked.
"Most are, but not these ones," Jazz said. "These fairies are mean! They blow leaves at other fairies and knock them out of the air! And they shoot fire at people!"
"How is a sword gonna save the good fairies?" Danny said.
"Because," Jazz explained, "this sword has the power to grant you a wish! So Miss Sally is going to use it to wish that all the bad fairies would disappear!"
As the information absorbed into Danny's brain, a grin spread across his face. He stared at Jazz with a determined expression, his blue eyes sparkling with innocence. "Alright, then! Let's go save Amity Park!"
Danny's dull eyes gazed unseeing at the grass below him. He leaned forward, drawing his back away from the wooden walls of his house as he pulled his legs in close to his body. His head fell into his arms. With white knuckles, he gripped his elbows as if that would stop the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.
He was fourteen. And he just witnessed everyone who ever cared about him explode. Only reversed thanks to a certain time ghost.
He was fourteen. He just saw the deaths of his friends and family. But no one knew except him.
He still had to go to school tomorrow and take that algebra quiz. Because to everyone else, nothing changed. The world went on in its mundane state just like it always did. To everyone else, it was just another crappy day with the CAT exam. Nothing changed. Nothing to anyone except Danny.
The sound of footsteps carefully making their way along the weed-covered lawn momentarily distracted Danny from his cycle of depression. He sat there, tense, already knowing who was there.
The footsteps finally halted next to Danny. He waited for her to make the first move, say the first thing, start the "you should trust me more" lecture. Like she always did.
But she didn't.
Instead, she sat down next to him, leaned against the side of the house, and stared up at the sky.
It was so...odd. Jazz, not lecturing. Just sitting there calm. Waiting. And suddenly, everything made sense. Why she always made sure to shove Danny in a small, deserted area when a ghost appeared. Why she constantly distracted Mom and Dad when they caught up to him in ghost form. Why she was the first person to defend Phantom's integrity at the dinner table.
She had always been waiting. This entire time, it was so obvious. How could he have missed this? She knew, probably right from the start. All the lectures, the badgering, and annoying positivity that made him want to scream—it was all an act. It was her way of supporting him without making it obvious why. Because she knew and she couldn't tell him.
Because she was waiting.
"How long?" Danny asked.
"Huh?" she said, startled.
"How long have you known? About Phantom? About me?"
She paused. "Right after the Spectra incident. I saw you transform behind the school."
"Oh," Danny said, unsure how to react to the news. He shouldn't have been surprised it had been so long. But for some reason it bothered him. No, it disappointed him. How oblivious he was. He was the 'clueless one' in the trio, wasn't he?
"Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. He needed her response. He needed to hear her say it.
"I wanted to let you tell me on your own," Jazz replied. "How did you figure out I knew?"
Danny shifted, pulling his legs into a criss-crossed position as he shoved his hands into his sweatshirt pocket. He pulled out a teal headband and handed it to Jazz.
She stared at the headband in her fingers, eyebrows drawn together. "Where did you get this from?"
Right. She didn't remember.
No one did.
"There was a ghost today," Danny said, eyes trained to the ground. "You don't remember it because a time ghost reversed everything but...it was bad. Really bad, Jazz. And...you...had to find me. I had left for a bit. In the ghost zone. I was, uh, getting help. And you sent a message to me with the headband. So I would know it was from you." His gaze shifted up to the sky, and he cracked a smile. "It was really clever, what you did. You attached the note to the boomerang and sent it through the portal because you knew it would find me. It was...genius."
"Okay," Jazz said, processing the information. She wrapped the headband around her wrist. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he said. His smile fell as his gaze dropped back to the ground. "I mean, I will be. I don't know."
"Be honest with me then."
"I—" Danny's voice faltered. "No. I'm sorry, Jazz. I messed up. If it weren't for Clockwork…"
"Do you wanna...talk about it?" Jazz asked.
"No." Danny shook his head. "I...I'm sorry. I'll be okay. I promise. I just...need a few days. I think. And, like, a ton of ice cream."
The corner of Jazz's mouth twitched up. "I'm not sure if we have ice cream in the house, but Mom just made a batch of cookies if you want."
"Whatever works," Danny said, making no attempt to stand.
The duo lapsed back into silence, taking in the calm spring day. Birds fluttered above them, building their nests for the eggs they would soon lay. A distant buzzing noise indicated the bees that had recently left their sleepy nests in search of pollen. Down the street, Danny heard the voices of children playing.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Danny said, breaking the spell.
"Don't apologize," Jazz said. "I'm sorry our home environment makes it so you felt you had to keep Phantom a secret."
"It's not your fault, Jazz," Danny refuted.
"I know, but still. Even though I wish you confided in me sooner, I'm proud of everything you've done on your own."
Danny tilted his head. "I mean, I haven't really been alone. I've had Sam and Tucker."
"Don't devalue the hard work you've done, Danny," Jazz said. "You're doing amazing stuff, little brother. I'm really proud of you."
"Yeah?" Danny said, his eyes widening.
"Yeah." Jazz nodded. "You've helped so many people, Danny. Not just anyone can do that. It takes someone with a strong heart to put themselves in situations again and again, expecting nothing in return, just for the sake of helping people. You realize how many people are capable of this? Not many. And no one like you."
Danny ducked his head, his ears peppered with red. "I'm not all that great."
"You are though!" Jazz refuted. "Are you kidding me? Danny, you're amazing. I'm so proud of you. And I know that behind Mom and Dad's ignorance, if they knew it was you, they would be really proud too."
"Yeah, yeah," Danny said, standing. His legs groaned in protest, and he shook out the pins-and-needles feeling before turning to Jazz."You said Mom made cookies, right?"
Jazz raised her eyebrows. "Well, she did. I don't know if Dad left any for us though."
Danny held out a hand. "Dad's at the hardware store. Hasn't come back yet. And I've had a shitty day, so I could really use some junk food right now. Wanna help me demolish the plate before Dad gets back?"
Jazz grabbed Danny's hand, allowing him to pull her up. She turned towards the door. "Oh, you're on!"