The Target: Interludes
Introduction: This is a series of shorts taking place after the events of The Target. Hopefully, there will be a sequel story as well, but I haven't fleshed out an idea for that yet.
Warnings: Homosexual relationships. Continuing from The Target, Danny starts around 18 but will age through the shorts. Violence. Foul language. Death.
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is a product of Nickelodeon. All characters in this story are imaginary.
Relaxing Moments
Summary: Several months have passed since the hit on his father stopped, and Danny reflects on his life after everything that happened.
Characters: Danny x Vlad, and Maddie x Jack
Originally Written: November 2013
Danny chewed on the end of his pen, frustration building inside of him as he stared down at the textbook before him. The words were beginning to lose meaning the longer he stared at them, which only added to his frustration. He knew it was important for him to catch up on everything that he was supposed to learn over the last four years if he had gone to school, and he really did want to learn all of it, but sometimes his brain just didn't want to absorb any more information. His parents, his sister, his friends, his boyfriend - he blushed at that last one - all told him that he didn't have to rush. He could take his time and go for his GED when he was ready. He didn't have to try cramming four years into a matter of months. But he wanted to catch up on the life he thought he lost as quickly as possible.
He had lots of support though. His parents would pull themselves away from their work of trying to make relations with ghosts better and training people on how to handle violent ghosts to help him. They had the help and support of Pamela Manson, which was good because the rest of Amity Park still considered her to be an upstanding citizen who was involved in plenty of charities and organizations. They didn't know that she had once been an assassin but gave up that life when she got pregnant with Sam.
His friends would study with him, though he was so far behind them that sometimes he felt like he was only slowing them down, but they would deny it and say they liked helping him. Jazz kept offering to tutor him, but Danny refused. He appreciated her offer and he loved her dearly, but she was at college, and he wanted her to stay focus on her own work load. He did enjoy getting to chat with her either on the phone or through video chat on the computer.
Vlad was probably the one that helped him study the most. He had moved to Amity Park after selling his castle in Wisconsin. Danny sometimes still couldn't believe he would give up the castle, but Vlad assured him there was nothing keeping him in Wisconsin and it was much better for him to make the move and be nearer to his friends and Danny. Vlad bought a fairly nice, though small, house that he lived comfortably in, and Danny enjoyed visiting him there. He also took over the Amity Park based company Axiom Labs and started development, with the help of Danny's parents, on ghost hunting equipment, though much of it was used for protection, like personal shields for people so that they could keep violent ghosts out of their homes. Other inventions were meant to capture or stun ghosts so that they could contained, instead of weapons designed to cause severe pain to the ghosts.
Danny was glad for all the home studying because when he went out, he usually got asked a ton of questions. Police and local news reporters pestered them about what happened to him. But Vlad and his parents assured him that if he stuck to the story and repeated the vague details that wouldn't lead them to a definite suspect, that the police would eventually have to call it a cold case and give up because they couldn't afford to waste resources hunting down a suspect, especially one that didn't exist. Those four months felt endless, and Danny kept inside as much as possible to avoid the reporters. His sudden revival simply wouldn't be ignored by the press for quite some time.
Visiting Casper High wasn't a very fun experience either. Danny knew the people in his life had their own lives to deal with, and he hated having them drop everything because he needed help. He went to the high school after hours, since he didn't want to bug Lancer in the middle of school when he would probably be teaching a class. He found that he really liked the teacher and vice-principal. Lancer didn't treat him like an idiot, none of them did, and he took his time explaining things whenever Danny was stuck on something. Danny felt relaxed when he was talking with Lancer, and he really enjoyed when they got into long discussions about books.
But the part that wasn't so fun about those trips was when he would get stopped by some of the other students that lingered in the hall. When the news that he was still alive came out, they all wanted to know the story. They asked him tons of questions that all felt overwhelming to him when all he wanted was to ask Lancer a question about math or something. They wanted to know what it was like to be kidnapped. Did they think it would be some sort of holiday? Did they consider him lucky for getting to skip out on four years of high school? Because he could tell them it was no picnic and he certainly would have liked to attend school like everyone else. They asked if his kidnapper abused him at all. Was he tortured? One bold man, a jock by the looks of it, wanted to know if the kidnapper had raped him. That question almost drove Danny to use his ghost powers against the jock, disgusted by the notion.
Sam and Tucker tried to protect him from that kind of questioning as much as possible, but sometimes they were gone by the time he arrived at the high school. Dash was surprisingly protective of him, blocking Danny from people if they were crowding around him too much. Then he would give Danny a pat on the shoulder and nod and let him be. Paulina would furiously yell at people, telling them that Danny didn't have to answer their questions and they shouldn't be poking into his private life so much, to respect Danny's feelings because he probably didn't want to keep reliving the experience to quench their curiosity. Danny was very surprised that she would come to his defensive, but perhaps it was because Dash was defending him. Or maybe she had changed a lot since he knew her at the beginning of freshmen year. It didn't surprise him as much when Kwan would shoo away people so that Danny could pass without harassment through the halls. Afterward, he would give Danny that concerned, puppy dog look and ask him if he was all right. That was all Kwan seemed to really care about: that Danny was okay. Danny was glad to have them around, even though he didn't really need them to treat him like some fragile thing that would break if people talked to him too much. The whole thing did add some realness to their story though, because people did see him as that poor abused boy that was held captive for four years, so they didn't question too hard how true that story really was. That didn't stop Danny from feeling frustrated about the whole thing at times, but he realized how important it was for people not to have a reason to think the kidnapping story wasn't true.
After the excitement of his returned died down some, things improved, and Danny didn't feel like he had to stay holed up at home or Vlad's house to hide out from all the questions. Danny smiled fondly, thinking about how he was able to go out in public with Vlad, though they usually had Danny's parents accompanying them to keep anyone from suspecting that there was anything happening between a man in his forties and an eighteen year old. Danny certainly didn't want to cause any trouble for Vlad that way, though he was eighteen, and in most places, that made him completely legal.
"Oh, come on!" a shout came from downstairs.
Danny stared at his textbook, internally debating what to do. After a few minutes, he shoved a paper into the textbook to mark his page and slammed it shut. He deserved a small break. Practicing with Vlad taught him that he could use some of his ghost powers even while still in his human form. Turning intangible, he phased right through his bed and the floor of his room and down into the kitchen. His mother smiled at him when she spotted him, pulling a lasagna out of the oven.
"Smells great, Mom," Danny said, and it was a relief that his parents knew everything about what happened to him. He hated keeping the truth from them when he thought that he was really dead, but at that time, he didn't want to cause them any more pain by having them know that their son not only died but became what they had hunted all these years. Now his parents were communicating with ghosts and learning far more than they could have imagined almost a year ago.
"Tell your father and Vlad that dinner should be ready soon," his mother said.
Danny bobbed his head in a nod then headed into the front room where the two men were arguing at the television. "What happened this time?" He dropped onto the couch, sitting between his father and boyfriend. Vlad's hand found his own, and they laced their fingers together. That was about as much affection they could show in the presence of his parents, who wanted to be sure that their friend wasn't taking advantage of their son.
"The ref made another bad call," Vlad grumbled, most unhappy with the referee in the football game.
"Looks like I'm gonna win the bet," his father said with a grin that only further soured Vlad's mood.
"Mom says dinner should be ready soon." Danny leaned on Vlad, enjoying the other half ghost's presence. He ignored the frowning glare that his father sent their way. Danny and Vlad hadn't done much more than hand holding, cuddling, and some kissing since everything came out. They were still finding their way in this relationship, and neither of them wanted to just jump into bed, although the idea was appealing. Danny turned his gaze up to Vlad. Very appealing.
"I thought you were busy studying." Vlad stared down at him with one of his eyebrows lifted, though he didn't seem to be too upset to have Danny leaning on him.
"I've been studying since one. My brain needs a break." Danny stared at the television in time to watch one of the players run into the end zone. When he thought about the time spent constantly being on watch to protect his father, all the pain and frustration and anxiety that came with it and not being able to tell his parents the truth, Danny was very thankful for peaceful, relaxing moments like this one.