I believe this is going to be the first of a series of one-shots all set in the same AU universe as this. So, if you liked this, stick around and check back every now and then to see if there are more.
Explanation: In this story, Danny Fenton and Valerie Grey never met when Danny was alive. Danny Phantom came to exist when—after finally passing away after a year long illness—his parents took to ghost hunting in hopes of finding their lost son and created the Ghost Portal. His parents finally gave up hope of ever finding his ghost and began to just shoot at any ghost that crossed their paths. Jazz became a psychologist to try to help herself and her parents deal with their grief. Valerie took to her own version of ghost hunting after a similar accident to the one in the show took place, involving Danny Phantom and the ghost dog, Cujo. As for Sam and Tucker, Danny still visits them and often plays the game 'Doom' with them as well as watching movies at Sam's house, where Danny doesn't have to concentrate on keeping up his guise instead of enjoying the movie as he would have to at a public theatre, due to his unearthly glow.
Danny has all of his original powers along with the added power to revert to his old, human image for a few hours at a time. He uses this ability to work part-time at the Nasty Burger so he can afford human possessions such as a laptop, books and a bribe to allow Walker to let him have these items in the Ghost Zone, since 'real world items' are still illegal.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. If I did there would have been about fifty more episodes with plenty of fillers.
Late October brought with it a ghost of the warm breezes of summer, setting the scene for a peaceful night in the park. Amity Park's own paranormally-powered hero, Danny Phantom, floated a few feet above the highest branches of a dogwood tree planted near the middle of one of the town's many parks... A simple, silver laptop adorned with his own insignia was perched precariously atop his knees. He cursed lightly as he read the new alert that appeared on the small screen. The last few nights, it seemed that every ghost in the Zone was coming out at once.
"Great the Box Ghost is out again…and so is Klemper." He muttered to himself with a quiet groan. He hovered for a few moments while he studied the information.
"You have files on all the ghosts?" An all-too-familiar voice asked out of nowhere, shocking Phantom enough to cause him to nearly drop the laptop.
"Jeez, Val, you nearly scared the life into me!" Phantom shouted at the red-clad figure, which hovered several feet in front of him.
Valerie rolled her eyes at the comment, though he couldn't see. "Aw, wouldn't that be a shame?"
"Ha ha, very funny." He replied dryly before wrinkling his brow in question of the huntresses' sudden appearance—and her apparent lack of weapons. "What are you doing here anyway?" He asked as he managed to resume his former position. "And why aren't you trying to…"—he paused, obviously deciding that the word 'kill' wasn't the right one—"blast me into oblivion?"
Valerie rolled her eyes behind her mask. "I've been…thinking since we were…trapped in the Ghost Zone together and…" Phantom cocked a curious eyebrow while Valerie looked away to gather her words and thoughts "I want to give you a chance. I came here to talk."
"Really? That's…great!" Phantom exclaimed, his eyes widening with surprise and happiness.
"Don't go thinking we're all buddy-buddy or anything, though. You're still a ghost and I'm still a hunter. As long as you stay good, I won't shoot." Valerie said with mock anger in her voice as she struggled to hold in the smile that waned to form when she saw that goofy, childish grin on the Phantom's face.
"Thanks, you don't how much that means, but…uh, I've got some work to do." He said nervously, not wanting to sound rude, but still wanting to get back to his previous task.
Valerie didn't take the hint. "Work? What could you—?"
"The name's Danny, by the way." He smiled before returning to the laptop. "I'm trying to figure out which ghosts are in the Zone and which are out in this world." His tone at that last part struck a chord in her that she didn't know she possessed. She wondered for a few moments at the hollow tone in his voice
"Do you…uh, have files on all the ghosts?" She asked hesitantly, not wanting to push her luck. Sure, she had fought Phantom often enough, but that told her nothing about how he would act in normal everyday conversation—though she supposed 'normal everyday conversations' weren't so everyday for a ghost.
Danny knew what she was playing at, but wanted to have her say it aloud. "Yeah, why?" He asked with a bit of faux suspicion in his ghostly voice.
"Can I see?" Was her simple, innocent reply. He smiled as she pulled off her helmet and sat cross-legged on her hover board. He handed the device over to her, across the void and she shivered at the contact when his chilled fingers met hers. He smiled apologetically and sat back. Valerie settled the laptop awkwardly across her knees and began to sift through the loads of information.
She quirked an eyebrow when she came across a certain ghost's profile. "You have a file on yourself?" She asked, looking up at the ghost, who, while she was scanning, had leaned back on the open air with his hands behind his head; almost as if he were lounging on a couch. He opened his eyes, nodded and glanced at her before turning his gaze skyward. He stared at the starry night sky for a while before speaking.
"You know, in the Ghost Zone, we don't have seasons or even day and night, just…green, purple, and more green with the occasional red thrown in to keep us from going completely insane. But here…I used to love staring up at the stars and imagining that I was up there. I always wanted to be an astronaut…" He had taken the conversation in an entirely different direction, a way she had never expected to go when she came here.
The thought had never occurred to her that ghosts had once been people too. No, the thought never crossed her mind that the ghost, whom she perceived as her greatest enemy, had once been human, with a normal life and family, maybe even friends. What had the Ghost Boy been like in life? Surely he hadn't been a jock? Now she began to wonder about all the other ghosts they had both fought…"How did it happen?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and she waited nervously for his reaction. She wouldn't blame him if he flew off right now after that more-than-blunt question.
He just turned his head to the side slowly and studied her with those unnerving electric green eyes. She saw the emotions there as they came: sadness…Over his lost life?...longing…For the life he never got to live?...comprehension. She had to look away when the staring became too much.
Phantom's echoed voice shocked her; she hadn't thought he was going to answer. "Cancer's a funny thing really," He chuckled humorlessly "It sucks you dry, but not nearly as much as the cure. My parents were—are ghost hunters, like you,"—he gave her a smile—"and they focused more on finding my ghost once I was dead than comforting me while I was alive."
Valerie interrupted the ghost with an odd expression. "Wait, you're parents are…were…are?"—her brow wrinkled in obvious confusion and Danny laughed lightly—"anyway, The Fentons? They're your parents…and Jazz...she's your sister?"
Danny nodded and his mouth suddenly stretched into a huge yawn. Valerie watched him with something like fascination in her deep green eyes. If he noticed, he didn't show it. "I didn't know ghosts got tired?" She questioned, cocking her head to the side unconsciously.
"Usually only when we've been away from the Ghost Zone for awhile, but we can make ourselves sleep 'cause well, it gets boring sometimes."
"Do you have friends there? I mean, I don't know what it's like or anything. Are all the ghosts like the ones that come here?" Valerie's growing interest was quickly overcoming her former rivalry with the ghost floating before her.
Danny smiled at her childlike interest and changed position to where he was floating cross-legged. "Let me explain something else first?"—Valerie nodded—"The way a person dies determines whether or not he or she come back as a hateful, vengeful ghost or a peace-loving, sensible one. But, no matter what, there is always something that keeps them in this world, something that just won't let them move on. For me, it was my resentment of my parents for not paying attention to me while I was dying. Selfish of me I know"—He laughed bitterly—"but my need to comfort my friends and my sister outweighed any negative feelings I may have had.
That's what happens to most of us, but some, like my friend and mentor Clockwork, were created to fill a need in the basic functions of life. See, Clockwork is the Master of Time, Father Time I guess. Yeah, that was my first thought, but he's really a neutral power. He only interferes if he knows that if he doesn't, the whole of time will be disrupted. It gets pretty annoying when he knows everything I'm about to say though. Beating him at cards isn't even a fantasy anymore!" He gave a full-hearted laugh at that but Valerie's mind was still apparently stuck on the whole Master-of-Time thing.
"Clockwork was once a normal human in London in the eighteenth century. He was a clock maker—not surprising—and he died protecting his wife from a stampeding horse. Because he saved her, he had no reason to be held back by painful emotions, but he did because the fates or whatever saved him and chose him for the job of observing and commanding time. He started life over as a ghost and watched time from the beginning. He knows all and has seen all and won't hesitate to remind you of the fact.
Most of the others died recklessly or were tortured somehow. Johnny 13 and Kitty—you remember them?—Well, they died on Johnny's motorcycle when he was driving Kitty home from the movies and they crossed the train tracks—apparently Johnny's bad luck finally caught up with him. The Box Ghost"—Valerie groaned and rolled her eyes—" annoying isn't he, but he has a reason. His dad had a thing for shoving him in boxes when he misbehaved. The man was a drunk and thought it was funny to watch him scream," Danny's eyes began to glow an even brighter green and he ground his teeth together, causing Valerie to unconsciously order her board to move back several inches. Danny closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath.
"Sorry, the anger's what kept me here and sometimes it just takes over."
Well, I'm glad that it did. She wanted to say, but thought better of it as she knew it would sound awkward, considering the two had been enemies yesterday. I always thought he destroyed my life because he was evil, but now I see that he's just a sad, lost kid like me.
Instead of saying anything, she floated her board closer to him, moved herself to where she was kneeling on her board and reached out to place a comforting hand on his shoulder. She shivered at the contact, but refused to allow herself to pull away. If she was going to ally—or quite possibly befriend—herself with this ghost she needed to be able to place a hand on his shoulder or give a friendly handshake. He looked up at her and gave a smile that both apologized and gave thanks to her. She smiled warmly in return and withdrew her hand with a small shiver.
"I'm sorry," Danny began, looking away. Valerie was about to interrupt when he continued. "I'm sorry for ruining your life. I was new at the whole ghost thing and that dog was annoying and—"
"Danny," he stopped apologizing and finally looked at her "It's okay. I realize now how dumb I was being when I never believed you when you said you weren't evil. I was blinded by revenge and I'm the one who should be apologizing to you." Valerie glanced down at her hands as she wrung them in shame in her lap. Danny's eyes widened at this.
"Let's just skip the apologies and say that we can be friends?" Danny asked hopefully.
It was Valerie's turn to be surprised as her petite dark green eyes widened. Danny waited nervously for her response, wondering if he had said the wrong thing. His nervousness did not cease when a large grin stretched across the girl's face.
"We can certainly try."
I know the specifics of this Alternate Universe are confusing so if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. To be truthful, I am still working out the details in my own mind. Also, if you see any errors or inconsistancies, please tell me as I reworded and reworked this story so many times that I'm not even sure it could be called a story. I know Danny might seem a bt more...wise, but he's been dead for approximately four years and that's given quite a bit of time to think.
Please be honest in your reviews. Any flames will be sent to the plot bunnies in charge of my X-men: Evolution fics to fuel Pyro's creative fire.
-Phantom