A little idea I got when watching Danny Phantom ... don't ask.
Also, this is a translation of one of my French story, so everything bare the characters of Danny Phantom is mine.
No. No, no, no, no, no! It couldn't be happening. It should never have happen!
Danny was kneeling by Sam's side, fingers desperately searching for a pulse, anything that would tell him his best friend, his girlfriend, was not dead and just unconscious from the blast she took. She couldn't be. He shook his head. It couldn't be happening!
He had sensed a ghost nearby as they were working on their algebra's homework after school, the blue mist of his ghost sense appearing a second later, and the next moment they were heading outside. They had done like every time; him scanning the air and Sam and Tucker taking a portion of the town. Like always. They had found the ghost a few minutes after, they got into a fight, and finally trapped him in the thermos. So why did it happen?!
He looked up at Tucker, but the other boy looked as lost as he was, his mouth moving without making a sound.
His hands were still pressing on Sam's stomach, and he could feel the blood leaking between his fingers, reddening the teen's top and god, the acrid scent of blood never made him feel so sick than now. He was yelling, calling, encouraging, but her purple eyes were still remaining close.
It couldn't be happening ... not to her ...
...Time out.
A green vortex appeared in the air not far from the immobile teens, letting through Clockwork. The ghost took in the scene before sighing. With a slight movement of the hand, the two boys came back to awareness.
"Daniel." He called softly, and the young halfa turned around so swiftly he thought for a second that he would attack him. Then his eyes widened, new tears falling down his cheeks.
"Clockwork? Clockwork, please, help her!" Danny cried to the older ghost, nearly hysteric after having seen the young woman being killed in front of his eyes. "You can do something, right?! Like, send me back so Sam wouldn't – so she wouldn't be – please, Clockwork, just this time!"
He shook his head, lips closed as the other's shoulder drooped, Tucker's eyes going from one to the other, not knowing what to do. He too didn't know how it could have happen. Everything went like a blur.
"I can't alter the past, Daniel, you know that." Clockwork gently reminded him, but it only enraged the young halfa, his eyes burning an acid green.
"But you did it before!"
"So the future wouldn't repeat itself."
"But-!"
"And, I never said I wouldn't help you, only that I couldn't." He continued as if he wasn't interrupt. Danny closed his mouth, suddenly lost.
Clockwork pressed a part of his staff/scepter/scythe, and the metal disappeared to let appear a switch. He pressed it once ... a second time ... a third time ... a fourth time ... a fif-
"OKAY, OKAY, I'M HERE!" A new voice yelled with so much force Danny and Tucker jumped, blinking at the new person now standing next to Clockwork, his eyes glaring at the master of time, clearly pissed off.
Well, it wasn't really his appearance that surprised them, but his clothes. Or rather, his lack of clothes.
"Must you always call me when I can't come?" The new comer growled, a hand lifting some of his black hairs from his eyes. They were soaked, were clinging to his face, and just wouldn't stop falling in his eyes!
"It is an emergency." The master of time explained with a smile.
"And this 'emergency' couldn't wait two minutes so I could continue my shower in peace, couldn't it?! Or at least put some clothes on me" The brunette grumbled, crossing his arms on his naked torso.
Seriously! He only had the time to rinse himself and pull a towel around his waist before going somewhere he didn't even know! At least Clockwork had his time out in place, or else he would have had some serious problems.
"So? What is the problem?" He asked once he calmed down enough. The ghost pointed to the group of three teens, one of them visibly dead.
"Ah. I see. And I suppose you want me to resurrect her?
At that, Danny looked up.
"It wasn't her time. Someone interfered."
"Someone int- Oh for Circe's sake, I thought I took care of all these idiots." The brunette whined when he saw the figure trapped in some rubble, black robe nearly ruined and mask made of bones not far away.
He sighed and passed a hand in his hairs, and for a brief instant Danny thought he had seen a scar on his forehead. The next instant the man was standing centimeters from them, his eyes riveted on Sam with concentration. Then, he turned to him.
"So you are the rumored halfa." He said in a neutral tone, nearly expressionless. Too surprised to do anything else he nodded, and the other's eyes narrowed before shaking his head.
"It's always the children ..."
Danny swallowed a cutting remark, but he glared venomously.
"You don't seem so old yourself!"
A smirk appeared on the brunette's face, but there was nothing amusing or mocking in it.
"You would be surprised." He turned his head to Clockwork, who had joined them. "I need you to remove the time out on her."
"WHAT?! But, wait, if you do that-!
The man sighed again and turned to look at the white haired teen with patience.
"I need her time to be flowing to operate. Clocky dear, if you would?" The brunette asked in a mocking tone, only to yelp when his behind was hit by a certain staff. "Kid" He grumbled, ignoring the muffled laugh coming from the ghost of time as the young girl time started again.
He could always have a little discussion with the other later.
A medallion had appeared around the young brunette's neck and immediately after that her blood started to flow out, even if life had already left the body. He looked at her for a moment before nodding.
"It's not too late to bring her back." He said, and he could feel the boy's excitation. He stood up, motioning at the white haired teen to do the same, placed his arm above the lifeless body ...
And snapped his fingers.
A rune of a bright gold appeared on Sam's forehead, and a white mist started coming from her body. Seconds passed, and Danny and Tucker could only watch, captivated, as it took the form of a second Sam. But she didn't look like the ghost they were so used to see. No, she was more like a ghost you would see in a movie, slightly see-through, but more solid than them. Then, when she was completely formed, her eyes opened.
"Danny? Tucker?" She looked at them with surprise, then took in the scene around her, stopping as instant on Clockwork's strange friend, before landing on her body. "Okay, what is the deal? And why is my body here while I'm standing here?"
Danny opened his mouth to answer, but the brunette cut in,
"Samantha -"
"Sam." She corrected immediately with a regard so outraged Danny had to smile.
"- Manson." The other continued as if he never was interrupted. "We don't have much time so I will be brief. Are you aware you are dead?"
"Uh, duh. I think floating around your body is a dead giveaway, don't you?"
He raised an eyebrow and smirked. He liked her temperament.
"But, it was not your time. So you have a choice to make: to die, or to live. But please hurry because we don't have much time and I'm freezing."
Which was true. The weather wasn't this cold but he was more than half naked here.
"I was wondering why you were like this. Not that I don't appreciate the view!"
"SAM!"
"WHAT?! Danny, you can't say he hasn't a body to drool over!"
Danny face-palmed, muttering something intelligible behind his hand. The other's smile wasn't helping.
"Could we please forget I am only in a towel and concentrate on the subject at hand? ... So, death or life?" He asked again in amusement and exasperation. The young woman rolled her eyes but answered with a smirk;
"Could I become a ghost?"
The brunette shrugged while her two friends stared at her as if she had lost her mind.
"No idea and frankly it's not my problem."
This time it was the gothic's turn to shrug.
"I asked. I want to live."
"A response! Now lay down in the same position as your body … there." He helped the girl, one hand gripping one of her arm to guide her and make sure she didn't touch her body. "Now, just to let you know, it will feel strange so don't you dare panic.
"Careful, you will make it like you care." She smirked, anxiety clearly visible in her eyes.
"It was the procedure. I think I can now, don't you?" Then he pressed down, a hand on her forehead and the other on her stomach, and a bright flash blinded them.
Danny had put his hand before his eyes with a pained hiss, and when he removed it there was only one Sam. The sound of deep breath made him come closer, his heart beating hard against his ribcage, and tears started to come again when he saw Sam was breathing and looking at the sky.
"Thank for telling me it would feel like being squeeze in a bottle." She snarked before coughing. He jumped when he saw some blood coming from her mouth and turned to the other. Seeing this, he explain;
"Her wounds are closed, but I couldn't remove what little blood was in her throat. Don't worry; it's nothing to worry about. However she did lose a good amount of blood, so I'm sorry young lady, but you will have to stay in bed a day or two!"
His smirk was met with a glowering scowl. And she got the right, because it means she would have to live with her parents for a few days. She already have some problems with the few hours she had to …
She blinked when the other's look became serious.
"I also must ask your forgiveness. What happened to you was only the result of my incompetence." He eyes turned to the person who had suddenly attacked her, and she was surprised to see hate in his green eyes.
Clockwork, who had stayed back and observed the scene, came to them with a sigh.
"Harry, it is not your fault."
"You tell them that!" The young man yelled back in anger. "It will never stop, not till there is one of them still standing, and even then others could appear and make everything happen all over again!" Harry's heart bled at the thought. Even after so many years he still had nightmares about it.
He took a breath, and released it slowly. Now somewhat calm, he started toward the unconscious figure. Without having to be asked, the master of time had left his spell on this person – Clockwork knew him well by now – and he looked down at him, a man seeming to be around his forties, as he slowly wakes up, moaning pitifully in pain from having been thrown in a wall. Before he could gather his mind, Harry leveled a hand before him and the other's body started floating, legs and arms trapped to his body.
Startled, the man immediately started struggling, swearing and cursing, before he realized who was standing before him.
"Potter?" He muttered hesitantly, his rough voice going perfectly with the air of madness emanating from him. "Yes, yes, it's really little Potter! So all this time you were hiding here, yes? Like the little traitor you are! When I will tell the others …"
"They will never learn." Harry assured, his eyes cold as he took in the man dangling in front of him. Behind him, the others could only look.
"You can't keep me prisoner, and when I escape, I'm sure my Lord will be pleased with the news I will take to him!"
"Voldy is dead." These three words had the effect of a bomb.
"NO! He will come back, he always come back! Once we pierce the secret of this town and its ghosts, he will rise again to purify the world!"
With a blur Harry was now holding the other by his throat, tightening just enough to show how serious he was.
"Voldemort will never come back, I made sure of that." He hissed with hate, something he hadn't felt for a long time. "When will you get it in you heads, you and your little friends? He will never come back, and I will make sure you and your megalomaniac Death Eaters friends will never hurt anyone again."
He took a step back, not having realized he was standing mere centimeters from the other's face, and he hate became colder, more distant.
"I will take care of you later." Then, with another movement of the hand, the man disappeared with a cry of rage.
Silence came, strained, and for a long moment nobody talked. Then, Harry turned back to the others, his murderous aura having completely disappeared with the man.
"I think I'm done for today." He announced with a strained smile. "Don't forget, no running around playing hero for a few days." He reminded the young girl, who only sent him a dark glare. He merely sent back a smug smile that made the woman bristle. He turned to leave, but Danny stopped him;
"Wait!"
Harry turned toward the white haired teen and raised an eyebrow when he saw he was back to his human form.
"Who was this man? If there he a new enemy in town, I want to know before he come knocking on my door!"
The blue eyes were so fierce and ready to take everything thrown at him that Harry saw himself many years ago, from when the war was still raging. He answered him with a small smile,
"He won't come back, don't worry about it. As for the others, it's my problem, not yours." Then he shrugged. "And the others can take care of them from time to time too. I already did half the work for them; they can take care of the rest."
What he didn't say was that, even if he wanted to help his peoples, he was bind. And it was not like he could do something, after all it was them who decided to exile him from the magical world as soon as they saw he wasn't aging and was apparently immortal. He didn't even know what happened to his friends … well, those who stayed by his side till the end.
"But-"
"Phantom ... Danny ... this fight isn't yours. If you see another of these nutcases nose around here, tell Clockwork – I live with him -, or Clocky will alert me, only to get back at these stupid meddling Cyclops who pretended to know everything."
Danny had to laugh at that, thinking exactly the same thing when it came to those ghosts, and the weight was lift, even if the three teens were still awkward in his presence. It didn't surprise Harry. He was certain Danny at least could feel it, that he wasn't normal.
"What are you going to do with him?" Tucker asked, curious. Harry shrugged.
"Interrogate him. And then make sure he will never be a nuisance again."
The three turned pale at this, not missing the hint, but he didn't want to lie to them, and he didn't want them to think he was kind. He had since long abandoned the doctrine of the light. Who know how many would have survived if they had just sent the Death-Eater and others followers to Azkaban, or killed them? One case was Bellatrix Lestrange.
"If you want something I will be home, back under the shower." He said to the master of time. Before apparating, he addressed the teens a last time. "See you later." And then he disappeared.
Danny was fixing the spot where the other was standing an instant before, lost in thoughts, when suddenly Sam screamed.
"What?! What is it?!" She looked at him with mortification.
"I forgot my parents were home for their holydays. Till the end of the month!" She cried, and if she wasn't Sam he was sure she would be panicking a lot more.
He sighed, and then laughed. For a moment he had really feared they had lost their best friend. Even if Skulker appear it wouldn't ruin his good mood.
"I must go too." Clockwork announced after their laugh died down, a vortex swirling to life behind him.
Danny and Tucker helped Sam up, thanking the ghost. It was at that moment that something clicked in Danny's head.
"Clockwork, wait!" The ghost stopped and raised an eyebrow at the teen. "He said he was living with you. But it's the ghost zone, and he is alive, so how?"
The ghost looked at him for a long moment, his red eyes seeming gauging them, and when Danny thought he wouldn't answer him, he did.
"To you, how old is he?"
The question was not what they were expecting, and they looked at each other's.
"Euh, maybe two or three years older than us?" Tucker tried, the other two nodding. Clockwork smiled mysteriously.
"He is going on his thirty."
"WHAT?!"
"The reason for him being able to live in our world without dear consequences is because he can't 'die', strictly speaking."
"But. But even ghost can die!" Sam exclaimed, her eyes wide.
"Not the master of death." Clockwork answered before disappearing in the vortex, leaving behind him three teens with more questions.
Cruel? No, but even he could have his fun once in a while. It wasn't like he could often relax with his line of work. Although since the young mage started living with him these occasions were more and more frequent. He also knew that he would get what he has coming the moment he will step in his tower, he didn't need his mirrors to know that.
In the human world the medallions disappeared and the time was flowing again.
OMAKE
Clockwork didn't lose time to go back to observing the worlds, past, present and futures. After all he couldn't leave for a long period of time, who knows what could happen. He was so concentrate he didn't sense the presence behind him before he was pulled back and his cloak removed from his shoulders. He turned just in time to see an oh so familiar figure disappear in one of the corridor, all the while laughing, his purple cloak in hand.
"HARRY, GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Harry snickered when he heard the outraged yell and continued to run to escape the furious ghost. It was his little revenge for the shower, and he didn't even see why he was always wearing this cloak? He was far better looking without.
He turned left and stopped, pressing himself against the wall, making sure to be in the shadows. Merely seconds later the master of time passed without seeing him, muttering something he didn't quite catch, and he smirked. He waited till the other left in another corridor before leaving his hiding place, happy to have escaped Clockwork, but he barely took two steps when he collide with something ... or rather someone ... with a clock where their chest should be ...
... Uh oh.
"Do you mind if I take it back." It wasn't a question, but he didn't let the cloak go when the other pull at it.
"Harry ..." The ghost growled, drawing his name out, and he shivered. Stubborn he raised his head to look at the ghost in the eyes – which was rather difficult since he was a good head shorter than him – and an idea formed in his head. It was risky, but he would win either way so …
He pressed his body against Clockwork's, the other tensing, and slooowly drag his hand against his torso, his fingers passing lightly, nails gently rackling against the protective glass till he got to his neck where he played with a few white strands, usually hidden by his damned cloak. Clockwork's eyes narrowed and he was satisfied to see the composure in them fading slowly. He stood on his tiptoed, his mouth stopping an inch from his, his emerald gaze never leaving his red eyes as he murmured;
"You will have to catch me." And he was running in the opposite direction, leaving behind him a master of time who took a few seconds to compose himself.
"HARRY!"