A/N: The Phanniemay piece for the End segment! Looks like Inevitable (Which was originally going to be finished and posted for this) is gonna be done for the Free Day or after Phanniemay. Whoops. This particular piece loosely ties in with Together, though reading that one certainly isn't necessary for understanding this fic at all. I've had this story on the backburner for some time, and inspiration for it came from a post on the WriteWorld blog. The link will be placed on my profile if anybody wants to know.
Warnings for suicide in this fic, very brief and at the end! Please be careful, readers.
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any characters mentioned in this fic.
He shuffled through the aged building, puffs of dust flinging into the air with each step he took. It was dark inside, save for the faint sunlight leaking through the windows that made the airborne bits of dust dance around. Memories flashed through his mind, times of laughter and smiles, two others standing next to him in more than just memory and spirit.
God, how many years had it been, now? He couldn't remember; not even the house could provide him answers, the foundation, tiles and bricks that composed it so saturated in ectoplasm it had been preserved just as perfectly as his own twenty year old face. It was probably just as alive as he was too, tied to his own ghostly core and the portal that whirred, abandoned, in the basement. The ghosts hadn't tried coming through it in ages.
Making his way through the old house was hard, just as hard as watching as one, two, three family members be lowered into the earth, as hard as seeing the people who were family in all but blood to him follow suit soon after. His heart filled his lungs with emotion, and with each heavy breath he struggled. Small but steady footsteps belied his emotions, unfaltering where his breathing hitched and body shook.
He didn't stop. There was something he had to do, something that was long overdue for him right about now, something that could only be done here. In his mind, he wished that walking through the old building was as easy as making the decision to come in the first place.
He paused at the doorway, gazing into the kitchen. Save for the thick layer of loosely clinging dirt it was the same as it had been the last he was here; small forgotten pieces of wire and plastic cutlery strewn across the table, plates piled onto the counter next to the sink, even the chair that had been knocked over back then still lay on the ground at his feet. Not a thing was out of place from back then. He brushed a hand over the leg of the chair.
"Happy birthday, Danny!" Five smiling faces.
He looked to the utensils left on the table, remembered what had been there once upon a time. "Make a wish, little brother."
Jazz. He missed her red hair and familiar teal headbands.
Eyes turned to the other chairs, two standing at the table, three folding chairs leaning against the wall. Words rang in his ears unbidden, arms wrapped around him.
"Oh, look at my little boy, all grown up!"
"Happy birthday, Dan-o. You've done me and your mother proud these past years."
Mom, Dad. He wanted them here with him, as many times as he'd groaned at their words, wanted to let them hold him again, "age and maturity" be damned.
Sam and Tucker, too...
Even after all this time he could hear and feel it all like it had happened hours ago. Days ago even, certainly not years ago. He swallowed, holding back the tears in his eyes and forcibly ending his train of thought. This was no time to be distracted by old memories.
He turned, heading towards the basement door, standing ajar. Willpower kept his head from turning back to the dusty room, half of him wanting to stay in the place so full of happier times and good memories. It was only the other half that reminded him of why he was here.
His feet clanked quietly against the stairs, even through the thick dust collecting there. With each step the low hum got louder, faint green replacing the sunlight. He paused at the foot of the staircase, flicking on the lights and looking around the basement to see only the glow of the portal and the various ecto-weapons, many of which were left behind half-assembled. Moving to stand in front of the portal's control panel, he placed a hand lightly against the side of the structure.
'Sorry about this.' He mouthed, an apology to both the portal and the rest of the house as he shut down the ghost portal. It ran for a minute longer, sustained by the residual energy before slowly fizzling out, leaving the lab sounding strangely empty. He waited for a moment, letting the last of the hum fade from his hearing before turning around, eyes seeking the untouched gun sitting on the table at the far wall. It looked no different from most of the other contraptions laying around, and his hand twitched as he remembered what it felt like in his hand.
Striding towards it, he couldn't suppress the shudder that went down his spine when he recalled why his parents had made it in the first place. A ecto-gun specifically designed to end halfas, with Vlad's name carved into the blueprints. The older man had survived his excursion into space through sheer luck and willpower, though the same couldn't be said for his mind and sanity. Death by ecto-weapon held the chance of allowing his human half to survive, his body far too accustomed to the ecto-energy the weapons would give off, ghost half or no. A human weapon would destroy his human half, but give his ghostly half a chance to reform even stronger as a full ghost in the Zone. Neither were risks that anyone wanted to take, but who was to say about something that could easily damage or harm both beings?
But those were memories he'd rather not have to touch, even as he picked up the sleek machine and stalked back across the room. His resolve did not falter, even as he stood again before the gaping hole in the wall. A handful of Vlad's words rang through the very back of his mind, clear as day despite the age of the memory.
"You know, I've noticed something, Daniel. We all say we want things to last forever..."
Here he was. Back at the place he was born anew, where his life had really started. Begun together with the two dearest people in his life.
"And though I believe we don't quite realize it until it stares us in the face..."
Their forever had ended long ago. Ended ahead of him, where he knew they were waiting for him.
"In the end, forever is only ever a lifetime."
His forever was finally over too. It was his turn, now. Danny didn't want to keep them waiting any longer.
He pulled.