Ignited

Chapter 1: The Tragedy

Danny sat down at his usual lunch table with Sam and Tucker, placing that day's tray of mystery meat onto the table. He looked to Tucker, who apparently had no qualms about what the meat might be made of, and then to Sam, who looked like she was going to hurl from watching Tucker inhale his lunch.

"Ugh, how can you guys eat that stuff? I'm not even sure that's meat!" Sam scowled. Danny smiled lopsidedly when Tucker attempted to talk with his mouth full.

"Mes the url huh ates durt!"

"You might want to try swallowing first, Tuck." Danny told him. Tucker finally swallowed his food.

"As I was trying to say, says the girl who eats dirt!"

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's top soil! At least I know it's healthy. I'm not even sure that stuff should be legal," Sam huffed. Danny laughed.

His laugh immediately died though when he saw a girl sitting by herself, hair frizzy, eyes red, clothes wrinkled. The sight made the hero complex he was in denial about go haywire. His brows furrowed, which apparently alerted Sam and Tucker to his diverted attention.

"I feel really bad for her," Sam frowned. Danny looked back with a tilt of his head. "Don't tell me you don't know! It's been all over the school since yesterday!"

"I had to skip school to fight ghosts yesterday, remember?"

"No worries," Tucker patted Danny's shoulder, "I'll fill you in, Dude. That depressed girl over there is Lily Waters. She's been pretty invisible since she isn't popular and isn't a nerd, and she's one of the few girls who rebuffed me nicely-"

"Can you get to the point?" Danny cut him off.

"Long story short," Sam intervened, "She's an orphan. Her family just died in a car crash on their way to pick her up from the mall. She's already been moved into Amity Park Orphanage, as far as I've heard."

"Really? You don't see too many normal car accidents around Amity." Danny noted. Sam looked down at the table and bit her lip while Tucker tried to busy himself with his lunch again. "Guys?" They tried to ignore him. "There's something else to this, isn't there?"

"It wasn't just a normal car accident," Sam admitted.

"Dude, it was a ghost attack."

"What?"

"You know that octopus ghost you went after? Before you got to it, it latched onto their windshield and they ended up driving off one of the docks," Tucker explained. He pulled out his PDA and brought up a news article. "See?"

Danny leaned over to read about what happened. His shoulders slumped when he'd finished.

"Danny, I know what you're thinking. It wasn't your fault, even if your hero complex says it is," Sam assured him, but Danny wasn't convinced.

"It is my fault, Sam! If I had gotten there earlier or if I had noticed..." Danny paused. "And I don't have a hero complex!"

Danny once again turned his attention to the girl—to Lily Waters. She wasn't even eating, just staring into nothing. His hero complex went haywire again and he took a deep breath. His mind made up, Danny stood up and picked up his still untouched lunch.

"Danny?" Sam's eyebrows knitted together. "Where are you going?"

"To fix what isn't beyond repair. If nothing else, she needs a friend. The way it looks to me is that this won't turn out well for her if this keeps up." Danny watched his friends smile and pick up their things.

"Hero complex," Sam stage-whispered. Danny rolled his eyes.

The three walked over to Lily Waters. She had chosen a table in the farthest corner of the cafeteria under a flickering fluorescent light.

Man, talk about depressing, Danny thought.

"Hey, you're Lily Waters, right? I'm Danny, and these two are Sam and Tucker." He thought he saw Lily glance at him, but he wasn't sure. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

At that, Lily picked up her tray and stood, ready to leave.

"With you, I mean," Danny quickly amended. Lily stood still for a moment before moving her glaring green eyes to look at him.

"I don't want you pity," she hissed. Danny stood his ground, though he was a little taken aback.

"We weren't planning on pitying you, Lily," Danny told her. "Just sitting."

Lily stared at Danny for a long moment. It was beginning to make him uncomfortable until she finally looked away and sat back down.

"Fine."

Danny smiled at his friends and they all sat down. Danny, Sam, and Tucker continued their conversation, making sure to stay on neutral, non-ghost-related subjects, and attempted to get Lily to say something every so often.

When the end-of-lunch bell rang, Lily was gone in what seemed like a flash. Danny sighed, his plan to help wasn't really going anywhere. Sam patted his shoulder.

"We'll get through to her, Danny. It'll just take time."

"What if she doesn't have time, Sam?"

"Dude, don't get melodramatic," Tucker told him.

"I'm not! Don't you guys remember what could've happened to me if it wasn't for Clockwork?"

"Danny, slow down!" Sam grabbed his shoulders and made Danny face her. "You have ghost powers. I don't think it's the same." Danny shrugged her off.

"You don't need to have ghost powers to do something drastic."

Danny headed down the halls with his head down. Now that class was done for the day, he just wanted to meet Sam and Tucker outside without any trouble. He'd already gotten a Saturday detention for skipping yesterday, he didn't want another one. All he had to do was avoid Dash.

"FENTON!" Dash yelled as he... well, dashed down the hallway, barreling towards Danny. Danny felt like a deer in headlights, eyes bouncing back and forth to find an exit.

Unfortunately, his hesitation cost him. Dash slammed him against the lockers. A groan erupted from Danny's mouth. Dash held him by his collar.

"I don't like the grade I just got on my test. You know what that means, Fenturd." Dash grinned and Danny braced himself for the fist he saw coming.

"Back off, Baxter," a familiar voice demanded. Danny opened his eyes and was surprised to find Lily was standing there with her long strands of black hair framing her face and making her green eyes even sharper, more piercing. She had a stern no-nonsense look aimed at Dash.

"AHH!" Dash dropped Danny and ran down the hallway.

"What the heck just happened?" He asked as he watched Dash run away.

"Why do you think I was sitting alone at lunch?" Lily asked. Danny whipped his head around to see her downcast face again.

"Because you wanted to be alone?" Danny guessed. Lily shook her head. "Then why?"

"Because everyone thinks I'm cursed now. They think my parents and brother being gone put a target on my back for ghosts, to finish my family off or something. Whenever I glare at someone, they think I'm possessed. It's one of the problems with having green eyes in this town."

Danny had to admit, her eyes were pretty spooky. They were a really bright green, not too far off from his eyes after he'd gone ghost.

"I think that's ridiculous. Thanks for saving me though," Danny smiled at her, hoping to get a positive reaction. She just nodded, but then bit her lip.

"So, you're... you're Danny Fenton? I... I didn't realize that when you introduced yourself," she stuttered. "So, you know a lot about ghosts, right?"

"I guess, yeah." Danny nodded,wondering where this was going

"And your parents made that ghost world portal thing?"

"Well, it's more of a zone. The Ghost Zone is what we call it."

"Right, right, of course," she rubbed at her arm nervously. "Have you ever... gone there? To the Ghost Zone?"

Danny was beginning to worry about where this conversation was headed. He tried to think of a neutral response.

"Uh, why? It's dangerous in there." Danny gestured for them to walk towards the front of the school. She followed him.

"Well, uh, do you think... do you think my parents and brother are in there?"

Danny kept silent for a bit, wondering how he should phrase what he was about to say. Danny stopped and faced her.

"It would actually, um, be better if they weren't."

"What?"

"If they ended up in the Ghost Zone, that would mean they were holding onto some obsession, and I've never seen a ghost that comes from the Ghost Zone... move on, so to speak." Danny explained. Lily merely nodded.

"Okay," was all she said. "Thanks."

Danny would've replied had she not immediately walked away. He hoped he hadn't made everything worse.