A/N: Hey fanfiction. Haven't ventured into the Danny Phantom realm much lately, but I've begun rewatching the episodes and I decided I might as well contribute something to the fandom.
Late Angst Day fic. Probably a way overused topic but whatever. Hope someone out there appreciates it. To be honest I've never really written angst before so I don't even know I'd this qualifies. Oh well.
AU, TUE. Clockwork doesn't save Danny's family. Also going off the headcanon that Timmy Turner and Danny Fenton are cousins, since they're both created by the same brilliant man..but this is an unimportant detail.
All mentioned characters belong to Butch Hartman.
He looked up, eyes wide as he remembered why this was all happening in the first place. He screwed the Thermos shut as he lurched upwards and began to run.
Run.
Run.
Save them. All that matters.
He tried to summon the transformation rings, tried but failed and he just couldn't latch onto the cold sensation he needed...
He'd used up his strength to stop Dan.
He had nothing left.
So he ran.
He ran as fast as he could. He put as much of his strength into it, summoned up what power he could from his ghost half and ran.
But he still wasn't fast enough.
The rock was just jutting out harmlessly, and yeah it probably saved his life when he tripped over it - but wouldn't it have been better to die with them?
All thought left as his vision exploded in light and heat overwhelmed him.
The last thing Danny felt was emptiness.
His aunt and uncle came from Dimmsdale, California, with his little cousin Timmy. They had never been very close to his family - his aunt and dad never really saw eye to eye and parted ways as soon as possible - but still the grief hit hard when his aunt realized she never really got to spend as much time with her older brother as she should have.
Timmy tried to make up for it - and from the one time they'd met years and years ago, Danny realized that the boy with buck teeth and a pink hat was still as awkward as ever. But his heart was pure, and he even saw the kid playing with his neon-colored bracelets wishing this hadn't happened.
Sam would've liked the kid.
Sam...
Sam's and Tucker's parents sympathized with him, and he cried with them and apologized over and over for not being able to save them or do anything. They said it wasn't his fault. He knew better.
They didn't see the monster he'd turned into - the monster that had killed his friends and family.
Vlad, too, came and offered his consolences, and stared at Jack's memorial and Danny swore he saw told elder halfa shed a tear and apologize to his old college friend.
And then Danny realized that he couldn't go with Vlad.
(So he asked and begged and pleaded but Vlad was cited under people who could take custody of Danny, and his aunt and uncle had apologized but money was tight and they had enough trouble taking care of Timmy. Danny still promised his cousin he'd try to stop over and visit. Before he...he...)
Vlad wouldn't hear any of it, and maybe Danny was a bit grateful but he still looked at the older man and he shivered because despite his promise anything was still possible.
But he didn't want to turn into him.
He couldn't.
He'd promised.
He still woke up screaming at night.
Vlad would always come in minutes later to help him through it.
He'd made the mistake a few weeks ago, mentioning wanting the pain to go away. Vlad had suggested he make a device to separate the human and ghost halves to lessen the burden.
That was the first time his core had flared up with such violent coldness. It was also when the nightmares came back in full force.
He made sure he stayed away from the lab, stayed away from other ghosts, stayed well away from Amity Park. The only ghosts he came into contact with where Vlad himself, the Ghostwriter, who was tutoring him, and occasionally the Skulker when Vlad had something for the hunter to do.
The ghosts made sure to stay away from Danny, too. The boy still trained because it was necessary for him to keep living, and they were terrified of Phantom with Plasmius backing him up.
(They should have seen him when Phantom and Plasmius merged. Then they'd really be afraid.)
He did manage to visit his family in Dimmsdale, and a few other relatives he'd lost contact with beforehand. Vlad was always there offering support.
"Why?" Danny had whispered one night. "Why did all this have to happen to me?"
Vlad had sighed, stroking his hair absently. "I don't know, little badger," he'd murmured. "Fighting against fate is never easy. Oftentimes it prevails even when we hope it won't."
With this something inside Danny snapped, and he'd cried almost as hard as the day of the funeral held for his parents, sister, friends, and teacher.
If fate couldn't be changed then this was always going to happen. HE would always happen. No matter what he wished...what he promised...
And they would always be taken from him, right in front of his eyes.