Summary: He was just a harmless little child, ghost or no, but so clouded by prejudice and hatred, Jack and Maddie are unable to see that. It's up to Danny to save the ghost child before his parents destroy him. Challenge issued by t-rex989.

A/N: Hello everyone! So, this is a challenge written for t-rex989. I hope you like it. Just a little one-shot set pre-Phantom Planet, near the end of season three. To anyone who may have read my story Humanity of a Ghost Boy, I'll try and have the next chapter of that posted later today. Hope you like it; happy new year!

Danny Daycare

It was a completely average day. Danny, Sam, and Tucker should have been completely relaxed – it had been over three days since the last ghost attack – but they were on edge for that very reason. You know how in old movies the people would say 'it's quiet... too quiet.' Yeah, they were getting that vibe. Biology was passing slowly; Danny was half asleep. Then, a cold chill washed over him, his breath trailing out of his mouth in an icy vapor. It was show time.

He threw his hand in the air. When the teacher asked him what could possibly be wrong this time, he spat out the first excuse that came to mind. "I... uh... have a headache." Rather than fighting it, Danny was excused. Once in the quite, deserted hall, he changed. The familiar rings of light surrounded him as he turned from ordinary Danny Fenton to extraordinary Danny Phantom. He flew up through the ceiling scanning the area. It was only a moment before he saw it.

He had half expected a familiar enemy, Skulker maybe, or Technus. Instead, he was greeted by an umfamiliar face. He got closer, details starting to come to light about the ghost. He was a little boy, a tattered, ghostly teddy bear clutched in his arms. The kid was crying. Whatever the child was doing in Amity Park, it wasn't anything destructive or evil.

Danny floated over to the bawling child who hovered several feet off the sidewalk. Sadness washed over the halfa. The kid couldn't have been more than four or five, yet here he was. A ghost. Dead. Of course Danny had seen young ghost children in the Ghost Zone before, but it never ceased to make him think of how horrible it was that they had to die before they even had the chance to live.

"Hey," he said gently, kneeling in mid air in front of the child, a hand placed on his shoulder. Sniffling, the boy looked up. There were tears in his ghostly green eyes. His hair was a dark navy color, his skin deathly pale, like any ghost he had ever seen. "What's you name?"

"Max," the boy said quietly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Danny." A small light of recognition flashed in Max's eyes. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I can't find my mommy and daddy!" he wailed, bursting into tears once more. Now Danny really felt for the kid, his mind wandering back to a time when he had been that age. It was the middle of summer. His parents had taken him and Jazz to the state fair. There were lots of people there. Danny stopped, just for a moment as a clown made a balloon animal for him – it was a giraffe – and when he turned back around, there was no one there. He had been scared out of his mind until his parents found him. They had been scared too.

"Do your parents live in the Ghost Zone?" Danny asked, fearing Max's answer. Much to his surprise – and relief – Max's head bobbed up and down, a crystal clear 'yes.' That made his job so much easier. Unfortunately, it got difficult once more when the familiar Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle... er, the RV... skidded to a halt in front of the school and Jack and Maddie Fenton sprang out, ghost hunting weapons at the ready.

"Why am I not surprised you're involved, Ghost Boy?" Jack bellowed, taking aim at Danny. Said ghost boy sighed, scooping Max up in one arm.

"Look, I don't have time for this. I-" A shot was fired, narrowly missing his head. "Watch it! You could have hit the kid!" Jack didn't seem to care.

"Jack, honey," Maddie said, sounding rather conflicted, "maybe we shouldn't do this... It is just a child." Danny nearly smiled, glad to see that his mother actually had a heart when it came to ghosts... or maybe it was just her compassion for children telling her that, ghost or not, it was just a child.

"It's a ghost," Jack spat. "Just a putrid protoplasm that would want nothing better than to destroy us all. It's evil." Maddie cringed at her husbands harsh words.

"I don't know..."

"Well, I do! Those ghosts are going down!" And he fired another shot. Danny flew out of the way just in time. His father really meant business. Danny quickly started thinking over the situation. He knew that if he just tried to fly away, they would follow him. It might work if he tried to turn invisible and get away, but if his parents – namely his mother – was smart, they would just get in the Fenton RV and use the ghost tracking device installed in the dash. Fighting would be extremely difficult while holding a child with his parents shooting at them; he could mis-aim and hurt them, something he really didn't want to happen. He couldn't just sit Max down because that would make him too easy a target, and there was the fact that Max seemed too scared to let go of the death grip he had around Danny's neck.

There would be no easy way around it. Danny would have to fight while being careful not to hurt his parents, get his, or let the kid get hit. Cursing silently as another blast barely missed his left shoulder (clearly shot by his mother), Danny carefully took aim at the weapons. Both shots missed.

"Ha!" Jack exclaimed, firing off yet another shot that missed him by a couple feet. "Give up, spook!" Danny aimed once more, but pain seared in his abdomen and he began to fall. His mother had actually landed a hit. The ground was coming up fast. There was no time to do anything, so Danny braced himself.

The impact was jarring and pretty painful. He wondered how far he had fallen. Probably around ten or fifteen feet. Dazed, he hardly registered the crowd beginning to form, watching with bated breath. He wondered if Sam and Tucker were somewhere in the mass of bodies.

No time to wonder about that, he thought, realizing he was staring down the barrel of his parents' ectoplasmic guns. Max was crying. Thinking quickly, Danny employed the age-old trick of turning intangible and sinking down through the ground. He popped up again at the back of the crowd. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz were there. Everyone was too busy scanning the sky to notice him.

"Guys," he hissed, tapping Sam on the shoulder. They jumped a little, but made no sound to tip anyone off about his whereabouts. "Watch him for me." He pressed the child into Sam's arms before she could say anything. "I'll take care of my parents and we can figure out what to do with him later." Not waiting for a response, Danny disappeared from sight and took to the sky. He landed behind his parents, pulling their weapons from their hands before reappearing. The student body cheered.

Danny opened his mouth to try and end his parents' attack, but yet another burning pain hit his chest, knocking him backwards several feet. Rubbing the spot where he was hit as he stood, Danny saw his father's wrist ray and cursed himself for not paying more attention. Both his parents had them pointed square at Danny.

"Listen to me!" he cried, feeling frustrated. "I don't care if you want to waste me; you can do that some other time, but that kid is lost and scared. He is, like, five. He can't hurt anyone. Just let me take him back to the Ghost Zone."

Jack barked out a harsh laugh. "Do you think I'm some kind of idiot?"

"Well... yeah, pretty much," Danny muttered under his breath.

"I don't know what you did with that kid, but after I destroy you, it's next." Danny couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could his father be so... so... obtuse (ten points for vocabulary!)? Anger boiled inside of Danny. He could see the doubt in Maddie's eyes, but she would go along with it, at least for a while. They would have no problem killing Max. He was just a harmless little child, ghost or not. Danny wouldn't stand by and let his parents become monsters.

Ignoring the pain in his ribcage, Danny pushed himself to his feet. Jack and Maddie fired several shots at him, but Danny deflected them all easily with an ectoplasmic energy shield. They backed up slowly, seeming that Danny wasn't going to go easy on them.

"I am so tired of you two dumping on me, and I am sick of your obsession with killing ghosts! Yeah, some ghosts are evil, some ghosts do bad things. I've done my share of bad things, and I won't forgive myself for that, but you've gone too far this time. That kid is scared and looking for his mommy and daddy. I'll be damned if I let you lay a finger on him!"

"All you ghosts are just the same. Say what you want, I know that you're evil just like I know that 'kid' is an evil, soulless monster too." That was the last straw. Danny's anger at his parents prejudice and hatred boiled over. Before he could stop himself, Danny opened his mouth and let out his Ghostly Wail.

It wasn't the most powerful he'd done, not even close, but it was enough to send the RV crashing into a tree and windows of the school shattering in a flourish of sparkling broken glass. His parents knelt down, ears covered tightly by their hands, and tried not to get blown away too. Only when he stopped did Danny realize the entire school looked the exact same way, but he didn't care.

"Get this through your thick skulls: I'm not evil, the kid's not evil. The only monsters I see here are you." There was a murmur of agreement from the student body. A hand fell on his shoulder. He turned to see Jazz. Behind her stood Tucker and Sam, who was still cradling Max.

"Mom, Dad, I know you mean well," Jazz said, "but he's right. Not all ghosts are evil. He's just trying to do the right thing, and the kid is lost and scared and just looking for his parents. After today, I think you should realize that, if he had wanted to, he could have crushed you without a problem. All you do is talk about hunting the ghost kid and killing the ghost kid, but he never does anything to hurt you."

Jack looked defeated, deep contemplation etched on his face. Maddie seemed like she agreed one hundred percent. Finally, Jack rose to his feet and spoke. "Maybe you're right. I still don't trust you, but, just this once, I'm going to let you go, ghost. Take the kid back to wherever, but remember: tomorrow, you're mine." Danny smiled, taking Max back from Sam.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."