Danny lies in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. His journey's been long and tiring but, mostly, lonely. Even though he has friends, no one knew his pain, not even the only other two who share his condition. Yes, Vlad is half ghost but he doesn't use his powers like Danny does. And his clone was made a half ghost; never having a human life before being cursed with such powers. Being a hero, as called by some, is a lot harder than the comics ever made it to be. Danny knew this wasn't exactly true. The comic books he has read cover practically everything from the overbearing responsibilities to losing everything closest to him. From comics alone, he knew that with great power comes great responsibility. That statement, Danny thinks, is an understatement in itself. Yes, with great power does come a great responsibility, however, the responsibility is greater than the power. In a way, the responsibility wasn't worth the power. 'No wonder Vlad chose personal gain.' Danny rolls to his side, facing his door. 'Personal gain just makes you look bad. It doesn't endanger your friends or family. It doesn't really harm anyone… but it's wrong… It's wrong to use your power for self-gain.' Danny looks to his floor in disgruntled depression. 'Why can't I use my power to help others without hurting anyone? Why does it have to be this way…?' He rolls over again, now facing his window. The sky is slowly brightening, shining brighter blue with every passing minute. Danny sighs, wishing it could stay dark and be cold. Just like he feels. He sits up, crossing his legs. It's Sunday and he would normally stay in his room, as he has done for the past few weeks, unless a ghost attacked. But today was different. He promised Sam and Tucker that he would hang out with them today. He put his chin in his hand, looking in to space. He really didn't want to. He wanted to kill all the lights around him and curl in the darkest corner. He sighs again as he steals a glance at his alarm clock. He has an hour before they pick him up or, as Sam put it, drag him out if necessary. Danny picks out a pair of clothes, a black collared shirt, a black long sleeve under shirt and his trademark jeans. He leaves his room and walks to the bathroom. To him, time could not be slower. For once, he wasn't tired; he actually got to sleep through the night. At the same time, he was extremely tired, hating every waking moment. As he arrived at the bathroom door, his sister walks by. Noticing her baby brother, she tones down, asking how he is. "I'm fine." He replies. She looks at him worried, knowing he's lying. She places a hand on his shoulder, and offers an empathetic smile. She knows he's depressed. He's been this way for the past few months. It started to show more in the past month, knowing he has been spending more time in his room and not with his friends. He returns her smile half-heartedly before entering the bathroom. Jazz shakes her head, "Get better soon, little brother…" she whispers as she walks away.
Danny looks at the mirror, seeing his reflection. For a second, he sees his ghost half looking back at him with the same depressed expression. Danny shuts his eyes, turning his head away. Pulling out his MP3, he plays Dumpty Humpty to drown out the silence. Although he showered for less than six minutes, it felt like an eternity. He dries himself, avoiding looking at the mirror. After another few minutes, Danny is dressed, properly groomed and ready to face the day, at least, as ready as he could be. He turns the music off and goes back to his room. He packs his book bag with study materiel, a thermos, and some other things he normally packs. He looks to the clock, twenty minutes left. He leaves his room again, this time turning out the light and closes the door. He walks downstairs, greeted by his dad who is doing cross-stich on the couch. "Good morning, Danny!" His father shouts triumphal. Danny forces a smile, "Morning, Dad." He walks past him, to the kitchen. His mother, cooking breakfast, looks toward the door as Danny enters. "Morning, Sweetie." "Morning, Mom. Morning, Jazz." They both glance at each other, not buying Danny's sudden cheeriness. They look back to Danny. He looks at them then sits down, the smile fading away. "Would you like some breakfast, sweetie?" his mom asks. "No, thanks. I'm not hungry. And Sam and Tucker should be here soon." Maddie smiles, "That's good. You three have fun today." She looks back to the pancakes in the pan. Danny gets up, returning to the living room. "Are you sure he's okay, Jazz?" the worried mother glances at Jazz. "Yeah, he's just going through a phase. Every teen goes through bouts of depression." Maddie stops and looks down, thoughtful. "I hope you're right…" Jazz looks back to her book, 'I hope I am too…' Danny sits on the bottom step, waiting for his friends to bust in and drag him where ever they want to take him. After another few minutes, Danny looks at the clock. Worry flashes across his eyes, they are twenty minutes late. He decides to go to them to make sure they are okay. "Bye, mom. Bye, Dad." He yells, letting them know he's going. "Are Sam and Tucker here?" Maddie's voice returns. "Not yet but I'm just gonna meet up with them." "Okay, Sweetie. Have a good day!" He opens the door and joins the waking world. The streets are empty, typical for a Sunday. He begins walking towards Sam's house, only to be interrupted by his ghost sense. "Not today…" he whines softly. But, instead of 'Going ghost,' Danny continues walking, eyes looking to the sidewalk. Soon enough, his ghost sense went off again, notifying him that the ghost is closer; but Danny keeps walking, ignoring it. "Acknowledge me, whelp!" He feels something grab the back of his shirt. "Go away, Skulker." Danny sighs, never looking up. Caught off guard, Skulker looks at the boy, confused. Believing it to be a trick, Skulker smiles wickedly, "That won't work, child." He powers up some of his weapons and points them down at Danny. Danny just sighs again, "Just attack me and get it over with." Skulker's eyes grow wide at Danny's statement. This is not the prey he likes to seek. The prey he likes to seek is always throwing out witty banter and taunts but this, this is not what his prey is supposed to do. Skulker retracts his weapons and puts the boy down. "I will hunt you another day, ghost child. Today, you bore me." Skulker flies off, not wanting to admit his worry for the child.
Danny straightens his shirt and keeps walking towards Sam's. When he arrives, he knocks on the door, prepared to be insulted by the Manson parents. The door opens, Sam's parent's glaring down at the unwanted guest. "Is Sam here?" Danny asks, not really looking up. The parents share uncertain glances. "And why would you like to know?" the father asks challengingly. Danny slumps slightly, "Never mind…" they watch the boy turn and walk away. Normally, he would just ignore them and continue to ask for Sam but today, he really doesn't feel like arguing so he decided to give up and leave. Suddenly, Sam burst out between her parents, leaving her breakfast at the sound of Danny's voice. "Wait! Danny! I'm almost ready!" Danny stops and returns to the door step. He looks up at Sam, forcing a smile, "You're late." He puts simply. Sam smiles, "Yeah, Tucker and I both are. Come on in, have you eaten?" "Yeah." He lies. Sam narrows her eyes, knowing his lie. Danny looks down, "I'm not hungry." She sighs, grabbing her stuff. "Come on, let's go wake Tucker." "He's not even awake yet?" Danny shakes his head as Sam drags him out into the more awakened world.
At Tucker's, Sam knocks on the door… to Tucker's Room. His parents just let them in, knowing their son was supposed to be up. After no reply, Sam yells, "Clear!" and kicks down the door. Tucker jumps up, fully awake, "Wha.. What the? SAM!" He yells out. Tucker's parents join the two teens standing outside Tucker's room. Sam holds up a couple hundred dollars so they can replace the door. "Get up, Tuck! We promised to chill with Danny today!" Tucker rubs his eyes. "Yeah, but, it's not like he'd be in a hurry. He's probably glad we're …" "Tucker! He's right here!" "He is?" Tucker put's on his glasses and looks to the gloomy teen. "Oh.. heh heh hey Danny." "It's okay, Tuck. I'll see you when you get dressed." The depressed teen slips out of view, heading to the living room. Sam glares and follows Danny. Danny just sits on the couch, his chin in hand, resting on the arm of the chair. He's looking off in no specific direction. 'Tucker doesn't want to hang out with me anymore. I guess it's my fault… I have been distant lately. I just don't want them to know…' Dannycloses his eyes in frustration. It was clear they know he is depressed. They gave him a whole week to prepare for this day. He just didn't want to go out. Sam, who has been watching Danny the whole twenty minutes, sighs in worry; wishing to help her friend. Tucker finally enters the room, prepared. "Alright! Let's go, guys! Where should we go first?" Danny slowly pulls himself to his feet. "I don't know." He mumbles as he heads to the door. Sam smiles softly at the Halfa, "How about my place? We can watch movies or play video games, read anime or comics, or just sit there in the dark, snuggled in blanket." Her idea causes Tucker to freeze in his tracks but earns a small smile from Danny. "Wait? What?! I thought we were gonna go to the mall and stuff!" Sam walks over to Danny, who had also stopped, and places a hand on his shoulder. "Tucker, this day is for Danny. We haven't seen much of him. Maybe we should do what he wants to do." She looks at Danny, hoping to make eye contact. "So, what do you want to do, Danny?" He looks up, his ice blue eyes meet with Sam's amethyst eyes, "I'd like that." He speaks softly with a small smile. He hears a voice echo in his mind, 'They really are trying.' "Then that's the plan. Come on, guys. Let's go chill at my place."
The day with Sam and Tucker went by slow but Danny enjoyed it. Tucker played video games on the big screen while Sam and Danny cuddled in some blankets, reading poetry. Danny didn't know how Tucker or Sam was feeling about this plan and the thought of it made Danny feel bad. "I'm sorry if this isn't something-"Sam cut him off. "Danny, I love you, but, stop. I'm having a good time. And Tucker seems to be enjoying himself. And I'm worried mostly about you. Are you doing okay? Is this too much?" Sam stopped babbling when Danny grabbed her hand and squeezed it softly. "This is perfect." Sam blushes, and Danny pulls her closer, abandoning the poetry book for a moment to get more comfy. Once they adjusted, Sam now sort of sitting in Danny's lap, he picked up the poetry book and they continued to read. This lasted until lunch time, when Tucker couldn't take being cooped up anymore and forced Danny to agree to going to the mall. Once they got there, Danny's mood fell. Sam stayed by his side, trying to cheer him up and "look on the Brightside." Tucker barely noticed his best friends' mood. All he knew is that Danny is just being weird. "Come on, Dude," Tucker's voice filled with enthusiasm, "All you need is a little fresh air and a positive environment! It's a wonder why you are so down, staying in your room constantly!" Danny stayed focused on the floor. He knew the fresh air and positivity weren't going to help, 'I just have to do this for Tucker. Besides, we'll only be here for a couple hours.' Danny began forcing a smile on his face, 'Now I just need to be happy…' Sam, who is holding the boys' hand, squeezes it, letting him know she's there for him. Suddenly, Danny looks up, "You're right, Tuck. Let's go check out that awesome new game!" Sam blinks a few times in surprise, then rolls her eyes, 'He'll do anything to make us happy, so of course, he'll fake it!' Tucker's smile gets bigger, "Yes!" Before Sam can say anything, the boys were already running to the video game store.
About an hour or so into their mall adventure, Tucker begins to notice Danny's mood falling again. "You really aren't enjoying this, are you?" Tucker asks, confronting his friend. "What? Of course I am! I'm… having… fun." Danny's eyes fall to the floor again, his expression falling back to the same familiar face. He really tried to keep his act up but he just didn't have the energy. Tucker sighs, slightly annoyed. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, dude." Danny looks up in surprise, "Wait! Tuck! I... I'm sorry…" "Tucker stops and turns back around, sighing again, "I know, man, it's just… you're no fun like this." They stand in silence, Sam glaring slightly at Tucker. "I'll… see yah." Tucker walks away after his final words. Sam glares Tucker down for a few more seconds then turns to Danny, who is also watching Tucker leave. Sam knew that look all too well. "Danny," She started, gaining the halfa's attention, "He doesn't mean that. He just... doesn't understand. Danny's eyes shift from her to the floor. After a few moments of thinking, Danny final mumbles out, "Can I just go home?" Sam smiles a sad but understanding smile, "Yeah, I'll walk you home."
Danny enters his house after saying his good byes to Sam. The first thing he noticed was the sound of his parents messing around in the lab below. The other thing he noticed was his sister nowhere to be found. He walks to the kitchen, to the fridge, and grabs an apple. He still isn't hungry but, due to not eating most of the day, figured he should eat something. Shutting the fridge, he noticed the note left taped to the freezer. It notified his parents that Jazz had stepped out to the library and will be back for dinner. Placing the note back on the fridge, he heads to his room, nibbling on the apple. He decides to work on his homework, knowing he has a couple hours before dinner. It was strange, doing homework on a Sunday afternoon. Normally, he is fighting a ghost or hanging with friends or, like the past few weeks, just not motivated to work on it. But today, he is here, working on it. To his surprise, the material is pretty easy. 'Maybe it is just my rushing through it like Lancer says.' Danny knows he's smart and understands the material however; things just seem to distract him or, get in the way. Not today though, today he has nothing distracting him except his homework. Which is why Danny was more than relieved to do it; he would much rather be working on his paper instead of thinking. Before he knew it, it was time for dinner and his normal evening tradition minus the ghost fighting.
Monday seemed to pass quickly. It may have been because Danny paid attention in class for once or because he managed to go more than an hour without being reminded of his current state of mind. That didn't last long, as much as Danny wanted it to, for all good things do come to an end. At lunch is when he was reminded. Tucker was acting a little different, apologizing for getting angry with the enigma seated in front of him. "I really am sorry about yesterday… I just hate seeing you like this. I mean, can't you just make it go away?" Danny decided to ignore the rest of his lunch. He felt bad for bringing Tucker down. A couple minutes later, Danny just gets up and leaves, his posture slumped and head down. Tucker and Sam watch him leave worried. They look at each other and then push their lunch away, eyes down casted from guilt. They don't know what they said but they were sure they said something that made him leave. Out in the hallway, Danny notices that his friends aren't following him, feeling alone, he decides to go to his English class early.
The rest of school went by slowly, even when Danny did have to leave to tend to the box ghost. That didn't take long but it still got him detention. He didn't seem to mind and Lancer didn't seem to mean it either. But Danny went anyway. He sat in the desk closest to the door for the whole hour, never once looking up from his book. As the slightly overweight teacher dismissed them, Danny packed his stuff up and prepared to leave. "Mr. Fenton," the teacher called out, "may I have a word?" Danny sighs visibly and walks to the big desk, leaving his stuff at his seat. "Yes, Mr. Lancer?" Lancer scanned the boy up and down. He, too, has noticed the boy's growing depression over the past couple months. Lancer gives a small smile and takes a seat, pulling up a paper from the corner of the wooden table. He glances at it and then hands it to the raven haired teen in front of him. Danny holds it and looks at it, "My paper?" he looks at the teacher questioningly. "Flip it over." Danny flips it over and reads the red ink. On the paper, under the praising comment was a big '100 A+' in red ink, accompanied by a smiley face. Danny looks up at the teacher, his eyes flickering with confusion and uncertainty. "See what happens when you actually try, Mr. Fenton? The paper was very good. I was surprised by your use of words and metaphors. Good job." Danny smiles softly but meaningfully, "Thanks, Mr. Lancer." Danny grabs his stuff on the way out the door. Lancer gives the boy one last look, then continues to grade papers, smiling at the boys response, "he needed that."
Danny walks out of the school and pulls out his cellphone. He sees he has a text from Sam and debates on reading it. After a few moments, he shakes his head and opens his phone to read the text. 'NB at 5?' it says. Danny smiles lightly and replies, 'sure. Omw now.' Before he could put the phone in his pocket, Sam replies, 'see u there.' Danny calls his mom to inform her that he'll be eating dinner with Sam. He thought his mom would get mad but she was happy about the seeming return to normalcy. He hangs up after a quick "Love you too, bye." The rest of his walk was quiet. Danny's thoughts seemed to stray from topic to topic with no desire to actually think. He wasn't complaining the change in thought pattern was welcome. As he rounded a corner, the Nasty Burger comes in sight. For a second he wonders if Tucker will be joining them and if he was, would it be worth going. Danny, again, shakes his head and keeps walking. As he entered the parking lot, he stops. Danny looks back the way he came then, back at the Nasty Burger. He then takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Danny decides to stay outside for a few minutes. He could tell Sam wasn't in the joint or else, she would have come out to greet him. He thought back to the other morning's topic. 'It's amazing I haven't lost them yet. Yeah, I'm distant from my parents but that's nothing compared to losing them. And Jazz… she is always worried but she understands. If anything was to happen to her or Mom and Dad…' Danny's eyes shift, diverting the topic in his mind. 'And Tucker… he's been my friend for, like, ever. He's still somehow here and alive.' Danny hears his name called out. His eyes shift to the black haired girl walking to him with a smile on her face. 'And Sam… She's the closest person to me and she, too, is untouched.' Sam stands in front of him, talking but Danny doesn't pay much attention, he just gives her a half smile and lets her drag him away from the burger joint. 'She always knows what to do. She's helped me through thick and thin, always helping me. And I've never done anything for her in return…'
They walked down the streets of Amity Park, Sam distracting Danny from his thoughts by telling him about something Tucker did while he was in detention. Danny told her, in return, about his paper. Something about the twinkle in her eye and the life in her smile made him feel strange. Like this weird warmth he forgot about. He knew what it was but wasn't quite sure if it was real; it has been a long time since he felt even a flicker of happiness. Finally, they arrived at their destination, a small gothic place called The Skulk and Lurk. Danny knew of the place but never asked Sam to take him, fearing it was Sam's 'get-away' place. For a short time, Sam wasn't allowed back in but after she saved the owners from a ghost, she was welcomed back with open arms. They took a seat at a table off to the side. "You'll enjoy tonight, Danny. Normally they do poetry reading but tonight they have local singers coming in." Danny didn't look up from his menu. After a few minutes, Danny decided to ask the question that's been burning the back of his mind for a while. "Sam," Sam looks up, their eyes meeting, "Why are you doing this? I mean… I'm surprised that you haven't given up on me…" Danny looks down, thinking about Tucker. He feels a warm hand place itself gently on his. "Danny…" Sam begins, not knowing how to word it, "You were there for me when I needed you." Danny looks up, surprise clearly written on his face. 'When was that?' Sam seemed to read his mind, "Remember in middle school? When I didn't leave my house for two weeks?" Danny's eyes shifted up, trying to remember. "You came over every day and just stayed with me. Normally, I would stay in my bed and you would sit on the floor reading comics. You used to tell me about things happening in school and would tell me what we had homework in. You also used to stop by in the morning to-" Danny interrupts, "I used to take your homework in. I remember that. But what's that gotta do with this?" Sam sighed, smiling at the confused boy. "I know I didn't show it at the time, but I was grateful for every moment. It was a small thing to you but it meant the world to me. I was going through a pretty bad bout of depression but you were always there." Their eyes meet again and Sam intertwines Danny's fingers with her own. "I'm just letting you know that I'm here for you too."
Not knowing exactly how it happened, Danny pulls Sam into a kiss. Their seats had moved close together so they are now sitting next to each other. The young halfa couldn't explain the feelings that coursed through his veins, even the kiss didn't feel like enough to show the goddess of "independence and all things goth" how much her words mean to him. But the kiss is a start. They parted as the waiter came to take their orders. Soon after, a woman got on stage, pulled out a violin, and began to play 'Wayfaring Stranger,' a song Danny only recently came to love. They listened to the violin play the sad tune as they held each other closer. As the woman began to sing, Danny closed his eyes. A new feeling rose from within. It wasn't really new but after so long of not feeling it, the emotion felt like a golden light shining through the darkest corridors of Hell, dodging all obstacles just so he can feel it, even if it is just a little weak. For the first time in months, Danny felt content; happy with the situation he had thrust upon him; happy with the gift that disguised itself so well as a curse. He finally figured out why he hasn't lost anyone close to him yet. Their wills to survive and see this through to the end combined with their own intelligences, Jazz's in psychology, Tucker's in technology, Sam's in logic and common sense; the combination of the three allowed them to survive this long. Danny knew he could try to argue that they would be better without him but he knew better. Without his abilities there to protect them from harm, they wouldn't get far. It took the four of them together to stand against all odds and if one of them was gone… Even now with Jazz, if she was to be missing, despite the originally trio making it together, they would be at loss for what to do. All that would matter was bringing their team member back. The same stood for his family and others. They were safe because even they knew, including Valerie, when it was time to put aside differences and work as a team.
As the song came to an end, Danny returned to reality. Sam is still in his arms, they are still waiting on food, and Danny still feels the depression lying thick. But that part didn't matter because, somehow, he knew it would all be okay. He knows that he will make it out and life will return back to normal. 'But for now,' Danny pulls Sam closer, 'I have something more important to do… Even if it is a small thing.'