Danny lay on top of his covers, still in his shoes and clothes, as if he had just collapsed there. But considering Danny's never ending ghost-fighting duties, he probably did. He tossed and turned, eyes shut extremely tight, moans and the occasional whimper escaping his lips.
Danny ran as fast as he could towards Vlad, who was standing menacingly on top of a cliff, dangling a large net from his hand that held his family, friends, and everyone he cared about. It seemed like he was on some sort of treadmill, he couldn't reach Vlad, no matter how fast he ran.
"Come and save them, oh so great Danny Phantom." Vlad mocked sinisterly.
Maddie was walking down the hallway towards the room she shared with her husband, Jack, when she heard an awful lot of thrashing coming in from her son's bedroom. She gently pressed her right ear against the door and heard soft whimpers and moans. She quietly opened the door and tip-toed inside.
"Danny?" Maddie whispered. She saw her fourteen year old son lying on his bed in his dirty jeans and sneakers. His raven colored hair was matted and messy, and he was covered in a thick sheen of sweat. Maddie grew worried and walked towards her son and sat down on the bed next to him. She saw tears streaming down his face. "Danny, what's wrong honey?"
The rope of the net began to unravel, and everyone inside screamed. Danny attempted flying, but strong winds kept bulldozing him backwards.
Danny's pouty lip began quivering, and he started crying harder. He writhed and twitched around. He's having a nightmare... Maddie thought. She rubbed his back gently.
"Just...let them...go!" Danny cried.
Suddenly, the net sparked, and it began electrocuting everyone inside. They cried out in pain, and he could hear Sam's bloodcurdling screams above the rest.
Danny shrieked.
Maddie was seriously concerned now; she began gently shaking her son.
"Danny, wake up honey!" Maddie said frantically. "Come on baby, wake up, wake up!"
After another shriek, Danny's enormous blue eyes shot opened and he panted heavily and stared at the ceiling. Maddie stared at her son with an alarmed expression and stroked her son's face. Tears continued streaming down his cheeks and Maddie stroked the dark bangs away from his face. Finally, Danny's big blue orbs of eyes met hers, he was still trembling.
"Shh, Danny it's okay. I'm here, I'm here. You're okay, I promise." Maddie whispered.
"M-Mom," Danny choked out. Maddie rested her back against the headboard and pulled Danny up, so that his head could rest on her comfortably. Danny's face sunk into his mother's shirt and he sobbed. Maddie hated seeing her child like this, bawling his eyes out. She rubbed him lightly as he cried.
"Let it out, let it out." Maddie said softly.
"I-I'm s-sorry m-mom I-I I just," He panted heavily.
After about five minutes or so, Danny's sobs subsided, and he lay limply next to his mother, his head still beneath her shoulder.
"Do you want to talk about it, sweetie?" She wiped the tears from his face.
"I-I had a dream w-where Vlad was holding e-everyone in a net a-above a cliff and h-he was electrocuting you guys and S-Sam was s-screaming...b-but no matter how fast I flew or ran something kept pushing me b-back and I c-couldn't get to you f-fast enough." Danny sniffled.
"It was just a nightmare honey, everyone's fine, you're fine." Maddie assured with a smile.
"I feel pathetic." Danny mumbled.
"Danny, you are not pathetic. You protect this town every single day, and you do it with getting barely any appreciation at all. At the same time, you go through all the problems of being a teenager. You're so strong, sweetie. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't have been brave enough or kind-hearted enough to keep moving forward. But you are. Darling, it's perfectly okay to cry. It's part of life. You never cry, you should sometimes, it's healthy." Maddie replied. She ran her fingers through her son's hair and could feel him already start to relax.
"Thanks mom." Danny grinned. His eyes started to feel heavy again and he yawned. His mother stroking his hair was lulling him to sleep. Finally he gave into his exhaustion and fell into a peaceful sleep.
Even though Danny fell back asleep, Maddie stayed there, stroking his hair. She was so relieved that Danny finally let out all of his stress and unwanted feelings he had been keeping inside of him since the...accident. She was also relieved that he was finally feeling like a...normal teenager.
...Even though he wasn't a normal teenager.