It was curiosity more than anything that had possessed Danny. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe he could fix what his genius parents could not. This had been their life's work, their passion. And the bitterness and disappointment had settled over the house like a black cloud. Even Danny's normally exuberant father had been subdued in the wake of their failure.
For as long as he could remember, Jack and Maddie had been obsessed with ghosts. It had taken Danny years to realize ghosts didn't exist. He had defended his parents whenever the other kids called them crazy. Unfortunately that had only attracted the unwanted attention of the class bully. Danny had eventually learned to keep his mouth shut and laugh off jeers about his mad scientist parents. But he had believed. Believed in ghosts for far longer than was socially acceptable. Even he grew up though and realized ghosts were nothing more than a strange pastime of his parents. Their energy inventions paid the bills, but ghost hunting was their true passion. They had been designing and perfecting the portal for years, but these past few weeks they had worked almost nonstop on it. When it hadn't worked, they had walked away.
Some part of Danny had wanted to believe it would work. Wanted to believe again. As a child he'd thought his parents infallible and to learn they were so wrong about the world had shaken him. Besides the idea of an uncharted world was tantalizing to Danny. Exploring a new world, well that was the dream.
And that was how he found himself in the basement, staring at the empty portal. He'd just wanted a peek, but he felt a strange sense of awe. Working or not, it was truly a sight to behold. Suddenly he'd wished he's paid more attention when his parents had lectured on and on about how it was supposed to work. Danny shook his head. Ridiculous. Of course it would never work, there was no such thing as ghosts, no ghost world. That didn't mean the portal wasn't interesting. It was a technical marvel, that was it. Tucker would love to see it. But Danny would already be in enough trouble if he was caught poking around the lab without his parents, let alone if he invited friends. He would just take a quick look and no one would be the wiser. There was no harm in just a peek.
Danny walked over to rifle through the jumpsuits hanging on the rack. He grabbed one in his size and pulled it over his clothes. The suit never was the most comfort thing to wear. The material wasn't exactly breathable, especially when worn on top of a binder.
He stood in front of the portal, suddenly feeling very small. The frame was impressive, but it was the vast emptiness of the inside that made him shudder slightly. It was large enough for a person to step inside. Growing up with two scientists meant he was used to weird inventions but this portal really made him feel like he was in a sci-fi. Like he could step inside and be transported to another galaxy. Danny took another step forward, more hesitant. He glanced around the lab nervously like he expected his mom or dad to jump out of nowhere to yell at him. The lab was still as empty as before.
Nothing held him back from stepping into the machine. His heart thumped in his chest. Cool. A small smile graced his lips as he made his way further into the machine. He used his hand to feel along the side of the portal. He heard the click as the same time his hand found the button. Before he could even process what had happened, light exploded around him. It crackled through him, leaving pain in its wake. He thought he screamed but he couldn't control his body. It felt like every nerve in his body was on fire. And then as suddenly as it had started, it stopped.
It had been a lazy sunday afternoon when Jack and Maddie's world was overturned. Jazz had been at the library with a friend all day. Tucker and Sam had both been busy so Danny had spent the weekend playing video games in his room. The house was quieter than Jack and Maddie could remember in years. Maddie watched her husband sadly, even he was quiet today. She of course had been devastated when the portal failed, but Jack had taken it the hardest. They sat in the living room. Maddie had spent the day staring at her book but not reading it. Jack had hardly said a word, just spent hours knitting a sweater. For someone so careless, Jack was always meticulous with his stitching. Today his stitching was loose and messy and the sweater wouldn't be wearable.
With a sigh, Maddie tossed her book aside. "Why don't we go somewhere? Just the two of us?" She smiled at her husband.
Jack gave a noncommittal grunt and kept knitting.
"Danny will be fine alone for a few hours. And I think we could use the time to ourselves." She sighed again. "I know these past weeks have been stressful, but that's just all the more reason we should do something for us. You know we could go to that new bakery, The Pie Hole."
A small smile graced Jack's lips. "That does sound nice."
The house was quiet when they returned. But now it felt like a more comfortable silence, instead of the oppressive silence of before.
"Danny! Come get some pie before it's all gone!" Maddie yelled up the stairs. Jack carried in the pie boxes and set them on the kitchen table. She shot an affectionate look at her husband. He'd cheered up considerably. She could always count on food to cheer Jack up. "Leave some for the kids." She scolded Jack playfully.
"Danny?" Maddie called again. She frowned when she again received no response. She sighed and shook her head. Danny and his video games, if only he applied the same focus on his school work. "You can leave your game for five minutes." She said as she climbed up the stairs.
But his bedroom door was wide open and Danny was nowhere to be seen. She swallowed down a wave of panic. He'd probably gone to Tuck's or Sam's house. Her frown deepened, Sam was out of town and Tucker was at home with the flu. Where could he be? Danny didn't exactly have many friends. Deep breathes she told herself, check all the rooms. Maddie marched down the hallway. Not in the bathroom, not in Jazz's room, not in her room. Surely he would have answered if he was upstairs. If he was downstairs why hadn't he heard them come in. She walked briskly down the stairs, common sense just keeping her from running.
Jack was still eating the stupid pies when she came downstairs, oblivious to her anxiety.
"Danny's not upstairs."
Jack shrugged. "He probably went out."
"I don't know." She couldn't explain away the worry churning in her stomach. "You haven't seen him?" Maddie chewed at her lip as her husband shook his head.
"C'mon honey, he's a teenager. It's in their nature to give their parents grey hair. I'm sure he's just gone out and forgot to leave a note."
"You're probably right. I'm going to make sure he isn't still in the house. Can you check the garage? See if his scooter is gone."
Jack gave a regretful look at the pie but complied with his wife's request. As he headed towards the garage, he could hear his wife calling their son's name again.
"His scooter's still there."
Maddie's face fell. "He could have walked, right?" She sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself than ask Jack.
"I'll check the lab, maybe he's doing his chores."
Maddie looked skeptical. "That'd be a first, doing his chores without prompting."
Jack shot her a grin. "I bet he wants a new computer game."
That brought out a weak chuckle from Maddie. "Kids. Only helpful when they want something."
Watching her husband disappear down the stairs, she couldn't help the feeling of wrong. His cry brought her running instantly, hand already gripping her ectogun.
"Jack!" She yelled, already running. Her feet pounded a rhythm on the staircase and she came crashing in her husband's back. She cried out in surprise and pain but he didn't seem to notice.
She grasped her gun tighter, ready to fight whatever had stopped her husband in his tracks. Surveying the room frantically, all she saw was a limp body. It finally dawned on her and the normally very collected scientist could do nothing but scream.
A/N: I like the headcanon of Danny being trans, so I included it in the story. It's kinda of a small blip compared to everything else happening in the fic, but please tell me if anything in my fic is offensive or wrong.
Title is from a Wye Oak song by the same name.
Inspiration came from this picture on tumblr: post/64677616591/au-where-dannys-parents-found-him-dead-in-front