He still wasn't used to it.
Danny had been living alone for two weeks and he still wasn't used to it. He wasn't used to the way no one said good morning when he woke up, or how there was no one there to welcome him when he came home. He wasn't used to how any noise he made echoed throughout the house, or how the lab in the basement remained dead silent throughout the day. He wasn't used to it. He just wasn't.
He wasn't used to his family being gone.
It had happened one muggy night in July. He was walking home by himself, the air around him ten degrees color then the rest of the town, and he held a cold tray in his hands. Tucker's mom had made cheesecake, and she insisted he bring some home with him so his parents could taste some. As he rounded the corner his house sat on, a shrill scream pierced the night followed by a sticky splat. He dropped the cheesecake, and as two white rings moved across his body, he took the sky's screaming his sisters name in concern as he phased into her bedroom.
And all he saw was red.
Red on the walls, red on the bed, the nightstand, the textbooks. Everything was read, soaked in the blood and entrails that had previously been his sister.
He threw up.
Dizzyness attacked his brain and he barely managed to get out of the room, collapsing on the dark carpet outside Jazz's door. Everything he ate at Tucker's house continued to vacate his bodies in waves, and snot and tears mixed together on his face. Realizing his parents should have been home, he forced himself to stand up on shaky legs.
There proved to be no escape from whatever nightmare he had walked into. Blood glazed the walls and various pieces of organs littered the kitchen and living room. Had it not been for the collection of orange hair, and the scattered remains of an orange jumpsuit, he wouldn't have been able to identify the brutal mess as his parents.
The rest of the night was a blur of tears, and policeman. He couldn't remember exactly what happened next, or what he did, but the one thing he did remember was the movement of black clouds through the kitchen window, and the warm feeling of blood as he fell to the ground.
That had been two weeks ago, and those two weeks had been the worst in his life.
It didn't take long for the police to abandon the case. After three days of cataloging evidence and cleaning up the mess, they announced the case closed, and Danny moved back into his room. He stayed their, laying in his bed all day, all week.
He should have been furious at the police for giving up so soon, He should have been torn apart, doing everything he could to stay out of the horrible house, but instead he was numb. His brain continued to flash images of the massacre over and over again, and he struggled, truly struggled to make sense of it. To make sense of the fact that his family was gone, and to get used to it.
But he couldn't.
The one thing he did know though, was that he couldn't stay in the house.
He needed to get out.
Luckily, he wouldn't need to worry about that soon. The police had called a man named Bobby Singer, a distant cousin of his father to come and take custody. In just a day, an old man in a truckers hat driving a shitty car would pull up in front of Danny's house, and Danny would never have to step foot in his house.
At least that was the plan.
Honestly he should have expected it.
This was his last day in Amity Park. His friends knew it, the ghost knew it, so its only logical that they'd come to say goodbye.
Yet he was still surprised when Johnny 13 of all people showed up on his motorcycle.
Danny stretched his legs and scooted to the side, pushing his shoulder into the stair railings outside his house. His suitcase rested off to the side, filled with clothes and a couple of gadgets his parents had made. Johnny parked his motorcycle on the sidewalk and sat next to Danny. There was moment of awkward silence before Johnny spoke.
"So this is it huh?" Johnny played with his hands as he watched the street. "I take it you don't plan on coming back?"
"Not If I can help it"
Johnny nodded "I don't blame you. After the hell you've been through-"
"I'm fine. Really" Danny gave Johnny a fragile smile. "I just need to get away you know"
Then, looking off into the street he added "And it's not like I have a choice"
"You? Not having a choice?" Johnny laughed "That's not like you"
Danny stayed silent. For a while the two sat together, watching the cars go by.
Suddenly Johnny stood up "If anything happens, to the town, to us, I'll call alright"
"Alright"
Johnny mounted his ride. "See you later your royal highness"
The corners of Danny's mouth twitched up.
"Later Johnny. Tell everyone I said bye"
The ghost man nodded and took off, his form disappearing halfway down the street.
Danny didn't have to wait long for his next guests to appear. He was a greated by a wet slobbery tongue on the back of his hand, and a genuine smile graced his features as he pet the green ghost dog that had somehow snuck up on him.
"Hey Cujo" Danny whispered. He picked the mutt up and held him close, racing his fingers down Cujos back.
"Hey"
Danny's eyes met Valerie's as he looked up. "Hey"
Cujo jumped out of Danny's arms and smelled Valerie's feet before making his way back to Danny.
"Cujo hasn't given you any trouble right?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle" Valerie sat next to Danny. "So, how are you holding up?"
"I'm okay for now. I just need to get out of here"
"I understand... but you know, we haven't really talked yet right?"
Danny glanced at Valerie for a second. Gingerly, he put his arm around her waist moved close to her. Their lips met halfway as they softly kissed.
They held that position for a while, before Danny slowly moved back. He looked in her eyes, and memorized the way the light made them shine a beautiful hazelnut color.
"I'm sorry"
Valerie stared back at him, a loving smile adorning her lips. "I know" She wrapped her arms around him and stuffed her head into his shoulder. Danny cradled her in his arms.
The two parted and sat silently, enjoying the others presence for what could be the last time in a long time.
After awhile, two became four as Sam and Tucker's popped into Danny's view. The two jogged across the street.
"Hey dude!" Tucker greeted Danny with a smile.
"Hey Danny" Sam leaned on the side of the railing next to Valerie.
"Hey guys"
"So, how are you feeling?"
"All right" He flashed Tucker a smile.
"Val?" Sam asked, not entirely believing Danny
"He told me he was ok. He just can't wait to get out of here"
The two nodded in understanding.
There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Tucker murmured "Were gonna miss you"
"I'm gonna miss you guys too" Danny looked down at Cujo as he layed at his feet.
"Is there anything you want to do, anything you want to say before you go?" Sam asked.
Danny thought for a moment. "Not really. You'd think I'd have a lot to say, but..."
"We get it" Tucker knelt down and fingered the sidewalk.
"In that case, do you know what your gonna do?"
"Do about what?" He looked at Sam.
"The whole ghost king biz. Are you gonna tell your cousin or just keep it a secret"
"I don't see why he needs to know. He's not a ghost hunter, so it's not like he'd notice anything off"
"Hold on, have you even met him yet" Tucker asked.
"Well no"
"Great, so on top of never meeting the guy, you can't even say for sure he's not a hunter or not" Sam shook her head "Is there anything else's we should know about" she joked.
"He's my cousin on my Dads side. Distant cousin"
There was a moment of silence, before Tucker broke out laughing "Dude you are so screwed"
"Am not!"
Valerie was about to make a joke but was cut off by the choking engine of a faded red Chevy as it pulled up. A tall chubby man with messy hair wearing a truckers hat got out of the car.
The man looked at the group awkwardly. "Hey, Uh I'm looking Danny"
Danny stood up and grabbed his suitcase. He greeted the man with short "hi"
"Names Bobby Singer, nice to meet ya. I'm your daddy's cousin. Distant but still"
Danny could only nod. He moved to put his suitcase in the trunk but froze after hearing the mans panicked protest.
"No don't go back there!" The teens stared at him for a solid second before he spluttered "The trunks full and Uh if you don't open it right everything falls out" Moving to Danny's side of the car, Bobby opened the back car door. "Through it in there"
Had Danny grew up in any other kind of family, he might have found the older mans actions suspicious, however being Jacks son, it seemed like a pretty ordinary response.
Danny closed the door and Bobby moved to the drivers door.
"Hey dude" Danny looked up to see Tucker's outstretched arms "Last hug?"
Before he knew it, Danny was enveloped by three pairs of arms. He hugged back, grabbing his friends sides and squeezing them as hard as he could. Bobby waited patiently, willing to give the kids as much time as needed.
"See ya guys" Danny pulled away, and opened the passenger door. Before he could react, Cujo jumped and scampered inside.
"Cujo! No!" Danny stuck his head in the car and looked for the green haired ghost dog. Letting out a low whistle, Danny called "Here Cujo, Come here"
"He your dog?" Bobby looked at the backseats, wondering where the small thing disappeared to.
"Yeah. He's Uh" he glanced at Sam and Tucker "Not normal"
"Do you want to bring him along?"
"What?"
"Do you want to take him with you? He seems to want to come with us"
Danny looked at Valerie for guidance.
"You should take him. You know how he gets when your away" Danny winced. Last time he let Cujo out of his sight, the dog ended up demolishing a food store.
"Yeah" Climbing into the car, he nodded at Bobby "Id like that"
"Alright then" Bobby started up the car and Danny smiled at his friends
"See you later guys"
The trio yelled their goodbyes as the car pulled out and started driving to the highway out of town.
Danny watched the familiar buildings move by, and grabbed Cujo onto his lap when the dog finally decided to show itself. He rested his head on the door and closed his eyes and listened to the soft guitar chords playing over the radio as he finally left Amity Park.
AN: Alright, so if you don't care about the minor adjustments to Danny's powers and backstory then feel free to skip this and thank you for reading.
In this crossover AU, Danny's past is a bit different. He still got his powers by dieing from the ghost portal, but he was alone when he did, and the first person to know was Valerie. Not because he told her, but because he fucked up when he first got his powers and was seen useing them by her. Second thing I changed was that I added two powers. One is empath sense. Seeing as he's half ghost and ghost get a lot of their power from feelings, I decided to give him the ability to sense peoples feelings and when their lieing. The second power is the whole pulling and pushing objects thing. Another thing I changed is his relationship with the ghost. After fighting pariah dark and helping the ghost and everything Danny earned the title of king of the ghost zone, and is respected and friends with some ghost. Ghost like over growth and the tornado dude hate his guts and some relationships are a little rocky but they work out. Since he is the ghost king, he can use the ring of rage and crown for a big power up but depending on how much power he uses, he'll suffer from the backlash which can range from minor to death. The last thing is his effect on Demons. I like the idea that ectoplasm is pure energy and that Danny's powers come from him being connected to his soul, so depending on how much ectoplasm a demon comes in contact with, the demon could die. Even if their a knight of hell. When it comes to angels, he's kinda hit or miss. Ectoplasm doesn't do much to angels, but his ghostly wail can be pretty effective, along with his ice powers. That's about all I can think of. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
