AN: Holy... holy crap you guys are incredible. It's only been three days since I've posted the first chapter here on ffn and this is already my second most followed story after a fic I haven't updated in years that gets a new few followers every couple of months. I had such a incredible response on tumblr I thought I'd put it here for people to see and to have something similar reminds me why this is one of my favorite fandoms despite almost never getting plot bunnies for it XD.
That said, this is the second of three scenes I've already written for this story. I have a mental outline for a fourth that I'm looking forward to doing in the next two weeks when the semester is done so I'll probably hold off posting the last pre-written one until Friday-Saturday-ish unless I get the next one done before that. Sorry this scene's so short, I'll add a little note at the end with one of my headcanon rants from tumblr to help make up for it and because it actually is pretty relevant for understanding the background of this 'verse and where it'll probably end up going in some future scenes.
You're all amazing, so I really do hope you enjoy!
Danny stood in the chilly midnight air and let the hollow feeling echo through his chest. He couldn't tell whether he felt more prominently the chill of Syndey's death being torn away from this plane before he could truly rest or the searing heat of the fire burning in his grave that echoed through Danny's mind, but both sensations were uncomfortable enough that the young teen felt no solace in their duality.
Sydney had… god, Sydney had been one of his too few rocks in the roaring sea of souls that pushed through the tear in the Zone. Sure, they had gotten off to a really bad start, and Danny was lucky that he wasn't caught in the brunt of the ghost nerd's rage the same way those jocks were, but he could hardly blame the dead boy for killing two of the living.
He empathized with the lost soul too much to blame him for when he snapped.
How could he not bond with the boy who had gone through almost exactly what he had? When Poindexter had realized the error in his judgement of Danny he immediately took the Casper High student under his wing, and for the first time Danny was part of a haunting that he didn't mind being the center of. The ghost was vindictive and petty, but he was too young when he passed to have learned the value in turning the other cheek: a moral Danny all too quickly internalized while fending off revenge-driven beasts from the beyond.
But as Sydney Poindexter hung around Danny more, his companionship quieted at the nearly empty lunch tables while Sam and Tucker argued over lunch proteins and the ghost started putting the thoughts clearly on his mind off until later so Danny wouldn't appear even more insane to the human world. After staying for the largest and emotionally draining lecture Danny had ever given after hearing the news of the bodies at Casper High (sometimes Danny felt he was becoming way too much like Jazz from this whole stint), he started not only wincing or growling after Dash whenever Danny was shoved into a locker, but instead sought to protect Danny as best as he could peacefully, and eventually even moved on to helping the other losers scurrying through the high school halls.
It wasn't only the kindness that gave Danny hope, but the change. Sydney Poindexter was learning, and after 40 years of static death it went against everything Danny had heard about the afterlife from his parents. Maybe they were wrong entirely, maybe it was his connection that made him special, but either way he could interact with ghosts and change them for the better and that finally gave him a purpose, a lookout point to stand on when looking into the green abyss of the Ghost Zone, and it made Danny's life that much more stable on both sides of death.
To have all of his support torn away, to have his first hope smothered without even the possibility of rest or peace only served to spread that cold through Danny's core.
The hand on his shoulder chased some of it away, not because of its warmth, the owner was dead after all, but because if Sydney Poindexter had been Danny's emotional support these past few weeks then Bobby Singer was his mental one. Somewhere in the vast unknown where Sydney represented purpose, Bobby had answers.
The man was gruff, and his attitude had convinced Danny for a while that the middle aged ghost hated him as most of the bloodthirsty ones did, but eventually the teen realized it was just his strange form of affection. He was uptight and paranoid, and discovering details about his past life was like hacking into a top secret database (harder, if the ease with which Tucker hacked was any indication).
After a few days of long but friendly two-sided conversations all the teen had learned was that Bobby Singer had died unexpectedly; had already haunted another locale but was banished (maybe there was hope that Sydney had somehow held on); and had two living boys, not related by blood but he had practically raised them from childhood, who Bobby Singer treated as sons.
Most importantly: Bobby Singer had seen and dealt with ghosts when he was alive.
Danny had no clue if the situation was anything like what he was going through, but the advice, reassurance, and occasional recipes for what cocktail of wards should keep the ghosts out for most of the night so he could actually sleep were indispensable.
These mysteries combined with the stubborn acceptance of a ghost who wasn't trying to force-feed him or hang his hide as decorations, lead Danny to promise to do almost whatever favor necessary in order to help the melancholy ghost move on.
Even if it meant confronting Sydney's murderers. Danny was against risking violence, if the tension did nothing but feed the rage that devoured so many ghosts, but in this case, the Amity Park teen was willing to risk it.
Maybe for once it'll be therapeutic for himself as well.
Background for the 'verse: THE RAGE. You've probably seen me referencing "the rage" a couple of times (such as in the second to last paragraph). It's an idea I have for this crossover that basically combines a ghost's obsession (as seen on DP) with the murderous lack of humanity that ghosts canonically devolve into in SPN over time. If isolated from humanity in the ghost zone or a really happy place, ghost's obsessions tend to manifest in positive emotions (Box Ghost + boxes, Lunch Lady + the usual menu). Messing with it triggers the rage. Being around your murderer/something that reminds you of your death tends to trigger the rage (Poindexter + bullying, Bobby + Dick Roman). Violence, or even the escalation towards it, tends to have a similar effect. Happier, saner, and more stable ghosts tend to manifest it less often, or at least in a more manageable form (Skulker gives in to his hunting for the best prey because it eats at him if he's not challenged enough, Ember gets depression and then rage if she goes too long without fans). Danny can be pretty good at acting human, but if he's around ghosts (or his ghost form, ya know, if he happens to be half ghost or something crazy like that) he can often start feeling minor forms of rage as well. To quote Journal 3 from Gravity Falls about confronting this type of ghost: PRAY FOR MERCY! As a final point about this: ghosts HATE being in this form. They can't control themselves and sometimes don't even truly remember it (think Dora). A lot of ghosts will take Danny's advice just because it might prevent them from becoming enraged.
Hope you enjoyed the scene and the little backstage glance! I'm really looking forward to posting the next chapter soon and seeing how far this verse goes!