"It's not what you think!" Daniel cried, stopping his teacher from continuing to dial on his office phone. Daniel sighed, tucking his hands into the pockets of his hoodies. Trying to calm the intense beating in his chest, and push the anxiety down. He needed to be confident, needed to make Lancer believe him. With one more calming breathe, Daniel continued. "My parents... They didn't... They aren't hurting me. They didn't do this." He stammered, motioning to the dark, ugly bruise that colored his left cheek.
"Care to tell me who did?" Lancer questioned, settling himself in his chair. Pressing his two index fingers against each other and rested them against his lips. Daniel took a seat in front of the older man, a hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He shook his head, the pressed look the teen received caused him to quickly continue.
"It was late last night, I was walking back from Sam's and... someone tried to rob me, I didn't see him but when I didn't have money, he hit me with his gun and ran." Daniel stuttered, dropping his gaze to his red sneakers. A silence hung in the air, neither of the party speaking before the elder man released a sigh, giving Daniel a disapproving look. "I'm telling the truth!"
"As much as that could be the truth" Lancer began, shaking his head ever so slightly. "That doesn't explain the other marks."
"What other marks." Daniel mumbled, tugging his sleeves further down his hand. He knew he was taking a shot in the dark, Lancer just confirmed to the younger teen that he wasn't going to believe him so easily. He might have to go to plan B…
"You know very well what I'm talking about." Lancer spoke, flashing the teen a pointed look even though said teen was too busy inspecting his red sneakers. The silence that hung in the air seemed to answer Lancer's unasked questions, concern and fear filling the older man. He worried that maybe him getting involved lead to the ugly bruise that covered the boy's cheek, or that he might have all this wrong. He didn't want to risk ruining a very loving family, much like the Fentons portrayed themselves, but he couldn't risk sending Daniel back to that home if there was a possibility that it is as abusive as it seemed... Lancer didn't want to have to contact authorities, he wouldn't have to if the shielded teen before him spoke the truth to him, but he knew Daniel. He knew it wouldn't be easy to get the truth. With a sigh, the teacher's hands moving back to his phone, fully intended to call the police.
"Wait." Daniel spoke up, turning his pleading gaze up to the vice principal. "Just believe me... My parents aren't hurting me." Lancer sighed, running a hand down his face, he released his hold on the telephone once again.
"Even if it isn't your parents who are doing this to you, I still need to contact the authorities." Lancer began, giving the anxious teen before him a melancholy gaze. "Someone is hurting you Daniel, and I can't just sit aside and let that happen." The vexed look that over took the teen's features startled Lancer.
"You can't just sit aside and do nothing!" The anger that dripped from the teen's voice shocked the teacher, confusion clouding his features. "This started the beginning of Freshman year and now it's a problem?!"
"Daniel, I-"
"No." Daniel cut in, quickly standing from his seat. "I'm not being abused at home. I'll make sure I finish all the homework I'm given, so you don't have to worry about anything." Before Lancer could speak, the teen was out of the office.
The teacher sat dumbfounded. He knew something happened in freshman year that lead to the decline of Daniel' behavior and health, but around that time it didn't seem so bad. Lancer had been so busy with everything that he didn't keep his eyes on the teen. It almost seemed as if in the blink of the eye the teen's health seemed to decrease drastically.
Lancer buried his head into his hands. The image of the malnourished, bruised, and frighten boy etched into his mind. The teen seemed so vehement that his parents weren't hurting him, but the teen was still endanger. Who ever it is that's harming the poor boy still has access to him as long as the authorities didn't know. The worn out teacher released a sigh, his eyes landing on the phone. He knew if he contacted the police Daniel may very well hate him, but he couldn't stand seeing the young boy deteriorate before his eyes. Lancer knew what he had to do, he had to help Daniel even if the Teen didn't want it.
Daniel sighed, he seriously needed to stop doing that. He was pretty certain he has sighed more times these past four days than he has his whole life, but the teen couldn't help it. After his "minor" flip out on Lancer he had a ton of misplaced aggression that needed releasing, and per usual, ghosts decided to donate themselves for the cause. He had no clue what he would do now. He keeps freaking out whenever he tries to handle Lancer, and it isn't helping his case.
Kicking a loose stone, Daniel shoved his hands into his pockets. Sam and Tucker had some family things and Daniel couldn't hide out there. He didn't feel like having to deal with his sister's insistent questioning, or his parents' not so subtle perturbed gazes. Releasing yet another sigh, the teen pulled his gaze from the cracked sidewalk to look at his house. The sight of a dark black sedan stopped him in his tracks.
He wasn't sure who that car belonged to, or why it was there but that didn't stop the anxiety that clawed it's way into his stomach and made him bilious. Taking another deep breathe, Daniel stepped into his home, being greeted by two distraught parents, a woman and man in suits, and two police officers. The fear augmented, without needing to be told, Daniel knew exactly who these people were.
"Danny?" Came his mum's shaky voice. "This is agent Smith and Anderson. They're with Child Protective Services, they'd like to ask you a few questions." Daniel felt unease by his mother's unnaturally calm yet shaky voice, and how his father just sat there. Jack Fenton's face was eerily blank. He didn't make a move until Madeline ushered him out the room at the command of Agent Smith.
"You're not in trouble Daniel." Smith smiled, gesturing to the couch before her. "Why don't you take a seat and then we can get started."
"Danny." Daniel mumbled, taking the seat. He dropped his bag next to his feet, hands fidgeting with a loose string on his hoodie's sleeve. "I prefer Danny." All that got was a nod, and Anderson wrote down a few things.
"Do you know why we're here?" Smith questioned, crossing her legs.
"Lancer had to have called you." Daniel sighed, tugging on the thread. "I'm fine."
"How did you get that bruise?" Smith catechized.
"I already told Lancer." He pinched the bridge of his nose, indignation already growing underneath his anxiety. "I was walking home last night, it was a botched mugging. My parents didn't even know until this morning, they freaked when they found out. They didn't do anything."
"Freaked?" Anderson repeated, his hands quickly writing something down. "How did they 'freak'"
"Not the way you wanted them too." Daniel glared. "They were concerned about what happened, they wanted to call the police but I talked them out of it cause I never saw the guy. He was behind me the whole time." Anderson simply gave a nodded and continued writing. That irked Daniel's mood even more, what the heck was this man even writing.
"Would you mind if our Medical examiner looked you over?" Smith questioned, her questioned sounded a lot like a demand.
"Yes." Daniel grounded out. "When can I go? I have a lot of homework."
"You could leave as soon as our medical examiner looked you over." Anderson smiled, earning a glare from the teen.
"And what? You expect to find me covered in bruises? Then what, you'll blame it all on my parents?"
"If we found that, we would have to remove you from the household until we can determine for certain how you got the wounds." Smith supplied, leaning forward with a soft, reassuring smile. "If your parents haven't hurt you in any way, then this would all blow over." Daniel gave a reluctant nod.
"Where will I be staying?" Daniel blurted when agent Smith reentered the medical room. Her face read volumes of her shock. "I know you won't let me go back home so where will I be staying while this all clears up?"
"We still need contact a few relative, but we are trying to find someone near by and that you don't interact with daily." Anderson answered, as he entered after Smith.
"That means I can't stay with Sam or Tucker?" Daniel questioned, a frown pulling at his lips. All he received was a sad shake of his head. "This is ridiculous, it's just a few bruises!" He cried, throwing his hands into the air.
"Ridiculous?" Anderson spoke, his voice held disbelief. "You have three fractured ribs, a hairline fracture on your left wrist, a fractured hip bone, a concussion, a not so well relocated shoulder, and bruises covering more than half your body, along with a few cuts. Kid this is serious. Someone is hurting you, and it's not ridiculous."
Daniel sighed, burying his head into his hands. Tears pricked slightly on the back of his eyes, but he pushed them down. The anxiety and guilt overshadowed the vexation he had felt earlier. He was putting his parents through a lot, and he could end it all with the truth. A truth that could land him on a table ready to be dissected.
"Danny." Anderson spoke softly, crouching before the teen to make eye contact. "This maybe our job, but we do, genuinely care. Can you please help us help you? All we need is a name of who did this. No teen should go through this." Daniel swallowed and shook his head, earning a tired sigh.
"How about you go, and settle in your new place for now, and we can try talking more tomorrow?" Smith supplied, which gathered the attention of the teen, whose head shot up swiftly.
"Who?" Daniel's eyebrows furrowed, confusion clouding his features.
"Your father recommended an old college friend. Said you don't see him very often." Smith glanced down at the folder she held. "It's a Vladimir Masters." Daniel froze, the color in his face draining some. Before he gave a nod, his gaze falling back to the ground. In his moment, he didn't notice the look the two agents shared.
"Mr. Masters will be here soon to pick you up." Anderson smiled. "One of us will be stopping by tomorrow around two."
"Can I see my parents?"
"I'm sorry Danny." Smith sighed, placing a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Maybe we can set up a supervised visit after you have settled down with Mr. Masters, but right now we can't set one up."
"Can I at least still hang out and talk with my friends?" Daniel asked, hugging himself. He wasn't sure if he could do this a smart way if he couldn't consult his friends.
"Maybe not hanging out with just yet, but you could text and call them." Anderson decided to go on when the teen sent a defiant look. "Until we know for sure who is hurting you then we can't let you be with people you see daily unsupervised."
"Vlad Masters." Daniel broke the silence that had built. The suddenness of the name, stunning the two agents.
"What about him?" Smith questioned, crouching to the teen's level. The boy kept his gaze on the ground before him, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. The disquietude he felt earlier returned with vengeance, he swallowed against the lump in his throat.
He knew they wouldn't be able to prove that Masters had done anything to him, but he knew it would buy him some time to figure out how to deal with this. Throwing Vlad under the bus probably isn't the best plan he has ever come up with, but he needed to do something. There was a snowball's chance in Hell that Daniel was going to stay at Vlad's mansion.
"Vlad Masters." Daniel swallowed, turning his feigned confident gaze to the agent before him. Taking a breath to try and calm the hammering heart in his rib cage, he continued. "He's the one that has been... abusing me."
The stunned silence that followed only bolstered the consternation that filled Daniel. He felt as if someone had a strong hold on his stomach and throat, causing nausea and the uncomfortable feeling of his throat closing up. His head throbbed annoyingly, and tears pricked behind his stinging eyes. Daniel was close to disappear right then and there when Anderson spoke up.
"For sure?" Anderson questioned, he had his own worries about being able to prosecute Masters, but he knew if it was him then he would try. "I'm going to trust you Danny, and if you say Vladimir Masters is hurting you then I will do everything in my power to help you."
"Yes." Daniel nodded. He couldn't believe he said it. He actual is throwing Masters under the bus, he knew this was all going to end badly. He was just about to throw a high powered, halfa who wants him as a son, or to kill him. There was definitely no way any of this was going to end well.
He was screwed.
AN: I wasn't planning for Danny to throw Vlad under the bus but I just started typing and without thinking about it this just popped up. I was so debating about posting this, or rewriting it but I decided against it. I'm just gonna give this shot.
For the CPS agents, I actually have had to deal with CPS before so I based the two agents off the ones that were assigned my case. I'm not sure how the system works 100%, so anything that happens might be off, my apologies.
On an unrelated note, I have been binge watching South Park, already at season 13. I absolutely love Kenny, and the goth kids. those goth kids are literally me. I'm bring this up, not completely unrelated, because of binge watching the show South Park has been the main thing I think about. SO characters might be somewhat off, I haven't watched Danny Phantom in a while, so other shows are more recent and things might be off. Don't be surprised if a South Park reference found its way somewhere in this story.
ANYWAYS... I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, please favorite/follow/review, I'd love to hear what you all think 3
