Chapter 3

The next day dawned gray and dull, but that was alright with Danny. Well, it wasn't really, but since he didn't have to go far to see Phantom he was more inclined to stay indoors. More specifically he was inclined to say in the basement. He'd slept in and woken up to lunch, and made it downstairs in time to hear Phantom's content rumbles as the merman dug into his own meal. Danny watched in fond amusement as the cheerful creature attempted to swallow one of his mother's turkey and mayo sandwiches whole. It didn't really work, and he coughed once or twice, causing Danny to thump him worriedly on the back until the merman regained his breath and promptly struck grabby claws out to eat another with a rather adorable gusto.

Danny shook his head in warm exasperation and sat back down on the top of the tank. It was a good idea Jack had had really, making the top come off in pieces like table leafs. Speaking of which, Danny munched his own sandwich and watched his mom pouring over some notes across the lab. He wondered vaguely what she were doing, but went back to watching Phantom chase some light beams across the bottom of his little pool.

"I'll be right back pal." Danny chuckled as he slid onto the floor and collected the plates, heading upstairs. The merman poked his head out of the water and gave a sharp rumble in response, before diving back under to splash around.

Danny smiled and headed up into the kitchen. By the time he'd finished washing the plates and setting them aside to dry, he paused by the fridge to grab an apple and soda. With a yawn and a munch Danny moved downstairs, and almost choked when he hit the bottom level and came upon the sight of Phantom hanging half out off the tank while his mother wrapped a handkerchief around his eyes.

"M-mom!?" Danny yelped, causing Phantom to try and peek under the cloth to see what his boy was making such a racket about.

"What are you doing!?"

The merman finally spotted him and warbled happily, mimicking his voice.

"Hm? Oh, no, Phantom hold still honey. There's a good boy." The merman stopped trying to see Danny and settled obediently, tail shifting in the water as he dipped his head for Maddie.

"Just some more tests sweetie, don't you worry." She put half a cookie in the merman's hand and he brought it up to his lips, munching the tasty treat with a beam. At first Phantom had balked at anything to do with Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Until they'd discovered the merman's rather interesting partiality to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and exploited it shamelessy. It made the tests a little easier and put them in the merman's warmer regards. He'd do most anything in return for a morsel of the cookie, and Maddie would be a poor scientist if she didn't use that in her favor.

Phantom hung his head down so Maddie could cinch a knot in the cloth and ensure it would stay put. She adjusted it a bit; Danny watched her make extra sure it wasn't in the way of the merman's head fans. They were currently flattened down and resting back against that wet silver hair, instinctively trying to avoid being touched. That wasn't really anything to do with his mom personally though; Phantom hated anything or anyone touching the head fins. Though he did tolerate Danny stroking them.

"Ready Phantom?" She asked.

The merman swallowed the last of the food and gave a deep sort yap like noise. It sounded a tiny bit like 'yep' but maybe Danny was hearing things.

"Good! Go on under the water honey. Under." She repeated helpfully as Phantom cocked his head, trying to figure out her sentence. The merman turned and slunk under the water with a flex of his fins, stopping to rest in the middle of the tank. This left almost three feet between both the floor and surface, and Phantom.

"Mom? I don't get it…" Danny asked slowly as he walked over. "Why'd you blind fold him?"

"Well, we've come to conclusion that merman seem to be a perfect evolutionary blend of human and fish DNA. We may never know Phantom's bloodline or history, but there's a number of tests that are perfectly harmless that will tell us why Phantom was born the way he was."

"Like blinding him." Danny asked with a worried look at his friend. Er, boyfriend. Something.

His mother smiled and motioned for him to watch.

"Everything about Phantom he has is because it's useful or he needs it to survive. He's lived this long by doing something correctly."

"Right I get that. Like his hip fins for direction, and his claws for fighting and his, scales for uhm, attracting mates." Danny blushed at that last part and hoped his mother didn't notice.

"Exactly!" She said cheerfully, starting to purposefully move controls on the dashboard next to their notes. A huge arm moved up by the ceiling, lowering a sheet of thick glass down above Phantom's open tank. The arm had several 'hands' and was able to pick up anything under a whale's girth. It was mostly designed for horse veterinary work but his parents were geniuses, so. Danny watched it, noticing the pane of glass that was moving was taller than it was wide.

"We're simply doing a few tests to see if our assumptions are right. The ocean sounds more uncivilized, more dangerous than what we take for granted up here."

"Yeah, I'd say that's about right." The teen had the decency to look sheepish as he thought back to all near drowning incidents. At least three within the year.

"And, from the other information we've collected researching Phantom; we think his species might have developed a form of echolocation."

"Echolocation? That stuff bats use to fly in the dark?" Danny blinked; resting his folded arms on the counter as the mechanical arm slowly lowered the glass wall in front of Phantom. It took up only a few feet, really. However, because of its placement and proximity to Phantom, if the merman wanted to get to the other end of the tank, he'd have to go around it. If he swam at his usual speed forward, they'd have an injured merman on their hands, and probably a moody one.

"Now watch Phantom's fins dear." Danny was already doing that before his mother mentioned and, oh. They were moving already.

The minute the glass had entered the water Phantom had actually lifted his head a bit. His fingers twitched but he did not reach up and remove the cloth. Instead the fans on either side of his head stretched forward and spread, cupping. Flick. Flick flick. Phantom made a crackling noise in the back of his throat curiously, (the noise came through the little speaker system.) and cocked his head. He clearly knew something was going on in his environment, but it didn't seem to be a big enough problem yet for him to investigate more. In fact he seemed to be a bit hesitant.

"Would you go and put this anchovy on that side of the tank Danny?"

"Sure, mom." Now facing his merman, Danny let go of the fish and watched Phantom's reaction. It hit the water with a plop and sank slowly.

The merman's head jerked and his nostrils flared suddenly. Those soft webbed fans twitching as he parted his lips. His mouth made a soft 'o' shape and he closed it. There was…a disturbance in the water Danny only knew because of his mother commenting, and then Phantom was swimming effortlessly around the glass wall like he'd known it was there his whole life.

"…woah." Danny's jaw dropped as he watched the merman paw around for the anchovy then shove it into his mouth, chewing. A happy purring noise came from the speakers, slightly distorted by water.

"We've already determined Phantom can make noises that are well beyond our own ears. Even the computers have trouble keeping up with the frequency actually! He must use it to communicate, and so far we've recorded clicks, grunts, growls, purrs and hisses." They both watched the merman gobble up the morsel, at the same time the glass was pulled out. A few moments later another sheet slid gently in, this one with a hole in the middle. It cut Phantom's tank in half, and the hole was big enough for Phantom to slip though.

"When Phantom's using echolocation, he's using his mouth as a transmitter and those frills on his head as receivers. They should be able to locate other living organisms, as well as tell him if he's encountering something impassable, like the ocean floor or a reef. He would also know if there's any hole in the reef he can slip through, or if there's other fish. Depending on that, they might also tell him how big and what kind of fish."

"Tuck read to us some fish can sense electricity…and I have seen Phantom uhm, do something like this. But he kind of…shrieked instead."

The woman paused and looked up from her notes. "Shrieked, Danny?"

"Yeah, well, it was a while ago. But it was actually…he did it to your boat." The boy gave a sheepish grin and watched Phantom swim up to the wall, the large fins on his hips spread and he coasted to a stop. To encourage him, Danny tossed another anchovy in. The head fins flicked, flattened and opened, turning every which way as the merman appeared to relearn his environment. He paused only briefly before swimming through the hole happily, doubling back a second time as he searched for more fish.

"It was this terrifying wailing noise." Danny tried to explain.

"Hmm, wailing noise…we haven't heard that. He did it at our boat you said?"

"Uhm, well, you guys were over their turf and Phantom was doing it to defend his home."

"Then he probably won't do it here, and it's not like we can explain or ask him with the language barrier. I also don't want to create a threat and stress him out anymore than need be."

"…we both actually really appreciate that. Sorry, you were saying, echolocation?"

"It's really a rather clever evolutionary trait! It lets him swim fast and as long as he can process the information to go along with it, it certainly makes him an imposing force to add to an already intelligent creature." His mother smiled softly at them both, before going back to type up some more notes.

Danny, who only saw said smile, bit his lip and gave a sheepish grin. It faded to a look of wonder and awe as he turned back to watch Phantom though, giving a soft sigh as he thought.

Phantom was definitely human. At this point Danny considered him human with animal-like qualities that sometimes clouded his judgment and actions. In fact, Phantom was the same as any protective friend. He just had more muscle and claws and teeth to back it up. But he was certainly aware, and felt emotional attachment. Heck, Phantom was smarter than some of the kids in his school.

At the same time, there were fleeting moments, like last night, when Danny saw something else in the merman's eyes. It was powerful, deadly…and a little bit unnerving.

Maddie broke her son from his thoughts when she set down her clip board and got up on the step stool in front of Phantom's tank. She splashed in the water gently. Phantom's frills jolted in her direction and he zipped over, popping his head out. Even though he was still blinded folded, Phantom smiled in his mom's direction and listened to her praise about a job well done.

His mouth dropped open hopefully, and his frills perked.

"Oh alright, but this is the last one you silly merboy." She giggled as she fed him another cookie, at the same time gently removing the blindfold.

Phantom nibbled the cookie this time, and bent his head when he felt her fingers. He leaned into her hand and gave a low purring noise, deep in his throat. When nothing happened, he huffed and nudged her again. When Danny saw her confused expression, he came to her rescue.

"Ah, he wants you to do this," Danny mumbled, reaching up rake his fingers through the back of the merman's silver hair. Phantom opened his eyes, saw it was Danny and leaned down to him cheerfully.

"Danny!"

"Hello to you too Phantom," the boy chuckled over Phantom's repeated declarations of his name, ("dannydannydanny!") said short and quickly. Sometimes it felt like Phantom just liked the way 'Danny' sounded rolling off his tongue. It was cute.

Yeah, a lot about Phantom was endearing.

'What am I worried about? This is Phantom. The guy would never hurt anybody. Least of all me, right?' Danny smiled for both himself and to the merman who was trying to tug him into the tank. Phantom was shamelessly whining for attention from him. There was something more than a little heartwarming when a deadly predator of the seas was giving you what could only be described as puppy dog eyes. Especially when he seemed to want some things from you and only you.

"Alright, alright Phantom!" Danny laughed as his mom got down and gave him room.

He spent the rest of his time until dinner, splashing about with the merman in the tank, and life was good.

oOo

But good isn't all there is to life, and they were woken up again that night.

Phantom was roaring, and generally making a huge racket as he'd done the night before.

Loud and harsh, by the time Danny made it downstairs it was ragged too. He was gonna ruin his throat if he kept that up. Danny bit his lip and listened to his parents complaints.

"We've tried everything to get him to calm down on his own Danny, he just isn't listening to us!"

Danny wanted to tell his dad this was Phantom. Trying to control the merman was like trying to control a hurricane, he was a force of nature. But at the same time, he knew, even as he sent them back to bed and promised he'd deal with it, that of all people Danny would get Phantom to obey him.

Or at the very least listen.

So downstairs the boy went, rubbing his face tiredly as he hit the basement floor.

"Phantom please," He moaned, opening his eyes and jumping a mile at what he walked in on.

"Phantom, stop!" Danny cried as he watched the tank actually shake from the force of Phantom's body slamming against the glass.

Phantom continued thrashing around his tank with no apparent regard to his own safety. Danny desperately wished Phantom would get tired, or at least out of breath enough he'd slow down. But no, water flew in waves and the merman's screeches escalated to a terrifying call that split through the air. His tail came down hard on the top of the water and the noise was a crack, but Danny mustered his courage and jumped to the top of the small step ladder. He hauled himself up against the wall of the tank, gripping the sides with his hands as he craned over it.

"Phantom!" The merman completed another lap and rocketed into a wall, turning at the last minute to use the momentum to slam his body against the tank. He gave no indication that he heard the human shout his name. Danny heard the cry of pain and it broke his heart. But before he could sort himself out the merman was lunging around again, gaining height as fast as he picked up speed. A dull thud was heard and this time Danny felt the tank shudder once more.

If Phantom kept this up, the tank could crack, or worse. If Phantom lost his temporary home this late at night, would they be able to get him somewhere safer in time before he…?

Danny's fingers gripped the tank lip harder and watched the merman, desperation growing. No, he wouldn't let that happen.

"Phantom, Phantom! You gotta calm down buddy, come on!" He was panicking but tried to keep it together. He had to help the merman, Phantom had saved his sorry ass how many times?

Danny gritted his teeth and leaned over the choppy waters. He stretched out a hand in hopes of making contact and calming the merman down. The good news was: he did make contact. His hand caught Phantom's good shoulder as he streaked by.

"Phan—"

The bad news was the merman shrieked in his rage and flailed like Danny had burned him. He twisted sharply, moving literally to quick to see. The merman dove and swung his tail up and the backlash caused it to slam heavily into Danny's chest with the full weight of his torso and tail.

Danny was thrown backward—god it was like being hit by a truck—and his shoulders and the back of his head collided with something sharp and hard as he came down. He cried out on instinct, the sharp pain faded only when his world went black, and he knew no more.

oOo

Phantom saw something move downward out of the corner of his eye and spared it a livid, infuriated glance.

Then his eyes widened and he slowed to a halt in his terror, his normally quick mind unable to register what he was looking at for a split second. His anger left him abruptly and a new emotion slammed the merman so quickly he felt dizzy.

"D-Danny!?" The boy lay on his side on the lab floor, lying like someone simply discarded him and left him in a heap. The merman gave another cry of his name and clambered for the surface, suddenly clumsy and sloppy in his desperation to reach Danny's prone form.

"DANNY!" It came out more animalistic and anxious, fear curdling in the pit of his stomach when his human didn't get up. Oh, Neptune had he done this? Phantom leaned back as he thought back to the past couple minutes, when his arm had been grabbed. In his rage, he'd been so focused on thinking about the It that

He had, hadn't he.

Going against every instinct in his body, Phantom hauled himself from his tank and landed with a dull thunk on the floor. It was wet, and that was good. He used the water to shift over to Danny's side, gently righting him. He worked as much as he could, before it became hard to think from the lack of water going through his system.

He leaned over the boy anyway, giving nervous croons as he held him in his arms and tried to wake him. There was no blood, head injuries were bad to both species. There still could be damage Phantom wouldn't be aware about until Danny woke up.

He didn't realize he was sinking to the floor until his vision started fading. Phantom glanced wearily over his shoulder at the tiny ocean MomDad had kindly given him. He couldn't even make back into it if he wanted.

But he heard movement just then, and turned toward the stairs to see MomDad coming down. They are calling both his and their offspring's name with increasing worry, and rush to their side.

He wheezed at them, managing a tiny smile as he shifted to let them see and take Danny. He remembers doing this once before, and is grateful its them that have arrived. He wouldn't hand his human over for just anybody mind you. He hears words he knows things like 'water', 'floor', 'Danny' and of course his name.

He's not aware that they think Danny just slipped and Phantom tried to help him, because he's not hearing or feeling much of anything anymore. He's floating in fact, and it's getting dark and this might be it, which is a shame because he…needs to take care of Danny…

And with a mighty splash Phantom's lungs come back to life and so does the rest of him. He coughs, shaking his head and realizing he's on the bottom of his tiny ocean.

The big male is getting off the step and smiling at him as he drops a bucket of fish into the water.

Phantom shares a smile and doesn't have to understand MomDad to know what that look and action means.

Thank you. Rest and get your strength back up. We'll take it from here.

That same prickly sensation wiggled up his sides again, alerting him of the presence of the It, but this time Phantom ignored his instincts and settled down, watching them tend to his boy with a hawklike gaze. He even ignored the fish for now.

His Danny came first, and not even the presence of the cursed Hafgufa would change his mind of that.