A/N : The updates may also be coming slow because I'm not getting many reviews and nobodies even given me any reviews on my other current fan fiction, kokoro! L that makes me want to cry like in the pics on my profile that represent the author when you don't review
Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or Leave Out All The Rest by Lincoln Park
"Jazz, why?" asked Maddie Fenton. "Why would you just watch us shoot at your little brother and sister and not say anything? How could you just watch them get hurt like that and tell us nothing?" Maddie pulled herself up off the ground and grasped her daughters shoulders, being careful not to squeeze tight enough to hurt her, she never wanted to hurt one of her babies again.
"I, I, I was afraid," Jazz said a tear trickling down her face, "Afraid he'd be in more danger if I told you. Afraid you hated ghosts more than you loved your kids, I mean ghost hunting always came first and we always came second and even though Danny Phantom was doing everything he could to protect the town you still hunted him anyway, so I thought it was rational to believe that you just hated all ghosts regardless of circumstances. I wasn't thinking entirely clearly I was just scared." Jazz was crying by the time she finished.
"Oh honey I am so sorry," Maddie Fenton wept and hugged her daughter.
"I'm sorry to," said Jack Fenton "Jazz we never meant to make you feel like there was anything more important to us than you and your little brother and sister."
"You three are the most important things in our lives, never doubt that," Maddie Fenton said tearfully.
"We are so sorry," The tearful group hug continued for a few minutes. Almost everyone in the town was crying.
Then Jazz began to explain more things. How she had figured out that Danny was the ghost kid, how Skulker was hunting him because he was rare enough to be a valuable hunting trophy, how walker had decided to make his very existence against the rules, how there were other ghosts out to get him just because he was a halfa, and many who had a personal vendetta against him for stopping them from destroying the town.
Dash Baxter stood motionless, shell-shocked.
"Danny Fenton," he said, barely above a whisper, "I've been beating him up for years. He has those crazy ghost powers. He could have killed me in a second but he just stood there and took it. He stood there and let me hurt him over and over again." He was silent for a moment before speaking again. "I feel like a scumbag." The jock hung his head ashamedly.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mr. Lancer stood quietly, pondering the new information about Danny Fenton. Danny Fenton, one of his students. How had he not seen it? Danny Fenton had once been an excellent student, all As and Bs, but after the accident, his grades began slipping. He constantly showed up late to class was often favoring a side, or an arm, or a leg, using it carefully as though to prevent further injury to an already injured area, but being careful to hide it well. He would leave class with a bizarre expression on his face that, as time went by progressed from panic, to fear, to nervousness, to determinedness like he had a duty to serve and was going to fulfill it at all costs. He would come back to class much later, if at all, often favoring one side or limb, or sporting a red spot that hadn't been there before and was obviously going to be a bad bruise, or even with a large cut poorly concealed by make up. One of his students had been getting injured and he had ignored it. Regardless of this ghost business, he should have seen that something was wrong. He did see that something was wrong he just didn't want to admit it. He should have done something, said something, tried to help in some way. But he hadn't, he had even helped Danny get hurt more often by not punishing Dash when he had obviously beaten him up. Maybe because he subconsciously wanted a simple case of bullying to be all it was. Danny Fenton had once shown so much promise as a student but after the accident his grades began slipping. Mr. Lancer now knew that this was because he had been so busy trying to protect the town from ghosts and avoid being shot by the very people he was protecting that he didn't have time to do his home work, and this other life was pulling him out of class all the time. This was the reason why, why he always disappeared right before a ghost attack, why he was seldom able to turn in finished homework, why he always looked so tired, why he would sometimes glance around nervously like their was someone out to get him, why he had that strange tendency to tense momentarily when his mother or another competent ghost hunter walked into the room, why he seemed to be hurt all the time, why he always disappeared right before the ghost kid appeared, why he accepted detentions for tardies and skipping with such resignation as though there was nothing he could do about it, the reason he always acted so protective around his little sister as though he had to guard her every minute, why he had turned in that strange essay for the assignment to write an essay about your worst fears saying that he was afraid of himself and a person he could become if he didn't make the right choices, and perhaps the most disturbing of all why the ghosts were out to get him. It was assumed that the ghosts were trying to hit his ghost hunting parents where it hurt by going after their son instead of them. No one had ever suspected that the ghosts had a personal vendetta against Danny himself, a vendetta which was held against him because he spent his time protecting the people of Amity Parks even though it was obviously costing him big time.
Mr. Lancer thought back to the first day Danny had come to school after Danielle had been adopted. One day when he felt as though he'd done something right.
Begin flashback
Mr. Lancer was preparing to start class that morning. Most of the class was already seated. Mr. Fenton was late, surprise surprise. Mr. Lancer heaved a small sigh getting ready to mark him tardy as soon as the bell rang, when something amazing happened. Daniel Fenton walked through the door before the bell rang, signifying the start of class. He walked up to Mr. lancer's desk at the front of the room.
"Mr. Lancer, may I speak with you?" he had asked courteously. Mr. Lancer had agreed, glad that Daniel had finally come to class on time. It was then that Mr. Lancer noticed a tiny girl standing behind Daniel, clutching his jeans like a lifeline in her tiny fists. Her black hair was pulled back in a pony tail except for messy bangs in front, her baby blue eyes were wide in nervousness, and she was wearing red shorts and a blue hoody-sweat jacket, with a red knit cap.
"Mr. Fenton who is-" Mr. Lancer was cut off mid sentence by Daniel's explanation.
"This is my little sister, Danielle, my parents just adopted her. Mr. Lancer she was the youngest in a family that she just lost. She lost all of her brothers and her father in the worst possible way. It would seem that I bear some resemblance to her youngest brother, he was about my age and you see that the same coloring seems to run in both our families," It was true she looked like a true relative of his, "I seem to be the only one who can make her feel a little better so I was hoping she could come to school with me, she's not ready to be separated from me yet and you know how Mom and Dad's work can pull them away during the day. I don't want them to take her ghost hunting you have no idea how dangerous that is, and besides they can't look after a toddler while fighting ghosts. Can she please stay with me? She'll be quiet as long as nobody bothers her. I can just give her some crayons and paper and she'll just draw quietly. She won't bother anyone," Daniel was pleading with his eyes as he finished, he truly cared about this girl.
"Mr. Fenton are you sure you can look after a child? If your homework is any indication you have trouble with responsibility." The girl clung little tighter to Daniels jeans, He bent down and picked her up."Mr. Lancer, please, she needs me. I'll be responsible I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she's safe and happy," Mr. Lancer could see the truth , the promise, the determination, in Daniel's eyes. In the Back of Mr. Lancers mind he got the feeling that Daniel was talking about something other than just bringing her to school with him. The tiny girl smiled at Daniel as he rocked her back and forth, gently.
"Alright, we'll pull up an extra chair next to your desk and she can come to school with you," With that decision made they walked back into class.
"Alright class, listen up. We have a new addition to the class. This is Daniel Fenton's younger sister. Due to emotional trauma she will not be separated from her big brother for some time. Until she is ready she will be coming to class with Daniel. She will not bother you and there is to be no picking on or attempting to scare her, or there will be serious consequences. Is that understood?!" The class gulped and nodded in unison. "There is also to be no picking on Daniel while she is in his care, is that understood as well?" The class nodded again, "her name is Danielle-" Mr. Lancer was interrupted by a small sound from Danielle.
"Umm, i's Dani wif an I," she said, earning an aww or two.
"Right, now will someone fetch an extra chair from the back of the room and set it next to Daniel's desk for her to use?" Sam and Tucker, who sat on either side of Daniel, hopped up and got the chair they put it beside Danny's desk.
Danny worked on his school work and Dani sat there and drew with crayons. A little while into the lesson someone sitting behind the two Fenton children became curious, looked at the pictures Dani had drawn and gasped loudly. The rest of the class looked at him wondering what had caused the outburst. He said
"Look at those pictures," his voice was a little shaky. The entire class looked at the pictures. The first was Dani crying next to what was clearly the Wisconsin Ghost! The next was of what was clearly Danny Fenton Standing in front of her in a protective stance. The next was Danny hitting the Wisconsin ghost with a strong uppercut. The next picture had Danny Getting him with a roundhouse kick. The next was a cloud of dust with fists sticking out, then Danny standing next to the Wisconsin Ghost who was lying on the ground with xs for eyes and his tongue sticking out. Next came a picture of Danny flying away with Dani in his arms. Then the next picture was Danny, Dani, Jazz, Jack, and Maddie Fenton all hugging and smiling. Then came a picture of Dani sleeping in a crib and there was a ghost underneath! The next picture Dani saw it and cried. The next picture was Danny sucking the ghost into the Fenton Thermos. The next picture had Danny sleeping on the floor of Dani's room, just in case there was another ghost. Then Came a picture of Jazz making breakfast, while Danny and Dani sat at the table, smiling. The last picture was Danny and Dani at school.
The class gasped.
"Don' worry. I know dey're scawwy but da ghosties can't huwt you wif my big bwuvow here," Dani spoke confidently. Everyone looked quizzically at Danny who shrugged.
"If my little sis is attacked by ghosts, then I'll be a ghost hunter. For a while, anyway." Dani looked at him quizzically.
"But, you fights ghostses all da time, no madder WHO it is their 'bout ta attack." Danny sent her a look that said shhh, then realization flickered in her eyes.
"OH, I get it. Secwet idenity wight," Dani made a motion to zip her lips.
"Heh, kids," said Danny.
"You are a kid," Someone said.
"If only I could afford to be," Danny said so quietly no-one else was meant to hear. "you know what I meant," he said more loudly. Then Sam came to his defense.
"Okay back to class, I know you're all interested in the aspiring artist's work but we do have a lesson to learn, here."
The rest of the lesson passed pretty much uneventfully.
Lunch came and Dani sat next to Danny, who kept looking over to make sure she was okay every few minutes. He was acting a bit like a mother hen. The really strange thing was Sam Manson's behavior. The maternal instincts that appeared during the flour sack assignment, were back full blast and she was helping take care of Dani. Tucker was also trying to help out but there wasn't much for him to do, although he did entertain her by teaching her to play a game he had on his PDA, after Danny and Sam okayed it, of course.
The next day had been the real shocker though. A large mechanical ghost floated down through the ceiling, and shouted "WHERE ARE THEY!" The ghost attack was not unusual the shocking thing was that Dani had immediately started mouthing off to it.
"Hey hothead!" the tiny girl had screamed, "Din't ya leawn youwr lesson lass time? Or do me 'n Danny haff ta teach it to ya again?" The ghost flew right up to her and she didn't even flinch.
"That big mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble ghost child," the ghost had snarled, but Danny had shifted so he was between his sister and the ghost then sent it sprawling with an uppercut. The change in position had allowed Dani to get something out of Danny's backpack. Danny stood up very quickly, still holding his sister and turned to face the ghost then Dani sucked the ghost into the Fenton thermos.
"Awight, anover ghost taken cawe of by me 'n my bwuver." the two then sat back down and continued what they were doing as if nothing unusual had happened.
Thinking back Mr. Lancer mentally slapped himself (hard) for that not setting off a warning bell.
All the people of the town who knew Danny Fenton were wrapped up in their own silent meditations. Even Vlad was starting to feel a little guilty when he saw the repercussions of his actions in these children's lives. He had just seen Danielle as a tool, and now she would probably be severely emotionally scarred. She had called him Daddy and he'd tried to make her do something that would kill her. Vlad was starting to see some reason behind them calling him a seriously crazed up fruit loop.
"All right, enough moping, we've got plenty more dreams to see," called nocturne. The townspeople were starting to get frustrated with him, not that there was anything they could do.
"Here's another slideshow-type dream that actually came from both of them," Maddie and Jack braced themselves, they knew they were gonna see something they didn't like.
I dreamed I was missing,
The Phantoms were trapped in some place that looked suspiciously similar to a GIW laboratory.
And you were so scared,
Sam Manson and some little ghost boy(full ghost, just to be clear) that they didn't recognize were sobbing their eyes out and looking at a picture of Danny and Dani.
But no one would listen,
The little ghost boy was hiding from a ghost hunter, and Sam Manson's mom was trying to drag her on a shopping trip despite the sobs that left her completely immobile and the fact that Sam was much too strong for her to move by force.
'Cause no one else cared,
The Phantoms were standing with their hands up, ecto-guns pointed at them.
And after my dreaming, I woke with this fear,
Both halfas shot bolt up right, in bed breathing hard. Dani screamed for her big brother, who rushed immediately to her room to protect her.
What am I leaving, when I'm done here?
The two halfas were floating above Fenton works in ghost form.
So if you're asking me I want you to know…
Danny was holding Dani in his arms, then they both looked up towards someone not seen.
When my time comes,
These images were of Danielle coming so close to melting, and Danny in the middle of an attempt to fight off a really tough ghost, getting knocked down, clearly injured, and taking a little too long to get back up.
Forget the wrong that I've done,
Danny Phantom was obviously being controlled. With the red spirals in his eyes it couldn't be much more clear, and they'd still missed it the first time around. He was being forced to steal. And Danielle steeling an apple before Danny had found her and brought her home.
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed,
Danny and Dani protecting the town. Was that why they did it? Based on what they had learned from Jazz, some of the ghosts would have gone after them anyway. Did they fight for the town's safety because they were hoping that when they were gone they might be missed? This made the town feel even scummier about the way they had been treating the kids. They wanted to be remembered when they were gone, which for all they knew could be years from now when their grown up and old or tomorrow, and they were certainly finding a positive means of trying for this, yet it was getting turned against them. That couldn't be the only reason they fought or they would have already given up. No, these kids, young as they were, honestly understood what would happen to the town if it wasn't protected and cared.
Please don't resent me,
The entire town was surrounding the two, who were backing up and Danny was shifting Danielle so she was behind him. The faces of the town looked odd, strangely demonized. They were covered by black shadows with glowing red eyes and pointed teeth in crooked mouths, twisted into evil expressions of rage and sinister glee at the soon coming demise. Except for Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and the little ghost boy, who all looked worried. Was this what the town looked like to the ghost kids? Was this really how they saw them? And they still protected them anyway?
And when you're feeling empty,
An image of the little ghost boy crying, and then one of Sam Manson crying.
Keep me in your memory,
A picture of the two halfas in ghost form with a black sash across the frame. This is a fear that is always on the periphery for them.
Leave out all the rest,
The two were surrounded by other ghosts.
Leave out all the rest,
Once more they found themselves surrounded.
Don't be afraid,
A news broadcast about how horrible and scare the ghost kids were.
I've taken my beating,
Danny looked to be in really bad shape, Dani had looked better too it seemed that after her big brother went down she had worked to protect him form the remainder of the ghosts, the flash back that came next proved this to be correct.
I've shared what I made,
A horrible nightmare version of the future with a strange demonic version of Danny, Then the current Danny was fighting him and losing pretty badly, he didn't look like future danny had held back much more against him than against the future town. Sam recognized the scene and spoke, "It isn't gonna happen anymore, I'll explain later." She choked back the tears that were threatening.
I'm strong on the surface,
Danny and Dani with the familiar cocky I-am-going-to-win-and-you're-not Expression on their faces, looking like they were ready to handle anything.
Not all the way through,
The two were curled up in a corner crying.
I've never been perfect,
Danny was standing in human form in front of his furious parents, who were holding a report card with Cs on it, probably because the life-saving pulled him out of class a lot and cut into homework time
But neither have you,
Jazz had one arm around a Danny who looked for all the world like he'd just had more than he can take for a little too long, The other arm holding a Dani who looked about ready to cry from too much stress, and an understanding expression on her face.
So if you're asking me I want you to know,
When my time comes,
Forget the wrong that I've done,
Help me leave behind some reasons to be missed,
The dream went dark before the song was even finished.
Everyone was quiet in confusion for a moment before someone worked up the nerve to ask "What happened?"
Nocturne sighed in frustration and then said "That happens a lot. This double life of his cuts into his sleep enough that several dreams are just cut off in the middle. It's so frustrating when that happens." Nocturne looked cross.
"Well enough bad dreams. Now for a change of pace lets check out some good dreams," Nocturne's mood visibly improved, "this next one here is really excellent."
Haha I left you with a cliff hanger! Give me some reviews and I'll get the next chapter up quick! By the way I've got a poll going on which story should be the next one I start when I'm finished with my works in progress. The basic idea for each story is listed on me profile so vote and review. Seriously people review the review button is not going to bite you! It's a button that makes the author happy and want to write more if you use it wisely. Come on people I know you're there I checked the traffic.