Chapter 08

Dan almost regretted agreeing to a night out with Elle and Valerie. Watching Danny have a heart attack with his old bully Dash in the house was bound to be hours of amusement for him. Even more amusing if he added his own annoying contributions to provoke a reaction out of the younger half of his makeup. Dan crammed his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket as he followed the two women down the street. He still hated having to put on the human disguise whenever he left the house, and wasn't flying off to beat the snot out of some idiot ghost that thought it could threaten the human world.

Before, many years ago, Dan probably wouldn't have cared a whole lot about the activities of other ghosts in the human world. In fact, he would be the one causing most of the destruction. His down fall was when Danny teamed up with Elle, Valerie, and Vlad to fight against him when he escaped from the Thermos. He never would have imagined the team up. While he was trapped inside the Thermos, he obviously couldn't have learned about Danny forming some sort of truce with Valerie and Vlad. In his timeline, Elle never came into existence. Clockwork would never warn him of the combination that would leave him broken on the ground, barely clinging to his afterlife.

But Danny hadn't changed. He still believed in giving people second chances, even someone as twisted up inside as Dan. Whatever Danny saw in him, Dan couldn't see himself. He thought Danny a fool for even allowing him to continue existing in this timeline. The surprising change in him came when Danny introduced him to Lex for the first time. The child was barely a year and a half at the time, but when Lex slapped his little hands against Dan's cheeks and laughed, the broken ghost felt something that he hadn't in a long time. He didn't even think he could feel that way again until those bright blue eyes gazed up at him with no hint of malice and hatred. Lex was too young to even understand those kinds of feelings, but having someone look at him and not see him as a monster right off the bat was something that Dan couldn't even think to describe in words. Despite Danny and Sam's misgivings about allowing him around their son, Dan formed a protective bond toward Lex. He wanted to keep Lex safe from all threats, and should anyone attempt to harm a single hair upon his head, Dan would blast them so hard that they would be found floating thousands of light years beyond their solar system.

"This place looks good," Elle suggested as she stopped before a bar and grill. Her hand remained tightly clasped with Valerie's hand, and while several people they passed looked at the pair of women and sneered at them, neither of them gave those people much noticed.

Dan smirked to himself at that fact. Elle and Valerie were no pushovers when it came to people trying to harass them for one reason or another. Elle was a fairly decent fighter to begin with, but she became even stronger when she started training karate with Valerie. Dan turned his gaze up to the sign displayed over the door of the place reading: Bob's Bar and Grill. He snorted at the name, but it at least didn't look like some overly priced fancy place. He rolled dark blue eyes at that thought, since Valerie and Elle didn't care about going to ritzy places. It didn't matter much to him since he didn't need to eat like humans being that he was fully a ghost.

Dan followed the women into the bar and grill. A cutesy blonde woman greeted them with a fake smile, probably the same one she used for everyone that stepped into the place. The white buttoned up shirt she wore looked a few sizes too small with the way it hugged around her body and displayed her generous chest size. After grabbing a few menus, she led them to a table toward the back nearest the restrooms. There was a surprising amount of customers filling the bar and grill, many single patrons sitting at the bar. Music played in the background, noticeable but not so loud that it would drown out the conversations taking place at every table.

Elle and Valerie sat beside each other with their backs to the bar. Sighing, Dan dropped into one of two remaining chairs. He accepted the menu the woman handed him, ignoring the obvious flirty smile she gave him. As soon as she walked away, Dan dumped the menu in front of the empty seat, having no need for it.

"So how much you want to bet we find the jerk dead by the time we get back there?" Dan questioned as he leaned on one arm on the table.

Valerie rolled her green eyes at him. "Unlike you, Danny has some sense of maturity." She dropped her gaze to the menu in her hands, glancing over what she might want to eat.

"I don't know," Elle said with some uncertainty. "Push the right buttons, and he'll revert back to a child in seconds." Her bright blue eyes darted toward Dan. "As someone so likes to do."

"Not my fault he makes it so easy to get a reaction." Dan smirked with some pride at his ability to get under the man's skin. "And if I recall, things were never all that great between Danny and Dash." He shared some of those memories with Danny, after all, having a part of the other man in him from that other timeline. He knew quite well the sort of harassment Dash used to give Danny on a daily basis in high school, at least in their freshmen year.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave them alone." Elle winced, likely imagining how things might escalate between the two men when left to their own devices.

"They wouldn't really be that stupid," Valerie put in with a bit more confidence. "I mean, they have their kids there. They aren't going to start fighting if it might endanger their sons somehow. And Danny certainly won't be dick enough to take a parent away from a child, even if it's Dash." A grim silence fell over them as they all thought about what Danny was dealing with after the loss of Sam.

"Have you all decided on what you'd like?" asked the waitress that came up to their table with a notepad in hand to jot down their order. Her voice sounded way too chipper, and her smile was irritatingly cheery. Her loosely curled red hair was drawn back into a ponytail high upon her head. Her brown eyes lingered on Dan, but he ignored her much like the blonde.

Valerie and Elle took their time ordering, questioning the poor waitress about various elements of different dishes before finally settling on their order. Dan, meanwhile, allowed his gaze to drift around the bar and grill. It was a fairly nice place. Neatly pressed, clean white linen draped the tables with a glass pane placed on top to hold them in place while also minimizing staining if customers dripped anything onto the tables. The lights weren't obscenely bright but weren't so dim as to make the place seem overly dark. The floors were a nice, polished hardwood, and the walls were painted white, except for behind the bar which had a nice wood paneling.

Dan glanced over the people at the bar, noting many of the single people there turned in their seats toward each other chatting as they shared a drink. One man with, obviously bleached, blond hair was talking to a woman in a rather skimpy dress that showed off quite a bit of her cleavage. His hand was on her thigh as they talked, though the woman, her cheeks reddened and probably not simply from embarrassment, didn't seem to object to the placement of his hand.

Dan snorted at their interaction as his eyes moved along the bar. When his gaze landed on the man at the end, he sat up a little straighter in surprise. Being his first time in this city, going someplace other than the grade school to pick up Lex, Dan didn't really know many people here and hardly expected to spy someone he recognized in some random bar and grill. He smirked at the sight of the man leaning on one arm on the bar with a barely touched mug of beer near him. Maybe the beer didn't even belong to the man, simply already sitting there untouched when the man arrived at the bar.

"And anything for you, Sir?" the waitress asked in a bubbly tone.

"No, I'm good." Dan passed the menu to her, and the waitress left to put in their order.

His attention immediately returned to the man at the end of the bar, and he frowned when he noticed a woman took up the spot next to him. She wore a tight tank top and Capri pants that showed off her luscious curves. She leaned toward the man, an action that probably drew a lot of men's eyes straight to her chest with the low neckline of her top. A smile slipped onto her face as she spoke to the man, and she reached out placing a hand on his arm, squeezing around the muscular bicep. She probably used some lame line asking him if he worked out, which was obvious from the way he kept his physique in shape even after high school. Dan's mouth pursed as he watched the two of them talk, feeling some irrational irritation at the sight.

"You all right there, Dan?" Elle asked, distracting the ghost's attention. "You like you just had to sit through twenty-four hours of listening to the Box Ghost ramble on about boxes with the occasional Beware! thrown into the mix." She frowned at him.

"Nope. One moment." Dan stood up and walked around the table, not caring if the two women watched him. He approached the people at the bar, who were quite oblivious to his nearing presence.

"A teacher, huh?" the woman questioned with false interest. "So you're strong and smart." She smiled at him as her eyes gave that little flutter of her lashes that she probably thought turned men into putty in her hands.

Dan wanted to vomit at the sight of the woman's attempt to flirt with the man. "Sorry I'm late, babe," he said, leaning against the bar on the other side of the man. He smirked winningly as the woman scowled at him for interrupting her attempt to seduce the man for the night.

"Dan!" the man gasped in surprise when he turned his head to gape at the ghost.

Dan had to smirk even wider when he noticed the glasses the man wore, and noted somewhere in his head the book laying open in front of him on the bar. Leave it to Kwan to come to a place like this to read. Dan almost chuckled out loud at that thought.

"What are-"

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Dan cut in before Kwan could finish his stunned question. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the woman's face twisting up and growing red with anger. She clearly thought she found her prize for the night, and that only served to encourage Dan to take this act a step farther. Without waiting for Kwan to stop spluttering long enough to spit out actual words, the ghost snaked a hand around the man's neck, drawing their heads closer together until their lips met in a crushing kiss. Glass shattered. Dan let his gaze slide toward the woman, whose hand remained in the pose of holding a glass that was no longer there. The shock of seeing the two men kiss made her lose her grip on her drink. Her mouth dropped open wide as she watched them. Dan grinned devilishly into the kiss as his hand fell away from Kwan's neck, skimming over the hard muscle beneath the soft cotton shirt until his hand came to rest on the man's thigh far too closely to where leg met hip.

The woman snapped her mouth shut, her eyes narrowing at him. Then with a hmph, she turned sharply and stormed away, probably to find a new target. When Dan laughed at that reaction, Kwan finally snapped out of his shock. With a hard shove, he pushed the ghost away, glaring darkly at Dan as he swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kwan demanded with a rage storming in his aqua green eyes. His cheeks were slightly flushed, and that, admittedly, made Dan want to play some more with the man.

"I would have thought that was obvious," Dan replied with an easy smile, glancing only briefly at the brunet that came to clean up the mess of the spilled drink and shattered glass. "Or should I try that again to let it sink more firmly into your head?" He leaned toward the man, but Kwan slapped a hand to his chest and held him at bay.

"Is this a game to you?" Kwan demanded with a sour look. "What are you expecting to happen? You hit on me a bunch of time until I break down and let you have your wild way with me so you can add another notch to your belt and then you drop me like yesterday's garbage? Or you would prefer to drag me off to the bathroom and pound me against the wall in one of the stalls to avoid the runaround?" His teeth were clenched and his hand twisted around the fabric of Dan's black shirt. The look in the teacher's eyes almost made Dan question if he really had stepped over the line this time."Because I'll tell you right now, I'm not interested in that with you."

"Kwan!" The shout broke the two men out of their little world of staring at each other, Kwan jerking away as he released his hold on Dan's shirt.

"Valerie?" Kwan gaped at the woman as he slid off the chair at the bar. It didn't take half a moment for Valerie to yank the man into a tight embrace. "What are you doing here?" Kwan asked when they pulled back from each other. "Last I heard, you were still living an Amity Park."

"Visiting Danny," Valerie answered, smiling at the man before her.

Dan recalled, with some grumpiness, that there was a time when the two of them dated. He would feel a touch more jealous of the hugging if he didn't already know Valerie was happily in a relationship.

"You should join us for dinner," Valerie suggested eagerly. "I'd love to hear what you've been up to."

When Kwan's gaze slid toward him, Dan offered a smirk that made the man sigh.

"How exactly do the two of you know each other anyway?" Kwan questioned, gathering up his book. The beer that sat next to him went ignored as he followed them to the table where Elle remained sitting.

"He's Danny's cousin. I'm Danny's friend." Valerie shrugged as she dropped into the chair next to Elle again.

Kwan nodded at that answer, deciding it made sense that their connection to Danny would mean they would meet eventually. He frowned when he noted his only option was to take up the seat next to Dan.

"Hey, I thought we got along pretty well yesterday." Dan stared in question at the man as he leaned back in his chair.

Kwan returned the look with a dull glare. "That was before you randomly tried to stick your tongue down my throat." He sat down, placing his book on the corner of the table between him and Valerie.

His smirk turned a bit cocky as Dan leaned toward the man. "You seemed to enjoy it, if the way your responded was any indication." With their faces so close to each other, it was impossible to miss the light coloring upon the teacher's bronze flesh of his cheeks.

"Dan, stop harassing him," Valerie ordered, kicking him under the table as she glared at him. When she turned to her old friend from high school, she gave him a curious look. "But how do you know Dan anyway?"

"He picked Lex up from school yesterday," Kwan answered, glancing only briefly at the waitress that came to deliver Valerie and Elle's orders. "Just water," he told her before the woman could ask if he wanted anything. Once she left, he continued, "Xan was very insistent on having Lex over afterschool, so they ended up staying for dinner." He glowered at Dan before his attention turned to the other woman occupying the table. "I'm sorry. We haven't met. I'm Kwan."

"Oh, I know you," Elle said with a secretive smile that gained a confused look from the man. "I'm Elle. Danny's other cousin."

Kwan blinked, his eyes darting between Elle and Dan like he was only just noticing the family resemblance between them, and Danny too. Dan grinned at the man, which only served to annoy the teacher.

"I'll give you some advice though," Elle said as she sliced into the six ounce steak she ordered. She waited for the waitress to leave after dropping off Kwan's water before she continued. "If you want this idiot," she tossed a thumb the ghost's way.

"Hey!" Dan protested.

"To stop harassing you, it's best not to react to his taunting," Elle continued, ignoring Dan. "He lives to annoy, and the more you react to him, the more he'll keep doing stupid stuff to provoke you."

"Something Danny's completely failed to learn." Valerie laughed, but they were all in agreement that it was something Danny needed at that moment. "So what do you do now, Kwan?"

"I teach second grade," Kwan answered then lifted his glass to take a sip from his water.

"What?" Valerie gaped at him with her fork raised halfway to her mouth.

"Right?" Dan agreed to her shock with a laugh as he ignored the confusion now gracing Kwan's face. "I had him pegged as doing something techy."

"Why is it so strange that I'm teacher?" Kwan demanded defensively, shooting a glare at the ghost.

Dan shrugged. "You're smart. I just never pictured that you'd be interested in being something like a teacher."

"I still don't see why it's strange. I've always liked kids." Kwan leaned back in his chair as he folded his arms. "I used to have to babysit a lot in my family. So when it came to trying to figure out what to do with my life, teaching kids just seemed like the perfect fit for me."

Dan sat back as the other three started talking like old friends, which for Valerie and Kwan that was true. It was still baffling to him. Kwan was a teacher. Dan didn't give much thought to the jocks from Danny's class after having his timeline erased and being trapped within the Thermos. But he couldn't believe Kwan didn't follow a similar career path that he did from his own timeline. Obviously, this timeline would have its changes, but Dan was fairly certain Kwan still possessed as sharp a mind as in his time. The man that helped complete the Ghost Shield that protected Amity Park from his wrath becoming something as simple as a teacher? Absolutely mindboggling.


chicaalterego: Ugh, that nickname! Haha, but no one where they live would know who Inviso-Bill or Danny Phantom is. XD;;; Cue Danny freak out in: 3... 2... 1... *shot* XD;;

Snowleopard0: Thank you! =) I know~ D8 I'm so disappointed that he never came back in the series! The how she died is coming... at some point... when I figure out how to work it in to the story. orz *tries to be all mysterious about it*

Newspace19: Danny has a tough life. Everyone like to get him all riled up. XD;; Haha, yeah, Dash isn't interested in her. 8D;;

midnight: *secret smile* =) Haha, yeah, there is a reason for the backward talk. XD;;;

Lil Badass Kaulitz: XD So many things~ Danny finally learned not to blurt things out all the time? XD;;

jeanette9a: Yup! Lots of mini panic attacks for Danny.

NikaStarlight: Yes! I couldn't resist it! XD Danny probably has to go through Lex's writing with a very critical eye to make sure there were no slip ups. XD;;

Just Will: Yay! 8D *so happy people like the story* Ooooh, yeah~ Jack, Maddie, and Jazz would all be very unhappy if someone touched Lex. XD;; He's got a lot of people watching out for him. I can see Danielle developing some other sort of skill that might be similar to the Ghostly Wail but not exactly like it. She'd have the potential as a clone of Danny, but I think she'd also try to make it her own to avoid being exactly like Danny. Yeah, there was definitely more to the Dan story line. =( I think I heard that after Ultimate Enemy that writer got let go? Which is way disappointing. I think I also heard that Clockwork's voice actor died and that's why he didn't appear again? Yes~ Valerie finally maturing and getting over all that rage from her teen years is nice to write. She's finally let go of what happened. I love seeing Dash and Danny as fathers! 8D Ghost speak~ 8D I think there was a group of people that were working on making the language, but, uh, I figured backward would be easiest? Then readers don't have to go looking up some code to decipher it. They can just reverse the writing and understand it.

Black-Ookami-san: Fentabulous! 8D I like it! Thanks! =D I'm glad you're enjoying it!