Rating warning: T because I'm paranoid.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom.

Genealogical Research

(three 500 word Dribbles)

"Fenturd!"

Danny looked up to see Dash and his posse bearing down on him. "Oh, Hi Dash. You're just the person I was looking for."

Dash shoved Danny against the wall and his buddies arranged themselves to watch the show.

"Well what a coincidence, my fist was looking for you too," Dash smiled maliciously and slammed his fist into the locker next to Danny's head. He grinned when Danny flinched.

Danny gave a weak laugh. "Heh, Heh, yeah, I wanted to ask you about a brother."

"He's right here," Dash said as he slammed his other fist next to the other side of Danny's face.

The on-lookers snickered appreciatively.

"Very funny. But really, did you parents have any other children?" Danny persisted.

"My parents got it perfect the first time. I'm an only child."

Instead of looking intimidated, his prey looked puzzled.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course, I'm sure, you moron. Don't you think I'd notice if there was another kid living in my house?" Dash scoffed.

"I guess it's possible you wouldn't know about him. Do your parents have any pictures of somebody who looks sort of like you? He probably isn't living…" Dash's fist grabbed his collar chocking off his question."

"Are you suggesting one of my parents broke their marriage vows?" Dash's face lost his happy gloat as it flushed bright red with fury.

Danny tried to back-peddle. "Not necessarily, it could have happened before your parents got married," he wheezed.

The crowd around them broke into startled gasps and murmured comments.

"Dash has a brother who is a bast- ?"

"Oh man, that Fenton kid has a death wish."

"Either that or he is stupider than I thought."

Dash snarled, "What are you talking about, Fenton?"

"You see I met this, gh..uh…guy…" Danny caught himself just in time. He didn't want to explain how he knew about Phantom's encounter. "… and he said…uh…that he knew your brother."

"You're lying! You don't have any proof, I don't have a brother."

"Well not any more, I think he's dead."

Dash cocked his fist, "You're the one who's dead."

.

.

The vice principal sighed at the two sullen boys sitting on the other side of his desk.

"Are you Okay?" Lancer checked.

"I'm fine." Fenton waved dismissively before returning the wad of ice and paper towels to his face.

"Then would you mind telling me what happened?"

"He accused my parents of adultery!" exclaimed Dash.

"Is this true?" Lancer asked for confirmation.

"The accusation or the adultery?" asked Fenton.

Lancer gave him an exasperated look and Danny subsided.

"I wanted to know if Dash had a brother."

"What makes you think Dash has a brother?"

"I…I mean my parents…met this ghost…"

"And it looked like Dash?"

"Not really. Black hair, around 50, grey eyes, green skin, short, dressed in chains," Danny shrugged.

"That's older than my parents," Dash interjected.

Lancer looked like he was holding onto his patience with both hands. "Scarlet Letter! What made you think that he could possibly be Dash's brother?"

"It's hard to tell with ghosts. They don't always look like who they were," Danny explained, "He said Dash was his brother."

"Do you have any idea what year this ghost died in? Is it possible that you have misinterpreted what he said? Maybe he meant 'brother' as in a close friend. Maybe it was lying."

"I hadn't thought of that," Danny said in a small voice.

"The not thinking part was obvious," Lancer sighed. "That aside, did it occur to you that this might be a private family matter?

"He said it in front of everyone," Dash accused.

"And you didn't think that this might be a problem, Danny? Or that punching him would be the answer, Dash?"

The boys exchanged furtive glances before returning their attention to the vice principal's disapproving frown.

"Fighting in school should earn you an automatic suspension but on the basis of obvious mental deficiency, I'm inclined to be lenient and sentence you both to serve to a week's worth of detention starting today."

"Coach says I have to be at practice. The big game's this Saturday and the recruiters are going to be there." Dash's voice had a desperate edge.

"I have that Haunted House project to do, but learning my lesson is more important." Danny barely suppressed a smile, as if he'd rather do the detentions.

Lancer gazed at the boys impassively.

Dash needed to learn to manage his anger but, did he deserve to lose a scholarship over something so stupid? Besides, Principal Ishiyama had money riding on the game.

Fenton sounded as if detentions were a comparative treat. Fenton…was a special case….

"Let's kill two birds with one stone. Community service is a more valuable contribution than detention and it won't interfere with football. You can both serve your time together."

"With him?" they gasped, pointing.

Lancer looked smug. "It will it benefit our town, and give you two the opportunity to reach an understanding."

He looked at Dash, "Maybe next time you'll think before you use your fists."

He looked at Danny, "or your mouth."

.

.

"Well? What did he say?" Sam demanded an answer even before Danny had set down his lunch tray.

"Before or after he tried to stuff me in the trash can?" Danny asked as he dropped into his seat.

"Ew, I hope you washed your hands," Sam started then broke off as she saw that one of Danny's eyes was swollen shut. "Ouch."

"Tell me about it. And because I got it in Fenton form, it's going to take longer to heal," Danny mumbled as he hungrily bit into a taco. Sam looked disgusted as bits dribbled back onto the lunch tray.

Catching her look, Tucker couldn't help putting in his own comment. "I don't know what you're complaining about. The tacos are probably made from recycled mystery meat burger. I thought you were into recycling."

Danny looked around for a napkin, realized he'd forgotten to get one.

"I asked Dash about his brother but he…"

Tucker interrupted, "doesn't have one."

Sam looked at him and Tucker grinned smugly.

"Even if I didn't have access to the city archives, a techno-wizard like me can hack into the birth and death records. I looked it up. Dash does not have any siblings or half siblings, dead or alive.

"You couldn't have told me that before Dash used my face as a punching bag?"

"Sorry man, I was on the phone. Boo-yeah tours wasn't too happy about the overshadowing. Then I couldn't find you."

"Probably because Dash and I were getting reamed out in Lancer's office."

Tucker winced, "What was the damage?"

"A week's worth of Haunted House with Dash."

Tucker had the grace to look sympathetic. "It could have been worse. The usual punishment for fighting is suspension."

Sam banged he hand in frustration, making the plastic rattle. "Aghh. And on top of that we are no closer to catching that ghost than before. That's it. We can't let it get away with it."

"It's not like I'm not trying," Danny said a bit defensively, "But, I'm open to suggestions."

Sam looked determined. "It's time for desperate measures. I'm calling in Skulker."