AN: IMPORTANT NOTE AT THE END!
Sam started to come down with a cold a couple of days later.
Just after that, Tucker and Danny made plans to go to the local street fair that popped up once a year or so. It occurred to Danny while he was telling Jazz and Dora why he wouldn't be sticking around for their session that his plans seemed familiar, but he couldn't place exactly what was about to happen.
Then he and Tuck got covered in an ocean of pink cotton candy... and Danny groaned.
"Desiree..." he muttered to himself.
Next to him, Tucker blinked, coming out of a daze. "What was that?"
"I was just wondering where this came from."
His best friend just blinked at him. "You mean, the ghost lady over there didn't clue you in? Or, you know, the mist coming out of your mouth?"
Yeah, that had been a pretty bad cover up. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I should... probably go ghost."
Tucker just shot him an unimpressed look.
"Don't... eat too much, k?"
"Please," the techno-geek said. "Like I'd eat ghost-made food."
Danny opened his mouth to defend ghost-made food... then closed it, because why would he have a reason to defend it? Well, they knew about his truce with the Lunch Lady... but still.
Yeah, not worth it. And he had a genie ghost to confront.
"Going ghost," he muttered, unable to throw off the embarrassed tone as he turned intangible and floated out of the sticky sea of pink to confront Desiree.
"Hey," he called out to her, "what was that about?" He pointed down to the sea of pink.
"The child wished it, and thus I granted it," Desiree said in a voice that came off as a little ethereal but also nonchalant.
Danny cocked his head to the side. "Any wish?" he asked.
The genie ghost blinked at him, then smiled smugly.
"What is it your heart desires?"
For a moment Danny froze. Clockwork had once told him that under the right circumstances, some ghosts' powers could even trump his. He'd stated Ghostwriter and Desiree as examples.
It suddenly occurred to the time-traveler that he could wish to go home... to the future – his future that he remembered – without depriving this world of its Danny too.
If he just wished...
And yet, he knew that Desiree was more in line with Djinn than Genies as they were known in modern times. Asking for a wish from her was like asking for a wish from the monkey's paw – always some terrible price to be paid in return.
As much as he yearned to open his mouth and wish to be sent back, he really knew better.
Didn't stop it from hurting.
It took him a minute to just breathe past his longing, ignoring the ache in his chest and the growing sadness. It seemed as if his entire life had just been snatched away from him yet again (it really hadn't, but it felt that way) and just smiled at her, hoping he looked friendly. Well, friendlier than he felt in any case.
With monumental effort, he pushed everything he'd just thought and felt to the side, falling back on his original idea of how to deal with her. "I wish you'd follow the rules of my haunt."
The genie ghost paused and blinked. Silence fell around them as she processed that. Then she closed her eyes and brought a hand up to rub the bridge of her nose.
"So you have wished it, so shall it be," she muttered. Then she sighed. "What exactly are your rules then, young..."
"Phantom," he replied with a grin. "Danny Phantom. And my rules are as follows: 1. Don't hurt humans – don't take them over, don't brainwash them, don't make them do something they wouldn't otherwise do and don't put them in extreme positions if at all possible. This includes the local ghost hunters unless they are about ready to obliterate or capture you. 2. Don't hurt other ghosts, same rules apply. No brainwashing, no random attacks, no messing with obsessions. 3. If you see a ghost going against the above rules, contact me somehow. 4. Don't do anything that would bring a lot of negative attention to ghosts. Actually, with you, I'd say any real attention." She was just too good at finding loopholes otherwise. "Little wishes are fine, but if you have a question as to whether I'd find it too big or not, you can always come and ask me."
"I grant every wish I hear," she said, face deadpan.
"Then I wish you wouldn't grant every wish you hear."
More blinking. "S... so you have wished it, so it shall be."
Danny shot her a sympathetic look. "If that starts interfering with your obsession, let me know."
Desiree frowned, still looking a little stunned. "Er… I… just…"
She paused again, studying him up and down.
"I... very well, then. And what exactly do you define as 'little' wishes?"
Danny shrugged. "That someone remembers what they need to for a test. That they do the best they can in a game tournament. That their car will start if it was running yesterday and is still in decent condition. That they find an extra couple of coins for a snack... things like that. No changing the weather, no million bucks, and even the small wishes can't be consistent. Like, someone wishes to find an extra five bucks to get some food can't have the same wish granted every day or the same day every week. It needs to be subtle. Does that make sense?"
"With your restrictions, it will take me far longer than it otherwise would to fulfill my obsession," she said angrily.
"But this way you can fulfill it," Danny pointed out.
Desiree looked puzzled and a little troubled at that.
The half-ghost sighed. "Look, um..." he paused, waiting for her to introduce herself. He didn't want to have to explain why he knew who she was to Tucker.
"Desiree," she said, a little sullenly.
"Desiree," he repeated with an apologetic smile. "These rules aren't in place to stop ghosts from achieving their goals. They're there to prevent you from stopping others from achieving their goals. If you hurt other humans, you and I will have a problem because our goals will be in direct opposition. However, there are ways for you to achieve your goals and for me to achieve my goals if you're willing to be a little patient. I'll even help you out and let you know about little wishes I come across.
"I also want to point out that drawing attention from the wrong kind of people will get you and many other ghosts hurt or sent to oblivion. With what you've done here today, it'll likely be all over the news. I want a peaceful community, and right now, humans aren't ready for ghosts. I hope to change that soon, but having ghosts attack them – or even grant them large wishes that can cause a lot of jealousy, frustration, anger and pain – won't help. I've really tried to create rules where everybody wins. Not sure how well I succeeded, so you're more than welcome to come to me and petition to change a rule or have it added on to or make an exception."
Danny paused. "Does that make sense?"
Again, the genie ghost didn't look too happy, but she did nod. "Yes. It does. Not that it matters, much. I must follow your rules now, no matter what they are."
The half-ghost frowned. "That... doesn't sound like a very healthy power. I'm glad you can choose now." Even if he didn't like forcing it on her – this could still have some nasty consequences. "So you couldn't choose before?"
Desiree looked away. "I could... bend the rules a bit, but... granting wishes... if I heard one..."
Right, obsession.
"Well... I hope this helps you more than hurts you, but I can't bend on this. There will be wishes you cannot grant here. This is the human world and it runs on very different rules than the Ghost Zone."
The genie ghost blinked and tipped her head to one side, looking puzzled again. "You really mean that..."
The half-ghost frowned. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I want some defined rules for my haunt?"
Desiree shook her head. "No, about how you hope that helps more than hurts me."
"Oh," Danny replied softly, eyes widening in realization as he nodded.
"Huh. Very well, I will do my best to follow the rules of your haunt."
"Thank you," he said.
"We must leave here, then," she said, looking around at the people who were just now getting brave enough to come out and gape. Some of them had even taken their phones out. "I am feeling compelled to fly away from the... scrutiny. No doubt a response to your wish."
"Right," Danny said. "How about I find you later and give you the more in-depth run down and the punishments and all. That okay?"
Desiree looked him up and down, expression unreadable. Then she nodded.
"Alright, then. See you at the park later tonight then?"
The genie ghost nodded in agreement, and with that, they both flew in opposite directions. Danny discreetly sent Tucker a glance, then moved his eyes over to a row of tents, behind which were enough trees that he'd have relative privacy to change back. Tucker got the message and met him back there a couple of minutes later.
He got there just after Danny transformed back.
"So," Tucker said with a raised eyebrow, "a genie ghost?"
"Yeah. Apparently, she has to grant wishes. But I told her the rules around here and if she can follow them, I don't have an issue with her being here."
Danny's best friend blinked, then tipped his head to one side. "Wishes? Like, if I wished for a million bucks—"
The blue-eyed teen yelped, rushed forward, and slapped his hand over the other boy's mouth. Maybe Desiree was willing to try, and his own wish compelled her, but there was no guarantee that his wish would override her obsession. He didn't want to take any chances."No! No wishing, or almost wishing for something like that, and trust me, a million bucks isn't all it's cut out to be."
Tucker's own eyes widened and he said something from behind Danny's hand. The half-ghost immediately removed it.
"Sorry, what?"
"You got a million bucks? Are your parents that rich?"
Fudge.
"Um... no. My parents have an old friend who's rather rich and he... um... well, it doesn't make him happy."
Tucker didn't look convinced. "I doubt it hurts."
Danny frowned. "Actually, it kind of does. He thinks he can just buy anything he wants; buy his way into people's hearts. The sad thing is, usually he's right, but it can't win him the people he really wants and so he just comes off as super pushy and entitled and creepy and narcissistic, but I know he was a good guy once and... um..." he trailed off at Tucker's stunned look.
"You've never talked about this guy before."
Danny held back a wince. This was getting out of hand. "I... don't really like to talk about him," he muttered. "I mean, it's not like he's ever done anything to me, but he... just rubs me wrong, you know?" he sighed. "Maybe he's changed. I haven't met him in... a long time." Alright, he'd met the guy not four days ago, but he still felt that his point still stood.
They began walking home from the (now closed off due to the mess) street fair.
"I see why you don't like talking about him," Tucker commented, looking a little concerned.
Danny sent him a small smile. "Thanks."
"And he's rich? Like Sam's parents rich?"
The half-ghost shook his head. "He makes Sam's parents look like lower-middle class." Or lower class, even. Danny had always had a hard time wrapping his head around those numbers, even after putting them into as much real world context as he could.
Tucker's eyes went wide. "Wow."
"Yeah." And it was time for a topic change. "Anyway, wanna play some Doomed when we get to my place?"
Tucker's eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he shrugged. "Sure. But don't you have to go meet that ghost?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah, but you're important too. Today was supposed to be our day to hang out. I'll meet up with Desiree later. Might even take Jazz with me."
Tucker's face darkened. "What about me and Sam?"
"Oh," the half-ghost replied, a little surprised. "You guys want to come?"
"Well... probably not Sam. I doubt she'll get better by tonight."
Danny smiled. "Sure. I don't see why you can't come. Maybe we can hunt down some of the lower GEV scale ghosts and send them back to the Ghost Zone too." Because letting ghosts wander around was all well and good, if they followed the rules, but the lower ranked ghosts tended to not be able to understand rules and being out in the world could potentially hurt them as well.
Tucker blinked. "GEV scale?"
Oh... right.
"Jazz and I came up with a scale for ghosts just to give us a basic idea of how to deal with them." He internally cringed at the lie. This really was getting to a point where it was too much. They'd be upset enough with him when they found out about the time travel. He wouldn't be able to put this off for much longer without some dire consequences.
He sighed internally and turned to the window. It had taken him years, but he could see and acknowledge the writing on the wall now. Danny would just have to bite the bullet and tell them...
Soon. He'd tell them soon.
He'd have to.
xXx
Tucker didn't know what to make of his best friend anymore.
Ever since he'd gone into that portal he'd been... different. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it was still worrying. The Danny that Tucker used to know didn't think things through. He'd rush into everything he had any investment in, completely committed and ready to do everything he could think of doing. Tucker suspected it was part of the reason why his best friend didn't apply himself to things like grades. He just didn't have the dedication to do everything he would otherwise be commited to do to get those good grades. Danny was an all-or-nothing kind of guy, and that was fine. It was the Danny Tucker had grown up with.
Then he'd become a ghost and it had somehow... matured him or something. Not that he didn't like his friend actually thinking things through and approaching everything with a plan (okay, not everything), but it just wasn't the friend he remembered. This Danny also seemed so much more confident and secure... like he'd already come to terms with who he was, which didn't make any sense at all. He'd heard enough psycho-babble from Jazz to know that people took time to adjust to major life changes, and Danny... hadn't. He'd just changed, accepted it, and moved on, and it blew Tucker's mind. How could anyone die (okay, Danny had had issues with that, but it still wasn't as bad as it should have been), come back, find out you had super powers and then just accept that?
Something was fishy.
And when Danny had told him that there was something he was hiding from them, it had hurt... until he'd explained that he hadn't told them because he couldn't come to terms with it himself. After that it still hurt, but if this more mature Danny couldn't come to terms with it... Tucker shuddered. It had to be bad.
Tucker was slowly getting used to this new Danny, but it was an adjustment. And even as mature as his best friend was, he seemed to take things for granted that made no sense. Like how he somehow thought they'd be okay with him going into the ghost zone without backup. How was that a good idea? (Hence why he added on the 'not everything' condition to Danny thinking things through.) Or that Tucker and Sam could keep up with some of the terms he just threw out. Seriously, GEV scale? What the actual freak?
The longer they went on, the more little things Tucker and Sam both found different, and the more worried they got.
Tucker cared deeply for both of his friends, and he tended to share almost everything with Danny especially, but that had changed recently too. Oh, Danny still tended to be open to sharing things with them, but he also seemed more distant at the same time.
And that didn't even begin to get into Danny's ghost powers.
Okay, he had to die to get them (which was kind of freaky), but Tucker would be lying to himself if he didn't admit he was at least a little jealous of his best friend getting the ability to fly and go intangible and invisible... he already had half the X-men's powers covered right there! And how cool was that?! Of course, he had to live with people who wanted to tear him apart molecule by molecule...but surely it couldn't be that bad, right?
It just wasn't fair! Why did everything cool have to happen to Danny?
When he thought like this, Tucker knew he was being a little unreasonable. But, come on, super powers.
Still, he'd read all the comics and he knew it couldn't all be sunshine, daisies and medium-rare steaks. So he knew he'd do everything he could to support his friend. But the least said friend could do was let them know what was going on.
Tucker sighed as he followed Danny into his house and up to his room. He swore he heard Danny mutter, 'clunky desktop piece of junk,' before he turned said desktop on. Tucker frowned. Sure, it wasn't the newest model, but it was passable. Definitely not out of date.
Yeah, it was things like that that let Tucker know something was definitely up. And if Danny wouldn't tell them, he'd just have to figure it out on his own.
xXx
Surprisingly enough, the meeting that evening between team Phantom (minus Sam, who was thankfully at home recovering from the cold) and Desiree went rather well. The genie ghost had come up with several scenarios as examples as to when she could and couldn't grant a wish. Danny told her that if she started finding it too difficult to resist granting wishes, that she could take refuge in the Ghost Zone and they could negotiate on her having access to the portal. She'd seemed rather relieved at that and thanked him.
Danny gave it a couple of days before she got overwhelmed, but that was the kind of thing he knew she had to learn on her own.
As Jazz drove them home, Danny looked over to see Tucker looking very thoughtful and decided to make a little guess.
"So, would you really have wished for a million dollars?" Danny asked.
Tucker blinked. "Huh?"
"If you'd known about Desiree before she promised to follow the rules. What would you have wished for?"
The boy's dark eyes blinked at Danny for several seconds before he threw on a smile, probably not realizing the half-ghost could see right through it. "I'd probably ask for the latest tech... or maybe even tech from the future. That would have been epic."
Danny blinked at him, then smacked his forehead.
"You're right! We so should have done that!" the half-ghost muttered.
"See, you should listen to me before you go rushing into things."
Danny raised an eyebrow at his best friend and folded his arms as an amused smirk crossed his face. "So I should have just turned around and spoken to you, as a ghost, right out in public?"
"Maybe," Tucker returned, only half in jest. "If people at school knew I knew ghosts, then the jocks would leave me alone and girls would be all over me."
The blue-eyed boy's grin widened slyly. "You mean, they aren't already?"
Tucker scowled at him, then scoffed. "Their loss."
Danny couldn't help but laugh. That was just so... Tucker.
After a couple of seconds, he calmed down and shook his head. "No, really. What would you have wished for? I mean, if you're okay with telling me." Because he didn't want to be pushy. "I wouldn't judge. Not even if you wished for ghost powers or something."
Tucker's mirth faded away as he studied Danny. "That... would be kind of cool. I mean, if I could get them without dying."
Danny flinched. "Yeah. Well, they aren't all they're cracked up to be."
The techno-geek nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I bet."
"What about you, Jazz?" Danny asked.
Jazz didn't answer for several seconds, just continuing to drive through the back streets she seemed to prefer.
"I'd wish my little brother would stay safe when he confronted ghosts."
Danny couldn't help but feel touched.
"Thanks, Jazz," he said softly. From the back, he saw her cheek move into a smile as she nodded to him.
"But didn't that ghost say something about how all her wishes come with a price?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah. If you would have wished for ghost powers, you may have become a full ghost. She may have... you know, killed you to give them to you. Or maybe she could have given you ghost powers and it would have grown inside you until it took you over. Dealing with a sudden ghost core and an obsession that drives you isn't fun, and tipping that just a little could easily destabilize your mind or body... or both."
Tucker gulped, and Danny hoped he'd gotten his point across. Nothing comes for free.
Then the techno-geek tipped his head to one side and frowned. "How do you know that?"
"Know what?" Danny asked.
"That there has to be a balance of some kind and tipping it somehow can cause you to destabilize. I mean, you'd have to have met other half-ghosts to know that."
In the front seat, Jazz stiffened, but still didn't say anything.
"Clockwork told me," Danny said softly. It wasn't entirely untrue...
Apparently, his lie wasn't good enough because Tucker's frown turned into a scowl. A real one this time.
"Forget money and tech, I'd wish that you'd tell me what's really going on," he said heatedly, then turned around and folded his arms with a humph.
Danny couldn't help but blink in surprise at his friend. He'd know Tucker was a little jealous – both from past events and what he saw from his best friend now – but, he hadn't realized how upset his keeping his secret had made his friends.
Silence fell over the car and the half-ghost worried his lip as he thought about telling Tucker everything. It would get a huge weight off of his chest, and he really hated having his secret come between them.
So, finally, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth.
"Do you really want to know?" he asked quietly.
Tucker blinked and turned to him, still angry. Then his expression softened. "Nah, man. It's just... frustrating. Tell me when you're ready."
Danny rubbed his lips together before opening them and taking a breath. "I don't know if I'll ever be as ready as I want to be," he said with a sigh. "But I... I can talk. I'm probably as ready as I'll ever be... about everything," he finally said.
He saw Jazz's eyes widen in the rear-view mirror, but ignored that in order to see Tucker's reaction. The boy frowned, studying Danny warily.
"You sure, dude? I mean, it's only been a couple of days since we talked about it..."
No. "Yes. I hate having something in between us. I've never kept something from you guys before and honestly, it sucks."
Tucker still studied Danny, as if judging his sincerity.
"Alright," he said slowly – cautiously. "What's going on then?
Danny sighed and glanced up at Jazz again. She saw him look at her and nodded her head in encouragement.
He took another deep breath, then turned to Tucker. "I'm from the future."
Tucker blinked. "What?"
"About fifteen years in the future, I was saving a yeti child from this giant rift that appears randomly in the Ghost Zone and sucks everything around it inside. I saved the child, but got sucked inside the rift instead. Apparently, it killed my body, but my spirit – my memories – were sent back to just after I got my powers."
He waited for a response, but Tucker was just staring at him, eyes wide and jaw slack.
"Well?" Danny asked, a little warily.
"That kind of stuff actually happens?!" Tucker asked, voice a couple of notes higher than usual.
The half-ghost scratched the back of his head. "Well, not really. Time-travel usually doesn't work like this. Usually someone goes back in time in their current body. If they existed at the time the traveler goes back to, then there will be two of them running around. Does that make sense?"
Eyebrows still raised, Tucker slowly nodded his head. Then, as if in a trance, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his PDA. "Man... that option was way too far down on the list."
It was Danny's turn to balk. "Wait, what?"
Tucker shook his head and when he looked back at his best friend, his eyes were sharp and focused again, if a little wry.
"Danny, you got ghost powers. I wasn't discluding anything."
Okay, he sort of had a point. Of course, that did make Danny wonder.
"What did you think had happened?"
Tucker shrugged. "I had my money on you getting ghost memories you didn't know how to deal with. I don't know what Sam was thinking."
"Huh," Danny muttered. "That's... plausible."
"Of course it is," Tucker responded haughtily. "It's me."
Danny rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help a fond smile.
Of course, then Tucker had to ask the hard question. "Why did you keep this from us, dude?" he asked, softly, obviously hurt.
Danny winced and ignored the pulse from his core as best he could. He was getting better at that. "Well, I already explained that I didn't want to tell you and not tell Sam – which I will, as soon as she's better, I promise."
Tucker's frown deepened. "Why is telling Sam such a problem."
The time-traveler sighed. "We dated... for a long time, in the future. We broke up and... it's still painful. I knew I'd have to explain, but I had to be in the right headspace. I had to get over the fact that I have, for all intents and purposes, died... twice. I lost everything I had in the future – all of my relationships – friends, family, even enemies – along with everything political I've worked towards in helping the Ghost Zone and Earth move towards a lasting peace. Ghost rights, alliances, a decent political structure in the Ghost Zone to begin with... it's all gone and that..." he rubbed at his chest, hating the ache from his core and his heart that lingered there, "I had to mourn that before I could really talk about it."
"But you told Jazz," Tucker said, his voice not quite accusing.
Danny shot him an unimpressed look. "Because I'm asking her to help me through it – as a counselor. I needed the kind of help she could give. Plus, telling her wouldn't tear you me and Sam apart."
Tucker looked troubled. "You... really didn't want to tell Sam."
Another sigh from the half-ghost. "No... I didn't. Still don't. But I'll have to at some point, and I'm in a position where it's actually viable, mentally. So, I need to stop avoiding it." He shrugged, hoping he looked more nonchalant than he felt.
"Did... did it end that badly?" the other boy's voice was soft, wary and he looked concerned.
Danny bit his lip, but shook his head. "No. That's... well, that's the problem."
Tucker looked confused. "That it didn't end? Or that it didn't end badly?"
This was getting harder. Of course, he knew it would, but that didn't really help. "That it didn't end badly." He slumped against the seat. "But it still had to end."
The other boy looked very confused. "I don't get it."
Danny felt his mouth widen into a wry grin that held no mirth. "Yeah, but I'm not explaining this until I have permission from Sam."
Tucker went silent for several seconds, eyes widening in recognition. Maybe he finally understood how hard this would be for Danny. Or, he was beginning to, at least.
"Alright, dude," he said, backing away. "So, when do you want to tell her?"
"As soon as I can. When she's not sick but hopefully before I am."
"Wait," Jazz said from the front, "you can get sick?"
Danny blinked. He hadn't told her that? "Um, now I can. Later on... not so much. I could probably catch a ghostly cold, but viruses and bacteria are kind of rare among ghosts."
"I can imagine," Jazz said.
"How do you know you're gonna get sick?" Tucker asked.
Danny shrugged. "Well, my parents got sick last time, Sam got sick last time, then you and I got sick about the same time last time too. Don't see why it would be any different this time around."
"What about me?" Jazz asked.
"You were always studying in your room, so you weren't around us when we were sick. You didn't get it... you might this time though. Sorry."
The red head slumped a little. "Great."
They rode in silence after that for several seconds, until finally Tucker put a hand to his head. "Man, this is..." he faded off.
"Overwhelming?" Danny asked.
"Yeah."
"It gets easier," Jazz said sympathetically.
More silence as they turned into Tucker's neighborhood. Then Tucker suddenly perked up. "Wait, so this means you know what's going to happen in the future?"
Danny frowned. He'd thought that had been a given... and he wasn't sure he liked the look in his best friend's eye. "Yeah."
"Did you remember lottery numbers?"
The half-ghost groaned. "I told you, Tuck, a million dollars isn't all it's cracked up to be. And no, I didn't memorize any lottery numbers."
"Lotteries tend to go for way more than a million," Tucker grumbled as he rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Fine." Then he perked right back up. "What about future tech? Where does it all go, and how?"
Danny thought of his Tucker's smart phone in the future and grinned. "Okay, that I can answer."
"Not tonight, you can't," Jazz protested as she pulled up in front of Tucker's house. Then she turned around and fixed her brother's best friend with a glare. "And this also means you can't call and talk with him until three in the morning, you can't show up at our house earlier than 6:30 tomorrow morning, and you will not say anything around our parents."
Tucker looked like Christmas had been canceled. "But—"
Jazz shook her head. "No 'buts'. You both need sleep before school tomorrow. You'll have all day tomorrow to talk about it. Waiting twelve hours isn't going to hurt anyone."
"Anyone but me!" Tucker whined.
Danny couldn't help but snicker. "Hey, Tuck, why don't you go do some research tonight and figure out what you want to ask tomorrow."
His face lit up. "Oh, yeah! That's a good idea. Alright! See you tomorrow, dude!"
"And no texting either!" Jazz yelled after him.
"I can't," Tucker replied, looking a little annoyed. "My parents don't have the data on their plan."
Danny blinked. Oh, yeah... that used to be a thing. You could only purchase so many texts... how ridiculous was that? Somehow, he didn't think too many plans these days could handle the kind of data smart phones threw around in the future.
He shook his head at that and called after the other boy, "'Night, Tuck!"
"Goodnight!" he called back without so much as glancing at them over his shoulder.
Jazz sighed and glanced back at her little brother. "You realize you're in for the grilling of your life in the next couple of days.
Danny mimicked her sigh. "Yeah. I do."
xXx
'Grilling' was an understatement. Tucker, the master of being prepared (when he had the motivation, of course) came with two entire notebooks full of questions, one question per page, and a three-ring binder so he could put them into the proper order when Danny answered them.
Danny figured it was his turn to put up with constant questions after he'd left Sam to Tucker's mercy when he'd discovered her wealth. Of course, she wasn't there to witness it, but he'd long ago figured that no situation could really be 'perfect'.
His friend didn't stop asking questions for almost two days straight. Everything from how technology had changed (Danny couldn't even answer all of those questions, although he had some idea and did try) to what sports teams he should watch out for (those were far easier to remember) and what video games would come out (the easiest of all, because games). Tucker was thrilled to know that Kingdom Hearts II, scheduled to come out next year, would be a great game, but it would be over a decade before they'd get III. Halo, Star Craft and Doomed on the other hand... Needless to say, Tucker practically had stars in his eyes at the end of that conversation.
Then they got into talking about movies. It hadn't really hit Danny until now that the Return of the King had only just come out the year before. Kill Bill Vol 2, Shrek 2, i,robot and Bourne Supremacy had come out earlier that year. Resident Evil: Apocalypse had only come out a couple of days before (Tucker wanted to see it, Danny told him not to bother) and Dead Teacher II was slated for the beginning of October, probably to avoid competing with The Grudge, which would come out the weekend before Halloween. He still found it a little strange that Tucker had looked up all the movies of that year to see who won the Oscars. He didn't even know Tucker was into Oscars. (He sure wasn't and couldn't really remember which actors and movies had won.)
The nostalgia hit him pretty hard during that discussion.
Danny was a little surprised to have Tucker ask about the Harry Potter movies. He'd kind of forgotten that Prisoner of Azkaban had come out that summer and that the most recent book released was Order of the Phoenix.
"Wait... so you know how it all ends?" Tucker asked, almost in awe.
Danny had just blinked as he'd realized what he now knew that no one else did. Then he felt a very shark-like grin come across his face.
"Yup."
"What happens?"
At that, Danny shook his head. "Nope."
Tucker looked scandalized. "But... but Danny—"
The time-traveler shook his head again, harder this time. "Nope."
"You can't just leave me hanging like that!"
Danny cocked his head and studied his best friend. "Now I know how the Doctor felt."
Tucker's frown deepened. "Who?"
Wait... Seriously?
That had Danny rushing to the library to get onto the computers and internet. Turns out Doctor Who wouldn't even be released until March of the next year.
Danny had come into the series after High School, so he hadn't realized when it had come out. Turned out that Tucker had heard of the original show, but had never had the opportunity to see it. So, Danny supposed the series would have at least two new dedicated fans from the get go this time around.
His talks with Tucker actually did more to really ground him in what was going on here and now than more or less anything else could. So he decided to look up a few more political issues, just to see where the world stood. No one really knew much about ISIS (or ISIL, as it was known as now), or at least they only really knew about it in reference to the group's support of al-Qaeda and Ossama Bin Laden.
Danny was pretty sure he didn't want to touch that whole thing with a twenty foot pole. Besides, he'd been a little focused on issues a little closer to home the first time around and didn't really have any concrete info that would help those issues – a fact he kind of regretted now. It certainly didn't make his core happy when he thought about all the lives he could potentially save if he could tip off the right person... but he honestly had no idea how to even try without leaving Amity Park for a lengthy amount of time, which wasn't really an option for him. He couldn't leave the town open to attack. That, and he kind of considered it his territory with his rules... his rather possessive (territorial) ghost side hadn't let him leave Amity for more than a few weeks at a time in the future. And even that was pushing it.
He made a mental note to study up on the whole political situation in case he ended up time-traveling like this again (although, somehow, he doubted it – and he'd definitely avoid it if at all possible). He wondered if he could ask Clockwork... or, more precisely, if Clockwork would tell him. He also wanted to know more about that strange rift. If it showed up in the same place at random times, it had to be worth studying (from a very far distance).
At that point, he realized he'd become far more like his parents than his 14-year-old self would have ever liked. Truthfully, he would have been mortified. Currently, Danny found it funny and a bit heartwarming.
All in all, as intense as Tucker tended to be, Danny found the experience the perspective it brought more amusing than anything else, even as the techno-geek took far more meticulous notes than he'd ever even think of taking in class.
His dread came back full force when Sam came back to school that Thursday.
xXx
AN: Firstly, not beta read because I haven't had time to go through those people who have offered because, Secondly, my manager of my webcomic and I have decided to enter a webcomic contest. For those of you who follow my webcomic Bittersweet... well, this is nothing like that. It's going to be a fantasy about someone learning to trust so they can start healing from childhood abuse. And we'll see if I can do that in 5 episodes. ^^; Wish me luck. I'll need it.
That brings me to my third point... this story is officially on Hiatus. :( I'm sorry, and I really REALLY appreciate every single person who has read this! I've gotten some great comments that I just haven't had time to answer! But I read and cherish every one of them! Now, I'd like to say I'll go to posting this once a month (I should be able to get a chapter posted once a month for the next four months, but it really depends on what goes on with the comic.
If you'd like to support my current comic, you can go to Webtoons, search for HACamp and it should come right up. :) Don't forget to rate it (honestly, please). Thank you!
Sorry for the bad news, but please, wish me luck. :)
