Danny opened the door to Tucker's bathroom as quietly as he could, his mind on the Foleys asleep downstairs. They shouldn't hear him creeping around, but the stakes were high if they woke up and saw him. His legs felt like lead, but he knew he couldn't stop until he was safely behind closed doors. Moving was getting a little easier as the night went on – but not by much.

Huh, didn't know Tucker put a nightlight in here, Danny thought, entering the dimly-lit bathroom and closing the door behind him. He turned to acknowledge himself in the mirror.

Oh.

There was no nightlight – the toxic glow of his body illuminated the room, casting long, ominous shadows on the walls. Neon, too-bright eyes stared out at him. Danny winced, embarrassed.

I look so scary, he thought, immediately surprised at the harshness of his own thoughts.

He flicked on the light. You've got bigger things to worry about than your looks, Fenton.

He didn't look much better in the normal lighting. The aura around his body didn't seem as bright, but now he could see his injuries in all their disgusting glory. He leaned closer, inspecting his face. His swollen nose was set at a slightly odd angle – he didn't know much about injuries, but it had to be broken. He was thankful the throbbing had stopped when he changed forms, at least. Perks of not having a heartbeat. His burns were now scabby and blistered rather than oozing ectoplasm as they were this morning. He was sure they'd still look fresh, they seemed to be healing fast. Making progress, he thought.

He stood up straight and set Tucker's outfit on the counter. He brushed a hand through his white hair. Even disregarding the injuries, Danny barely looked like himself. He looked like…

"…a monster," he whispered to himself, that fuzzy voice still foreign to his ears.

He wondered how Sam and Tucker had reacted when he fell out of the portal. He'd only caught a glimpse of their faces before he passed out. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he'd do if one of them stumbled out of the portal, suddenly a ghost. Images of his childhood flooded back to him – playing ghost hunter with Jazz, shooting her with his Nerf gun when it was her turn to play the part of the ecto-entity, both of them squealing with delight.

Danny imagined himself panicking as a ghostly Sam tumbled out of the portal. Nabbing the nearest piece of Fenton ghost equipment and setting it on her until she was dead. His parents coming downstairs, congratulating him for neutralizing the threat.

Danny's stomach churned, disgusted with himself. He forced himself to cut off the scenario, focusing on his eyes in the mirror. You're the threat now.

He turned away, unable to look at himself anymore.

"Focus," he mumbled. "Shower."

Danny started to reach for the zipper near his neck but thought better of it. What if there's ectoplasm under here? How are we gonna explain that mess to Mr. and Mrs. Foley?

He climbed into the bathtub instead, stiffly lifting each pained leg slowly over the rim. Finally, he allowed his body the break it cried out for, sinking down into a sitting position. He leaned against the side of the tub and gripped the zipper, pulling it down to his navel.

The clothing destabilized, dissolving into ectoplasm the second it peeled away from his body.

Danny tried not to gag at the slimy, cold fluid soaking into the shirt he wore underneath the suit and dripping onto his still-intact pants. It felt like a frozen slug wrapping around his body. He noted that the colors on his tee shirt must have changed from the portal too, dyeing his white tee shirt black. He reached behind his neck to grab the collar of his tee shirt, quickly peeling the disgusting, soaked fabric off of his body. The moment the shirt was off, it liquefied in his hands, dousing his pants even more. Ectoplasm slithered down the drain.

Danny huffed and closed his eyes, trying to prepare himself for the remainder of his stupidly intensive wardrobe change. Can't just ONE thing be easy today? Do I really need ghost CLOTHES along with the creepy ghost powers? Why can't-

The bathroom door knob turned.

Danny's eyes shot open. He leaned forward, too fast for the injured state he was in, and gripped the shower curtain, yanking it backwards to conceal himself. Shampoo bottles tumbled into the tub, clattering loudly. He leaned against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the room from spinning. He heard the door swing open and close again.

"Occupied," he said, weakly. Nice going, loser, what kind of IDIOT forgets to lock the bathroom door?

"Danny, it's me," Sam said, urgency in her tone. He heard her lock the bathroom door.

A frown twitched on Danny's lips. "Didn't anyone teach you to knock?"

Sam ignored the quip. "Danny-"

"I'm fine, you guys don't have to keep worrying about me. Just-"

"Jazz is on her way. Now."

"Great, just what I need right now." His voice cracked, betraying how upset he was. His mind screamed for him to stand up and rush out of the house, but the lingering dizziness kept him cemented to the base of the tub.

Sam's hand came into sight and grabbed the edge of the shower curtain hesitantly. "Can I…?"

Danny sighed, defeated. He hated when people saw him without a shirt. "…Yeah." He looked down at the disgusting mess that made the bathtub into a ghostly crime scene. "Just don't freak out, okay?"

Sam pulled the curtain back, eyes widening and flashing at his bare chest for a moment before looking away, blushing. "Sorry, I didn't, uh… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so. Believe it or not this is my suit, so… no more injuries for now. Could I maybe get a hand?" Danny reached out towards Sam, withdrawing it when he saw all the ectoplasm splashed onto his skin. "Oh, uh…"

Sam bent down and gripped his hand anyways, pulling him to his feet. Danny stumbled for a moment but managed to stay upright. "Save it," Sam said, eyes on the ceiling. Danny sent her a silent thank you. She knew how much being shirtless bothered him. "After tonight, I'm gonna be desensitized to this goop forever."

With no sleeves to hold them up, the pants of his jumpsuit slithered down to his feet, revealing his jeans and dissolving into a puddle. Danny chuckled nervously, eyes darting away from Sam. Thank god I have clothes on underneath this stupid thing… He grabbed the waistband of his jeans, paranoid that they'd slide down to his ankles next.

Sam's blush intensified. She turned away from Danny bashfully, crossing her arms. "Do you think you can change back? I don't know how long it'll be before Jazz gets here. Tucker's stalling on the phone for has long as he can."

"I should be able to… Jazz coming over isn't too big of a deal, right?" Danny chuckled, trying to conceal his terror. "I mean… I learned how to change back, you know, thanks to you. And I haven't, like, turned invisible or anything since we got to Tucker's. Maybe the ghost energy in my body is just burning itself out, or something," Danny rambled, words spilling from his lips too quickly.

Danny hoped his lie was convincing. He was already terrified, and the added anxiety of lying to one of his best friends just made it worse. If he had a heartbeat, he knew he'd feel it pounding in his ears. Going home meant seeing his parents… his trigger-happy, ghost-hating parents. He'd rather sleep in the school, in the park, anywhere that kept him from seeing his mom and dad. But if Tucker had already told Jazz where he was, he knew he didn't have time to escape. He'd have to face them. Even if he miraculously stayed human… how could he explain his injuries?

Danny looked at Sam, realizing she hadn't spoken in a while. Her head was tucked down, her shoulders seemed stiff. "…Sam?"

She sniffed and let out a shaky breath. Danny knew by now that was the sound of her crying. "Danny, I know when you're lying to me," she said, frustrated. "We've known each other for how long? Please, just save it. You don't have to pretend to be okay."

Danny faltered. He wished he was better with emotions. Better yet, he wished he was good at lying, so he didn't have to worry his friends so much.

"…Yeah, okay. You got me. This is gonna suck."

Sam let out a bark of a laugh and looked over her shoulder at him, flashing him a shaky smile through her tears. "Thank you." She turned away again, this time with less tension in her shoulders. "If there's one person you don't have to lie to Danny, it's me. I want to be here for you." She cleared her throat, bringing an arm up to wipe her face. "I want to help you."

Danny smiled, trying to cover his guilt. Impulsively, he covered his discomfort with a quip. "Any way that help includes sneaking me out of the Foley house in the next ten minutes?" It's my fault you even HAVE to help me. I knew that portal was dangerous, I knew something could've happened.

"Fat chance," Sam said with another rough laugh.

"C'mon, we could sprint out of here in no time! Do you have any idea how long I'll have to listen to my dad brag about that working ghost portal?" If it weren't for me, you'd be asleep at home, not sobbing in the Foley bathroom. You HATE crying.

"I'll start with some advice – rinse off. There's no way you can see your parents looking like that."

Danny looked down at his body: His torso was relatively clean, but it still shone with a faint glow from the residual ghost matter. His jeans were completely saturated – he wondered briefly what color they would be if they weren't so coated with goo.

"Noted." Danny grabbed the shower curtain and pulled it shut, eager to hide his exposed chest. "Uh, would you mind-"

"I'll wait outside," Sam said with another sniff. Danny heard the door unlock and her heavy boots step out onto the carpet. The door clicked shut behind her.

Danny sighed. He wished taking a deep breath brought the marginal relief it did when he was a human. Danny stepped out of the tub, ensuring to lock the door this time. His feet left green prints on the ground. He made a mental note to wipe them up post-shower as he stepped back into the tub. Danny bent down and removed the rest of his clothes, letting them dissolve down the brain as they transformed into ectoplasm.

He aimed the shower nozzle away from his body and turned on the water, letting it stream down for a second to warm up before rotating it back to-

"Agh! GOD!"

Danny sidestepped the scalding stream of water, quickly cranking the hot water dial off. Danny face-palmed, embarrassed at his lack of foresight. If Sam and Tucker's hands felt like they were radiating heat, why wouldn't the shower water feel hotter than normal?

He reached a hesitant hand out into the water stream. He knew the water should be frigid, but it just felt like room temperature to him. He shrugged to himself and stepped back under the stream – it was colder than he normally would have liked, but he didn't have time to fiddle with the shower dials with Jazz on her way. Danny picked up the bottles that had clattered into the tub and held them under the stream for a moment, making sure they were clean of ectoplasm before placing them back on the ledge of the bath. He took the last bottle – some of Tucker's homemade body wash – and squirted a handful into his palm.

Thank god this one smells somewhat normal, Danny thought, giving it a tentative sniff. Tucker tended to create… experimental scents, to put it kindly. Danny worked the soap into a lather and rubbed it all over his body from head to toe, trying to clean the ecto-residue off of his skin as fast as possible.

Danny studied his body as he scrubbed. Luckily, he didn't seem to have too many bodily injuries. His skin was raw on his left palm – the hand that pressed the "on" button inside the portal. The skin on his back felt sore as well, but he didn't have time to inspect it in the mirror. Satisfied with his cleaning job, he cranked the faucet, turning the water off. He reached for the towel on the rack, only to pause.

Do I… need to shower looking like a human, too? Danny clenched his jaw in frustration, already anticipating the answer. Nothing tonight had been simple, there was absolutely no way this would be, either.

Danny sat down on the edge of the bathtub, facing towards the basin, anticipating the upcoming wave of nausea. At least now I won't have to keep my vomit down, he thought with a grimace, remembering how easily the ectoplasm had slithered down the drain.

Danny closed his eyes, trying to conjure the feeling of turning human. He tried to gather the energy coursing freely through his body and herd it towards his navel – but he found it much more difficult than conjuring the energy to turn ghostly. It felt like trying to catch butterflies in a net, the second he caught a few, the rest flitted away.

Danny groaned after several minutes, frustrated. How had he turned human before? Tucker had said the first time was in the lab, when he fainted. The next time he was conscious for, in the Casper High hallways. He forced himself to recall the weakness in his knees, the dizziness, the complete depletion of energy. He'd felt like this all night – constantly dealing with the next painful and upsetting trick his body wanted to play on him.

Despite himself, tears pooled at his eyes. He felt like a whining, pouty child, which upset him even more.

Would he ever have a normal day again? He'd give anything to turn back time, to make it so his biggest worry was Sam's opinion of him or an upcoming quiz in Lancer's. He'd wanted to study with Jazz after Sam and Tucker left – now all he wanted to do was fall asleep and never wake up. To get a break from the pain, the confusion, his overwhelming exhaustion.

Tears flowed freely now. He clamped his hands over his mouth so Sam couldn't hear him. His hands irritated the burns on his face, amplifying the scream in his head.

IT'S NOT FAIR.

Danny felt powerless and pitiful, like he was curling up inside of himself. Just like he had in the Casper hallways when he collapsed.

White light sprung from his waist.

A.N.: Let's hope this upload goes smoothly! I'm sure at least some of you noticed FF's uploading glitch last weekend. Should be fixed by now (I hope)!

I struggled with this chapter for a long time – I wanted to establish why Danny never removes his jumpsuit. Ignoring season 3, Danny never takes off his clothing in his ghost form, and we only see the skin underneath when he gets injured. I decided to go with my favorite concept: HaiJu's idea that his jumpsuit is a physical part of Danny's ghost body (side note, if you haven't read her fic Phantom of Truth, go do that now).

Thank you to my good friend Hazama for beta-reading this chapter and turning it from one of my least favorites into one of my most proud chapters. He's hazama_d20 on AO3, go check him out!

I'd also like to let people know that I'm working on a new fic for a writing challenge Hazama and I are hosting on our DP server! Don't worry, there won't be a hiatus for Just Fourteen, but there will be a new complete fic from me toward the end of this month! Keep an eye out.

Lastlyyyy, shout-outs! Dp-Marvel94 and LeonidasDP, thank you both from the bottom of my heart for somehow finding a way to access chapter 12 with the whole glitch going on. I love reading your reviews and it means so much you keep coming back week after week! Victoria Bullock, DNA2337, Chaos-Wolfy, AnonWhoLikesToRead, and TwinDrake, thank you for the favorites! ModernDayAlice, thank you for the follow.

These notes just keep getting longer and longer, I hope someone out there is reading 'em!
Ani