Disclaimer: I am not Butch Hartman, therefore I do not own Danny Phantom!
Summary: Maddie's thoughts on the ghost boy as a ghost hunter and mother.
Spook or Teenager?
Maddie was confused. She had gotten so much information on Danny Phantom, yet none of it made sense! It was like having all the jigsaw puzzle pieces, but none of them fit together!
Jack was stuck in traffic in the RV, and Maddie was at home at the dinner table. Usually she would be downstairs fixing up Jack's inventions, or cleaning up the lab, but she just didn't feel like doing that at that moment. Danny had come from school, looking very carefree, and had run up to his room to do his homework. And there was another thing, Danny hadn't come downstairs yet, and if he was always upstairs doing his homework or studying, why didn't any of that reflect on his grades?
Maddie sighed. The whole problem had started a week ago.
Flashback:
Maddie tossed and turned in her bed. Her earplugs had not been able to drown Jack's snoring this night, so she had tried to sleep anyway. It wasn't working. So she got up and looked at the clock. It read 5:00 AM. She got up anyway and put on a blue HAZMAT suit, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She smiled at her sleeping husband, and then walked out of the room.
Quietly walking she peeked into her son Danny's room. A lump was formed underneath the sheets, (A/N: He put pillows under if you don't realize) and Maddie quietly slipped out. Then she gently opened her daughter Jazz's door, only to find that Jazz was awake, sitting up in her bed reading one of her Physcology books.
"Jazz!" Maddie scowled. "You should be sleeping!"
"But I can't Mom! I swear!" Jazz replied, startled.
"Well, ok, I can't either, do you want to walk in the park?" Maddie asked, surprising herself as well as Jazz.
" I'd love to Mom," Jazz said quickly, in case her Mom changed her mind.
At The Park
Jazz and Maddie walked along the sidewalk, breathing in the crisp autumn air. Both Maddie and Jazz wore some flimsy blue jackets they had found in their closets, perfect for the cool fresh air that was slightly chilling.
Both were lost in their own thoughts, Maddie's revolving around ghosts, and Jazz' thinking about her brother, hoping he was getting the rest he deserved.
Suddenly both jumped as they heard an agonizing scream, along with bone-chilling laughter. Jazz tensed up, for she was pretty sure whose scream that was. Actually, she was completely sure. She quickly ran towards the scream, ignoring her Mom's cries for her to return, praying that it wasn't the person she thought it was.
Of course, it was. Maddie ran after Jazz, crouching down beside her as she saw the fight that was taking place. The ghost boy, and a mechanical looking ghost with flaming green hair, were battling it out. Maddie inwardly cursed at herself for not bringing any ecto weapons of any kind. Then again, it was around 5:30 AM.
"Jazz!" Maddie whispered urgently to her daughter. "Go home quickly and grab as many ecto weapons as you can carry! Now!" Maddie said. Jazz glanced over at the sight, with…concern? She looked back at her mom, and nodded, making a little prayer again that the fight would be over by the time she got back, (and that Danny would have won) and quickly sprinted in the direction of home.
Maddie averted her attention to the fight taking place, and decided to watch for now. There wasn't much she could really do. The ghost boy was clutching his side, and his face was contorted with pain. Maddie actually felt a sense of pity for the ghost scum! It appeared the mechanical ghost was starting to lose, and once the Ghost boy whipped out the Fenton Thermos, it was clear who had won. Maddie didn't know how he had gotten the Fenton Thermos, but she intended to find out.
Maddie was surprised to see him scope the area for anyone that might be passing by. She ducked when his gaze went over to the bushes. She was expecting him to dissapear or fly off like he usually did, but for some reason, he didn't! Instead, he walked over to a park bench, and sat down. He seemed like a regular teenager, just lying there all alone. His hair covered his eyes, and his hand still gripped his side. Maddie felt her heart reach out to this boy, only to pull it back. He was an evil awful ghost that needed to be destroyed! (A/N: She's rambling to herself now) He was too powerful and could destroy the town! He was going to, she knew it! And he was crying! Wait! He was crying?
Maddie watched as tears silently trickled down his face, white hair preventing her from seeing the bright green eyes she knew were there. But she didn't want to see them at that moment. All she felt was distress, for right now instead of a spook, she saw a teenager. A weak, helpless, troubled teenager. And she didn't want to see that, no she really didn't.
Just A Kid
Maddie stared at the ghost kid in shock for what seemed like hours. But the tears just seemed to keep on coming. He didn't make a sound, and she couldn't see his eyes, but the tears were still there, flowing like an endless river. Maddie had never seen this weak and vulnerable side to him. She was sure this wasn't because of the pain in his side. Perhaps the pain was encouraging it, but that didn't seem to be the real reason he was crying.
Maddie wanted to scoop him up in her arms, and give him a big hug. For some reason, she felt like she should be the one doing that for him. But she kept on resisting the urge, for he would probably shoot her if he saw her. Though, when was the last time he'd shot at her, for any other reason than for self defense? There was the time at the mayor's but… didn't he say something about overshadowing? It was just so confusing. Looking at the ghost boy, he just didn't seem evil.
Suddenly, she heard the Ghost boy rub his eyes. He walked over to the park fountain and sat at the rim, looking at his reflection in the water. After a long time, he started talking. Not to anyone, maybe just his reflection. His voice was cracked and hoarse, but he just kept on talking. And Maddie, listened to every word.
"I guess you're the only one I really have to talk to, besides Jazz. (Jazz? Maddie thought, she talked to Phantom? Maybe she could give me some info on him) "Maybe I'm being too indulgent in self-pity, but I think I deserve it once in a while. It's hard to have to fight for your life every day, to get cuts and bruises like this one, thought most of the time worse, and be hunted while you're doing it. To have no one realize that you're just trying to be the good guy, and to have all that hate, anger and loathing directed at you, when you're just trying to make their lives easier. Most people in this town might not even have their lives without me! Sometimes I wonder whether it was the smart thing to do to take on this role. But there I go again! This choice I made has helped me in so many ways! I've gotten so much out of it! I've matured, accepted lots of responsibilities, and have learned to stand up for myself! There's nothing I can do to go back and change my decision, and for that I'm glad. But…sometimes I just wish it didn't have to be so hard…".
The Ghost boy's speech was made obviously addressing no one but himself, his voice raising and getting louder, than getting so soft it was hard for even Maddie to hear it. But she caught all of it. And by the time he was finished, he was crying again, and a little bit of tears had come out of Maddie's eyes, though she had hastily brushed them away. It seemed like the poor kid had no one! He may be a ghost, but he was just a teenager! A speech like that would never had been believed to come out of a kid's mouth, but an adult of a very old age.
Maddie couldn't take it anymore, she got up and stormed over to him. His head shot up in surprise and Maddie finally saw his eyes. Tear stained and puffy, there was anger and grief and sadness all in there. How could ghosts have emotions?
"Maddie," the ghost boy croaked, then realizing he had been crying looked down blushing. But Maddie didn't care, she took his chin and lifted his head up with her hand. Her eyes bore down into his.
"What are you going to do to me?" He asked, fearfully. But Maddie didn't say anything. Instead she grabbed him into a hug. The ghost boy tensed up, completely surprised. But suddenly he eased into the hug, and started returning it. Maddie could feel all the emotions he had held inside rushing out, grief, anger, sadness, fear, hope, hurt. And last but not least, comfort. She had given him comfort.
"Why are you…hugging me?" He asked, puzzled after a while. Maddie laughed, "You maybe a ghost, but you're still a teenager, and even a teenager needs a hug once in a while." She responded, letting him go.
"Well…thanks." He replied. Maddie looked down at him, he was looking down at his feet. She wondered how it could possibly be that this was the witty, sometimes even arrogant person who tried to help Amity Park. How could this be the hero that saved the day, or the villain that terrorized property? How could this spook be a simple teenager? Maddie didn't know but she wanted, more than anything to find out.
"May I ask you something?" she said carefully. Phantom froze, visibly tensing up, before saying "Depends, what is it?"
"Why did you try to help us?" she asked. To her, that seemed the Biggest piece of the puzzle. "You have to answer my question then, when did you get here, and how much did you hear?" he asked slyly.
"Deal." Maddie replied. "You first.". Phantom sighed, then said very softly "I didn't want anyone I cared about to get hurt, and no one else seemed to be able to do it.". Maddie snorted, then stopped. They weren't always there during all the ghost attacks. Maybe he was right.
"Was one of the people you wanted to protect Jazz?" Maddie said accusingly. Phantom's head shot up again, surprised, then looked down at his seemingly interesting feet, as he sighed "Yeah, Jazz and others."
"Who?" Maddie asked. She wasn't ready to give this topic a break. "It's your turn." Phantom countered. Maddie sighed, she had made a deal. "I came her right around the time you captured the green flame haired ghost, and I heard everything." She answered. Danny just kept on looking down. "I need to go now," he whispered.
"Ok" Maddie said, "Oh and Phan-Danny? If you want to talk, I'll be in my lab in Fenton Works." She said, smiling. "Thanks." Danny said, smiling a little too, and with that flew off into the sky.
Jazz watched as Maddie hugged Danny, smiling happily. She walked back to FentonWorks, happy that things might work out in her little bro's favor for once.
Whew! Long Chapter! Did you see how he went from Ghost Kid to Phantom then to Danny?! My own personal touch! I'd be able to separate it into different chapters, but I don't know how to do that.