The night started out normal enough, the only difference was the security upgrade the Fenton elders had installed earlier. Naturally, it defended against ghosts, not actual people.
It's amazing no one had figured out how ill prepared they were against a human attack earlier.
Danny had just gotten back in through his window when the front door of the house quietly clicked open. No alarm sounded, but thanks to his ghost powers, Danny heard it open as he laid down, hoping to get some sleep.
The hybrid groaned. He was going to be running off only about three hours of sleep tomorrow as it was, but now he had to go deal with whatever idiots had broken in.
Joy.
He crept down the stairs, stopping halfway down and crossing his arms, irritated. "What the hell are you idiots doing here?"
One of the two intruders pointed a gun in Danny's direction but he wasn't fazed in the slightest. After years of ghost hunting, a simple gun threat was the least of his issues.
"If you know what's good for you kid, you'll quietly go back upstairs and forget all about us."
"I am tired and a little pissed off. Trust me you don't want to test me right now." He fought to keep the green out of his eyes as he glared and walked the rest of the way down the stairs.
"This is your last warning kid." The guy with the gun fired off a warning shot towards the ceiling. This woke the rest of the family, who were trying to sleep upstairs.
None of them were strangers to the sound of a gun firing off; ghost weapons were a little quieter, but the sound itself is nearly identical. Maddie was the first down the stairs, closely followed by Jack and Jazz.
Maddie didn't take long to recognize the situation. "Danny! What are you doing! Get up here!" Maddie was frightened for her seemingly defenseless son. Jack was stunned, that's about all the reaction anyone could get out of him at the moment. Jazz looked on silently, slightly worried though she knew Danny wasn't in any real danger. He faced things worse than these creeps on a daily basis.
The gun moved in the direction of the family huddled on the stairs. The man with the gun looked to Danny. "Now you've done it kid."
"I didn't do anything, asshole."
"Get down here!" The second intruder had pulled a gun of his own out as he ordered the remaining Fentons downstairs.
They moved fearfully. Danny had closed his eyes, the battle against their ghostly green lost, and was now fighting to keep from powering up and kicking some serious ass. They were all in a line now, and only Danny seemed not to be afraid.
He opened his eyes when he heard a frightened gasp from his sister. He was met with the sight of the first creep advancing on her, with an odd look in his eyes.
Danny was starting to lose it. You could threaten him, but go after his family and you would wish you were only in a world of trouble.
"Touch her. I fucking dare you." He had stopped caring about how much of his ghostly power made an appearance by this point as he let his eyes burn bright green. A little voice in the back of his mind told him he would have a lot of explaining to do at the end of this, but he honestly didn't give a damn anymore.
"Brave words from such a wimp." The second of the intruders made a move as if to punch him, but Danny was past playing around.
The idiot was disarmed and on the ground in some serious pain within seconds. "I warned you not to piss me off." Danny's voice was cold and unforgiving.
The remaining idiot pulled his gun and took a shot at the hybrid. Danny didn't see where the shot was headed, but he didn't have to in order to know the bullet was headed for him. He turned intangible as the shot passed through him harmlessly and hit the wall behind him.
"Bad idea. See, now I have no reason to hold back." Danny let his pent up energy dance brightly around his clenched fist for a moment before firing off the shot. He didn't want to transform if he didn't have to, that bomb was the last thing his parents needed dropped on them right now even though he'd have to come clean when this was over.
"What the hell?" The victim of his shot exclaimed.
The ghost boy smirked. "You asked for it." The look on the asshole's face was priceless as his mind frantically searched for some kind of explanation for this. Danny let loose a second shot and the moron finally made a run for it.
He looked to the first of the two men who was just now recovering from Danny's earlier attack. Danny bent down a little to be more even with the man still on the ground. "And this, my dear friend, is why you don't piss me off." He had an evil little smirk on his face, one that worried Jazz enough to finally speak.
"Danny, don't do anything too harsh. Remember Dan and your promise?" She honestly hoped that would be enough to get him to back down before he did any serious damage. Jazz knew they were both already going to have loads of fun explaining Danny's powers as it was.
Luckily, it was enough to snap Danny back to his senses and he straightened up and forced the green back from his eyes. He kept his eyes closed as he addressed the frightened intruder. "Get the hell out, and don't let me see you again. Got it?" Danny opened his eyes in time to see the man nod and make a run for it, nearly running into the door in the process.
His parents were speechless while Danny frantically sought out some explanation that wouldn't require him to reveal his ghost half. Sadly, his mind found none. Though it had been in defense of him and his family, he couldn't hide the fact that he'd shown off way too much of his power for him to get though with one of his usual half-baked lies.
There was a rather long and uncomfortable silence, during which Danny learned just how interesting a floor could be to look at. He'd never noticed that the coloring of the carpet was slightly uneven before. And look, the hole from one of Jack's earlier accidents was still there. He really ought to get that fixed soon. Though it was in an awfully discolored section of the floor. He wondered if…
"Danny?" His mother was the first to speak. "What...what was that, sweetie?" It was clear she was still more than a little shaken from the whole ordeal.
"It's nothing you need to worry about." Danny really didn't want to tell them. Acceptance aside, this really was quite the little bombshell to be dropping, and this one came with multiple fuses.
"It's not nothing, son," Jack said, finally coming out of his thoughts. "We've known there been something drastic going on in your life for a while, I just wish you'd trust us enough to tell us."
The floor was still rather interesting for Danny, and he couldn't quite force his sight to leave it long enough to look his parents in the eye. "I...I do trust you. I just...I just don't think you need this on your head and shoulders." He finally managed to tear his gaze from the carpet. "I can handle it on my own, okay?"
Jazz had quite the mental debate as to whether she should step in or not. In the end, she decided to speak, though it was probably not the words Danny would have liked to hear. "No, Danny. You can't handle this on your own." This earned her a look somewhere between a glare and an expression of pure shock. "I've been watching you ever since I found out, Danny. You're starting to crack under the pressure, I can see it and I hate that I can't help you. You need to tell them, let them help."
"Jazz, you know I can't tell them." The floor had lost its interest, but the ceiling was something seemingly new to him.
"Why not? If you're afraid they won't accept you-"
"No. It's not that. I know they'll accept me, I'm worried about what will happen when they realize everything that they've done because they didn't know." Honestly, if it was just about whether or not they'd accept him, he'd have told his parents after the whole Reality Gauntlet fiasco. He was more concerned about what their previous actions would do to their emotional well being once they realize just how many times they'd shot at and threatened their own son.
"Danny, don't worry about us. We can handle it, son." Jack had gotten up and was now standing with a hand on Danny's shoulder.
"Please, just tell us sweetie. I promise we won't judge you. Just tell us what's going on in your life." Maddie could only imagine what her son was going through, she just hoped he wouldn't keep whatever it was all bottled up when even Jazz knew he needed help.
Danny stayed quiet, so Maddie just continued. "We know it has something to do with the ghosts, we just don't know what. You can trust us, Danny, even if it's the world's biggest secret, we'll be there for you."
The ghost boy nearly broke, but he held strong. "No. I can't tell you. I'm sorry, but this is for your own good." He promptly ran up to his room, locking the door behind him.
Jazz couldn't believe she was doing this, and really hoped Danny would forgive her in the future, but no matter what she'd promised herself originally, she couldn't stand by while her baby brother was breaking. Not anymore.
Please forgive me, Danny. "I really shouldn't be doing this, and I'm sure Danny will be down here to cut me off when he realizes what I'm doing; assuming he's even still in the house, that is." Jazz knew it was highly likely that Danny was currently out flying, trying to clear his head. She wouldn't flat out tell them, but she intended on spelling out just enough for them to figure it out. "The portal accident changed him, and I don't mean it left him with severe trauma. He took on a lot of responsibility after that. There's two halves of him: the Danny you know, and the other one." She stopped. Knowing Jack and Maddie, that was more than enough for them to figure it out if they really tried.
"Jazz, what are you saying?" Maddie was desperately trying to process this, but she just couldn't quite wrap her mind around when her daughter was saying.
"You'll have to figure it out on your own. Danny's likely going to have a fit over how much I said as it is. Honestly, I hope it helps though." Jazz slowly retreated to her own room, trying to convince herself that it wouldn't take Danny too long to realize it was for his own good. He needed their support more than he realized or was willing to admit.
Danny had heard what his sister told their parents, but he didn't stop her. The part of him that really wanted to just tell them won out over the part that was so hell bent on keeping it a secret.
He sat invisibly at the top of the stairs, listening to his parents bouncing ideas back and forth. All of them were wrong, but a few came dangerously close to the truth. Just as he thought he was going to get out of this without having his secret completely blown, though, the news informed the world of the fight he'd been in not an hour before.
He heard his mother gasp before the screen froze, paused, and the remote clattered on the floor.
"Oh my god...Danny...he's...Danny is Phantom."
I think I started this about four months ago and never actually finished it until now... O_O
Comments and feedback are as welcome as always! :D
Oh! And those of you reading Blood Roses, I am NOT bailing on another update, I'm just going to get that done tommorrow...while I'm bored out of my mind making up seat time in Night School...kill me now. Please.
Invisible One