Disclaimer: Ok so I was conducting yet another experiment with the space time continuum and it turns out that in an alternate dimension I actually own Danny Phantom (too bad that in this dimension I don't.)
Author's Apology/Notes:
To all my readers, I am so sorry that I took so long to update. If the big guy upstairs had seen it fit to stop me from updating then I would understand, but the fact that it was my parents just surprises me. Needless to say that the reason that I couldn't update on Saturday was that my folks wanted to leave ON Saturday so I didn't even get the chance to touch my computer and upload this before I was carted off from my home to this…interesting new city. Lol, my life and this fic will have to continue from here. The worst part was that I didn't even get real internet access until today.
So without further ado, for better or for worse here it is to my handful of loyal readers. The 11th chapter of this fic. Tada, hehehe. I honestly hope you guys like it and that it was "worth" the wait. One thing I must mention is that the description of Dash's home is different from the one in the actual show, but please work with me here, lol. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: The Bumbling Ballet
Danny cleared his throat and lowered his voice as he spoke, "Well I can see that you're going into be ok so I'll just be going now." He moved to stand up, but was quickly pulled back down by Dash. Danny was held in place by the unexpected action and his gaze met Dash's determined one.
"Hold on, you didn't answer my questions," Dash said firmly.
Danny managed to loosen Dash's strong grip on him and sarcastically replied, "Look Dash, I really have to get going so if you could let go of me that'd be really great."
"Wait a minute, how do you know my name?" Dash asked suspiciously. Danny realized his mistake and sighed in frustration. His brow furrowed slightly in annoyance and he chose not to answer the question. Dash's eyes implored him to say something, but soon the blonde realized it was to no avail.
Dash pushed him away and stood up on shaky legs. Danny tried to help him up, but Dash batted his hands away and said, "Leave me alone." Danny watched as Dash walked a few feet away from him before suddenly stopping. The blonde turned his head to look at Danny and said, "You know the least you could have done was tell me your stupid name…at least then I'd know who to thank for saving me from…whatever it is that trashed the gym."
"That's not true, you can thank me without it, so why do you need to know so badly?" Danny asked earnestly.
"Because," Dash replied stubbornly.
"Because what?" Danny asked insistently.
"Because ever since I first saw you I think I've been going nuts. I mean it's not everyday you see some guy flying around in spandex and fighting off creepy monsters." Dash said indignantly. The harsh gaze softened slightly as he continued, "And you just seem so…familiar. It's like I already know you or something."
Danny's eyes widened in surprise and he unconsciously moved away from Dash after hearing the strange admission. 'Maybe I should start wearing a mask,' he thought. He briefly saw the flustered look on Dash's face before the other boy turned away from him. His mind turned over the pros and cons of answering the errant question before he finally settled on an answer that he knew he'd probably regret later.
He took a step closer to Dash and in the same deep voice said, "I can't tell you who I am." Before Dash could interject, he hastily continued "So for now just call me Da-David, David Phantom."
Inside he winced at his lame choice in a pseudonym, but it seemed to satisfy a part of Dash's curiosity. He watched as Dash completely turned around to face him and he felt strangely pleased to see the slow smile appearing on the blonde's face.
"Hn, David Phantom? Well I guess it's better than nothing," Dash said smiling. His dark blue eyes reflected his curiosity and he finally asked, "So that night at the dance, you were that dude that was flying around and fighting that dragon thing weren't you?"
Danny bit his lip before hesitantly replying, "Yeah, that was me."
"Cool, so are you like some mutant superhero or something?" Dash asked eagerly.
"No, sort of…it's complicated," Danny said as he scratched the back of his head. "Let's just say that if you ever see me it's because someone needs help."
The look of childish fascination on Dash's face made a small smile come to his own. For a moment Danny's eyes roamed away from the blonde and looked up at the gym clock to see that it was 9:26. If he didn't leave soon he was going to miss his curfew and have a whole new set of problems. In his distraction he didn't notice Dash moving to stand right in front of him. When he turned his attention back to the blonde, he was surprised to find himself face to face with him.
Dash sighed aloud before he spoke, "Thanks for saving me…David Phantom." Dash's smirk grew as he put out his hand expectantly.
The smile on his face was genuine as he shook Dash's hand, "Don't mention it...Dash Baxter."
Danny felt the heat of Dash's hand through his suit and felt a brief shock travel up his arm at the contact. His eyes suddenly shone with concern however as Dash suddenly let go of his hand. Danny watched as Dash groaned loudly and held his head in pain. Dash fell forward on his knees before falling on the ground and curling up into a ball. Danny immediately went at his aid and tried to see what was wrong. All he saw was Dash wincing every now and then.
"Dash, what's wrong? Dash!" Danny yelled in alarm.
"My head, something's wrong with my head." Dash said gratingly. He closed his eyes and instantly his mind flashed different images at him.
As the fire's smoke surrounded him, his loud coughing was echoing loudly against the walls, every breath he took was more deadly than the next.
He kept running and came upon the sight of his unconscious mother, but not matter how loudly he yelled at her to wake up, she still remained in her state of slumber.
He picked up his mother and quickly ran to the door, but before he could reach it the chilling sound of someone's laughter ran loudly in his ears.
He turned around and in front of him stood the hazy form of someone dressed in a cloak, yet he couldn't see the other person's face.
He held his mother protectively as he crashed into the window and landed in a heap on the ground. His body hurt like hell, but at least his mother was safe.
His vision was growing blurry as he laid there unmoving, but he slowly turned his head in time to see it. The strange boy with the white hair was fighting the cloaked figure and struggling to protect them.
Dash suddenly woke up with a loud gasp. His breath came out in pants as he placed a shaky hand to his forehead. His eyes widened slightly when he felt the sweat on his brow. 'What was that? It felt so real…like it was a memory or something,' he thought. He placed a hand on his heart and felt the rough cloth underneath his fingers. His brow furrowed in confusion as he looked down and realized that despite already being in bed, he was still wearing his regular clothes.
The sound of his curtain billowing out caught his attention and his apprehension grew because he never left his window open like that. With trepidation he slipped out of bed and quickly walked towards the window. He didn't know what to expect as he looked out into the darkness, but the only sight that greeted him was that of his quiet neighborhood. He looked down at his lawn and saw that none of his mother's lawn figurines were disturbed nor was there anyone in the tall tree that was next to his window.
He looked up at the night sky and saw that the moon was full tonight. 'What's going on? One minute I'm right in front of that guy and talking to him and the next I wake up on my bed, but I'm still fully dressed? Was I really just dreaming?'
He felt the wind ruffle his hair slightly and his face became suspicious. 'That doesn't make sense and I know he really was there…which means he must have brought me home.' His eyes widened in realization as he thought, 'He knows where I live and he knows my name…who is that jerk?'
He looked back at his neighborhood uncertainly as he thought about the last thing that happened to him before he passed out. All he had done was shake David's hand, yet for some reason it had triggered one his reoccurring nightmares. Dash sighed loudly as he thought back to what happened in his horrible dream.
It was almost always the same and ended with the white-haired boy fighting against the one in the cloak. The worst part about it was that he always awoke in a cold sweat and with a big headache. As he put a hand against his left temple, it was clear that tonight was no less different.
Truth be told, the nightmare always managed to thoroughly confuse him more than actually scare him. Days after the fire, he'd managed to find Danny and swallow his pride enough to thank him. Danny had been both humble and cordial about it and had answered his questions about what happened without protest.
Danny said that after a few minutes he noticed that smoke was coming from one of the side windows and realized that the house was on fire. When he tried to open the door he found it locked and in his desperation had used his scooter to break the window down and get inside to rescue them. One of Dash's neighbors had most likely phoned for the fire department.
With Danny's account of that day set so firmly in his mind, it only led to nights where he'd wake up in this state of restless confusion. His dream made no sense and no matter what he tried it never went away for too long. Lately it had taken on the pattern of returning once every week and always seemed to come whenever he was under stress.
He had lied when he'd said that his curiosity towards David had been based purely on what happened the night of the dance. The real reason was that although the dream always left his mind with a bad mental aftertaste, it also left him with an unbending curiosity to find out more about the other boy. Whenever the other boy showed up in his dream, for a few brief seconds he felt completely safe and he forgot about the impending doom coming closer to him. It shouldn't have surprised him then that he'd had such a strange reaction towards seeing David in person.
His mind had gone a mile a minute and his instincts told him not to let David go because if he did then his inner questions would never be answered. It probably didn't matter anyway because here he was again, alone in his room with his questions still unanswered and now left with even more of them to boot. His gloomy expression softened slightly as he realized that somehow David brought him home without causing alarm with his parents. 'How did he do that anyway…? I wonder what he's doing right now…heh, he's probably fighting of some cheesy villain or something.'
Dash laughed slightly at his own joke and was about to close the window, but after a small inner debate with himself he left it alone. He walked toward the center of his room and slowly stripped down until he was as naked as the day he was born. He went to stand in front of the mirror above his dresser and took a long hard look at himself. The haggard gaze staring back at him was hard to look at. His body was in no better shape and he had a few bruises and scars that hadn't completely faded away yet.
He was very much aware of the fact that he was considered one of the cutest boys in school, but the more he looked at himself in the mirror the more he felt like that image was miles away. He smirked bitterly at his reflection before bending down and getting an extra pair of boxers from his dresser.
A sudden rush of cold air hit his back as he changed. He jumped slightly at the sensation and he felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck. He looked around him but only saw a particularly strong breeze move the curtains. He quickly dismissed the earlier sensation and finished getting dressed. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he finally managed to settle down and get some well deserved rest. Tomorrow was another day, he could think about his situation then.
While the blonde inside rested, an invisible raven-haired boy was blushing slightly and sitting on a tree branch. Danny looked from his vantage point and let out sigh of relief to see Dash had called it a night. He put a shaky hand on his neck and rubbed at the soreness he felt there. He really was tired and using his powers like this really wasn't helping. Tonight just wasn't his night and he honestly felt this string of close calls were a bad sign.
At least he'd had enough sense to become invisible when Dash first woke up. It had been so sudden that his body's reaction was just instinctual he supposed. Then his first plan to sidestep Dash the first chance he got was foiled by Dash blocking his way. When Dash finally moved he was practically home free, that is until his eyes wandered over to the floor where Danny realized he'd left his gym bag.
Luckily for him the blonde was too busy to notice because he was undressing, so with slow and measured steps he was able to get to it without incident. At that point the quickest way out was wait until Dash was distracted enough for him to fly off and phase the bag through the wall. What he didn't plan on was the sudden sight of seeing a naked Dash standing in front of him. He'd seen Dash naked before and that was why for the life of him he couldn't understand why'd he'd so blatantly stared now.
Something about seeing the various bruises on Dash's chest and back affected him. Dash was probably unblemished once, was probably never exposed to his much physical pain before, and was probably never meant to have that agonized look on his face. A part of it was his fault, if he really had been helping Dash like he was supposed to then none of this would have happened. Unconsciously his hand had moved down to touch Dash's shoulder, but he quickly snapped out of his earlier daze. Danny blushed furiously at his slip and without much thought he desperately phased through the nearest wall.
Now he was here, panting and thoroughly embarrassed about his actions. If his powers had gone out then he would have exposed his secret, not to mention reveal that he'd been blatantly looking at a naked Dash. The blush on his face increased slightly at that last thought and he stood on the branch ready to fly home. He didn't even want to think about what he'd just done and as he looked at Dash one last time, he decided it was best to stay away from Dash, while he was in ghost mode anyway.
"Wow, you flew Dash from school all the way to his house?" Sam said amazed.
"Yeah, why? "Danny asked earnestly.
"Think about it Danny. Usually when you use your powers for long periods of time you get really tired, but the fact that you fought off a spider ghost and a managed to fly Dash all the way home is impressive," Sam said smiling.
"And it means that you're getting better at handling your powers, "Tucker said smirking. He then asked Danny, "So did anything else happen after you left Dash at his house?"
Danny's eyes widened slightly at the question and he struggled to find words to explain it. He honestly didn't understand what happened himself, much less knew what to say to them that didn't sound so crazy. Luckily for him, a deep voice interrupted anything he had planned on saying.
"Hey D.F."
Danny looked up at the approaching sophomore and smile gratefully towards Derek's sudden arrival. His eyes roamed over to the other person standing next to him and he was surprised to see that it was, Derek's best friend Jack. The other sophomore smiled at them cordially and greeted them with a nod.
"Hey Derek, you made it. I was wondering when you'd get here." Danny said. He smiled happily at the approaching boys and scooted over to let them sit down in the circular booth.
"Yeah sorry about that. We ran into a little bit of traffic because some old lady crashed her Packard into a telephone pole," Derek said. His voice dropped some of its usual cheerfulness at the end, but he smiled again as he continued. Gesturing toward Jack he said, "I hope you guys don't mind me bringing along this doofus over here."
Without missing a beat, Jack evenly said "Yes, you'll have to excuse my sudden presence, but as Derek's human security blanket, I make sure he doesn't show how much of a loser he is."
The trio chuckled at Jack's retort and even more so at the mock withering glare he received from Derek. Danny looked over at Jack to see that the older boy was smirking at his friend. Jack must have felt his gaze because he looked up at Danny and smiled at him. Danny returned the smile and thought about the first time he ever met Jack. Derek of course had been the one to introduce him to the quiet sophomore and since then Danny held a strong respect for the other boy.
Jack was more withdrawn than the rest of his teammates and one of the best players on their team. Danny like talking to him and often found it ironic that Jack was an accomplished drummer. Despite being half-Japanese, the only feature on Jack's face that hinted at this was his jet black eyes. He watched as Jack ran a hand through his short reddish-brown hair and made it even more wild looking.
Danny turned back to his own friends and gestured toward his football buddies, "Guys this is Derek Sanchez and Jack Minamoto. Derek, Jack, these are my best friends Tucker Foley and Samantha Manson."
The four of them shook hands all around and Danny gauged all their reactions. Sam and Tucker said their respective pleasantries to the other two and soon all five of them were actively engaged in conversation.
"You're kidding me right? Zombie Hunters 3 stinks and it's so retro. Devil City 2, now that's a cool demon rpg game." Derek said to Tucker.
"Pu-leaze, Devil City 2 is so lame and some of the characters are so stupid looking it's not even funny." Tucker replied. Danny nodded in agreement.
"And that's why I feel that Anastasia Jones is a movie that not only represents the bicultural conditions many of us face in this country, but it also shows the basic inner struggles that teenagers bare in their need to understand themselves and be accepted," Jack said openly.
"I totally agree, but you wouldn't believe how many people don't get that the first time they see it. They actually think it's a satire on immigrants." Sam replied avidly.
"Hey you guys," piped in a familiar voice. All of them turned to find Sandra standing there smiling. She turned to Danny and said, "So is this everyone?"
Danny smiled at her and said, "Hey Sandra, yeah this is all of them."
"D.F. where the heck are your manners? It's obvious you know this girl and you don't introduce her to us. Tisk tisk." Derek said as he smirked at Danny.
Jack rolled his eyes and said, "You're not better, you hypocrite."
Danny smiled and quickly said, "Guys this is Sandra Perkins. Dash and I met her a week ago and she moved here all the way from North Carolina." Danny then gestured back at his friends and listed off their names to her in return.
In embarrassment, Sandra quickly wiped off excess burger grease from her hands onto her apron and then shook all their hands accordingly. She gave them a small grin as she said, "It's nice to meet all of you, Danny's always telling me about how great his friends are."
She handed out a menu to each of them and took out a pad and pencil form her apron. She held it ready and looked at all of them expectantly as she said, "What drinks can I start you guys off with?"
"Yeah I'll take a beer if you have them?" asked jokingly. Sandra merely laughed and shook her head. "Fine, then I'll just take a cherry coke soda."
"Yeah and can I have a chocolate shake?" Danny said smiling at her.
"Make that two chocolate shakes," Tucker said grinning.
"I'll just have a raspberry iced tea," Sam said.
"And I'd like a strawberry shake, please." Jack said politely.
Sandra nodded slowly as she wrote down their orders and said, "Alrighty, then if that's it I'll be back in a few minutes with your drinks." She left and went behind the counter to get their order.
Their earlier conversation began anew, but this time everyone talked about what they wanted to order. Danny looked down at his own menu, but didn't feel all that hungry. He decided he'd just get a large order of fries. He looked up to see Jack staring at him. The other boy smiled and rolled his eyes suggestively over toward Derek. Danny looked over at his friend and to his surprise he found Derek blatantly staring at Sandra.
His brow furrowed slightly and a strange realization entered his mind. 'I can't let Derek make a move on Sandra, she's the only girl that Dash seems to have an interest in.' He knew it was a childish move, but he grabbed a sugar packet from the table and threw it at Derek's head. The sophomore snapped out of it and turned annoyed eyes at Jack, assuming that it was he who had down. Jack didn't even look up from his menu, but merely pointed in Danny's direction.
Derek looked at him in confusion, but before he could say anything Sandra returned with their drinks. She set down her tray and handed each of them their drinks. When she was done she held the tray in one of her hands like a clipboard and took out her notepad again, this time to take their food orders. Derek forgot all about Danny's previous action and turned his attention to Sandra.
After she took down all their orders, Derek looked over at Danny and asked him, "How come I've never seen her at school?"
Danny took a sip of his soda before he answered, "Because she's home schooled."
"Home schooled? Man that's gotta be the worst." Tucker said. "Home and school shouldn't mix."
"Exactly," Derek said smirking. "Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that from her personality. So did she tell you why she moved here?"
Danny looked at Derek uneasily before replying, "Yeah, her dad's a military general and about three months ago he got transfer orders to work here. I think it's that one military base they built about five years ago or something."
"James Hewlett?" Jack suggested.
Danny smiled and nodded as he said, "Yeah, that's the one."
"Well for a military brat she seems pretty mellow." Derek said truthfully. "Plus the girl's definitely a looker."
Tucker agreed but quickly shut up at the death glare Sam gave him. Jack said nothing, but noticed Danny seemed almost on edge from the comment. 'Does he like Sandra or something...? Or is he against Derek having an interest in her?' he thought.
End of Chapter 11
Author's End Notes: Yes I know what a weird ending, but you can expect that the next chapter will answer Jack's question and explain why Danny is going to be the world's worst matchmaker, lol. Funny scenarios, slight Danny fun, Dash will make a cameo and you'll get to know Sandra more. Hehehe, just tune in next time on GRB!
I should mention the fact that I'm going to try my hardest to update at least once every week. I think the big guy upstairs won't interfere, nor will parents so this is indeed possible. Until then tell me what you guys think about his update! Laterz! J
Spider's Shout Outs:(because now I'm even farther away from you guys)
Raven Ghost: Hey! Lol, sympathy for clueless Danny, yeah I think he needs it. I hope you dug this chapter, sorry that I took so long to do post it. Bad spidey, bad spidey! Thanks for the luck (I think I'll need it) and for your review!
Hey there! Hehehe, interesting point. They will definitely get some fuc-uh I mean action going on later on, but things will have to speed up on "awareness" at least for Danny. Thanks for the awesome review!animegurl088: Hurray! I have a new reader! I'm glad you dug my story enough to read this far into it. Lol, I hope I did not discourage you from this story by making you wait for the next installment. :smiles unsurely: Thanks for the nice review!
Dela the Hidden: Hey girl:gives Dela the Hidden a bear hug: I just wanted to say thanks for keeping my mind on this story. There were a few times where I was on the brink of forgetting to upload it, but you helped to nip that in the bud. I truly am glad that I have such avid readers like you, makes it worth it to keep going. J I did want to say that Danny and Dash will be doing horizontal tango stuff later on, but not now. ;-) Lol, the spider thing was just a coincidence. To be honest I was watching an x-men: evolution episode where they were fighting a spider and that's what came to mind for a good ghost monster. Thanks for your motivating reviews and e-mails!
What the G stands for: Hey again! I'm glad you liked my previous chapter and I hope that you continue to dig it with the addition of this next update. As you can see, no Dash doesn't know and in fact has more secrets concerning our favorite ghost boy than thought possible. Hehehe. Thanks for the awesome review!
KimuraSato: Hello again! Hehehe, I think by now it's pretty obvious who wants Derek to find out if Danny is gay or not….or is it? Assuming stuff in my fic is a fickle thing sometimes, but I'm sure you'll figure it out anyway. I just like being cryptic like that, lol. And as far as Sandra goes, she will make a more active appearance soon and the role she plays is not an easy one for most girls. Thanks for the dope review! (What do those last Japanese words mean?"
Kayu Silver: Hello there! Lol, that's an interesting image to have and a funny one at that. I'm sorry for the delay, but I hope you still liked it and stick around for the next one. (which will be chock full of weirdness and Danny moments) Hehehe, until then just wanted to say thanks for the coolio review!
Katy Kreger: Hey dude! How was your camp? Fun I hope. I too have been off away from home and am now relocated to dun dun dum…a university. Well I still hope you liked my update and by the way I found a site you should try for eps but this thing won't let me post it so just e-mail me so I can give it to you. Anyway thanks for neat review!