I want to give a special thanks to everyone who reviewed:
Fear not: explanations are forthcoming! Hence the name of this chapter …
Part 2: The Why of It
That night Danny barely slept, tossing and turning, and the little sleep he did get was wracked with dreams – his father turning into a monster, Vlad Plasmius coming down from Wisconsin and announcing he was Danny's new dad, but he had Jack's voice, and his mom and dad divorcing.
He woke up to his alarm clock miserable.
&
His arms actually bruised. Danny considered the marks in the mirror after his shower the next morning, hardly noticing the dark circles starting to form under his eyes. Beautiful, he thought. Exactly what I need. Jack wasn't abusive, but the bruises were obviously from very large hands grabbing both of his arms, and if anyone saw them, they'd take it as abuse. Maybe I can pass it off as Dash's fault. Besides, they would probably fade in a few hours. Bruises rarely lasted on his skin any longer than they had taken to form.
He struggled into his clothes and staggered downstairs, dreading seeing Jack and sorely tempted to just overshadow his father for the conference (but since he was aware of it, Jack would probably wonder why he only remembered the actual conference as a haze).
It was worse than he thought. Jack was at the bottom of the stairs, and before Danny could stammer out a 'hello', Jack grabbed his arm, manhandling him towards the door. "Let's get going," he said, tone flat.
"Wha—uh—class doesn't start until—" Danny protested as Jack flung the door open and pushed him out, never letting go of his arm.
"Shush, Danny!" Jack thundered.
Danny shut his trap for a moment before taking a deep breath and letting it out sharply. It was a risk – a huge one – but he turned his aching arm intangible long enough to slip out of his father's grasp. "No, Dad! Where are we go--!"
He broke off, surprised and hurt, and Jack froze, his arm outstretched.
A confused moment had just taken place, and the best way Danny could later describe it was that he'd walked into his father's fist. Jack had spun around with clenched hands, and Danny just stepped forward at the wrong time and bounced off him.
Danny clapped a hand over his eye, and for a moment, Jack looked horrified. Danny watched in horror, however, as the irritable mask fell back into place. "Stop asking questions! We'll be late for the conference!"
The parent-teacher conference. Of course, Danny thought tiredly, his eye throbbing. His mind felt twisted beyond repair, and he let his father grab his arm and haul him up into the passenger seat of the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle (that is, the Fenton RV). Had his father meant to hit him? He looked so angry, but then he looked so horrified to realize he'd hit Danny, inadvertently or not; maybe there was hope? This couldn't be natural, it just couldn't. Something was really wrong.
Danny was silent, but he hesitantly pulled down the mirror on the passenger side to see a nice, quickly developing black eye. Oh, man …
"Don't tell anyone about this," his father said, voice low and flat. "You fought with the jock kid. Are we clear?"
Danny nodded numbly. He wasn't sure he should tell Sam and Tucker about this bout of violence anyway; they'd want him to get out of the house, and Danny was certain that if he just stuck around long enough he'd be able to figure out what was wrong.
At least his father still drove like a maniac. Danny braced himself, not looking at where they were going, and in the dashboard lights Jack's eyes looked almost red.
It wasn't until they arrived at the school and Danny had been sent off to go do as he saw fit that it occurred to him that the dashboard lights were green.
&
"Wow, that's quite a shiner," Sam remarked when she saw him before class.
Danny felt sick at the knowledge that he had to lie to his best friend. "Yeah … the Lunch Lady slapped me in the face with the Emergency Ham," he explained, doing his best to sound abashed. His sleeves hid the bruising on his arms entirely, as long as he made sure they were pulled down.
"Ooo," Sam winced in sympathy. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah, it should heal up by tomorrow," Danny agreed absently. "Where's Tuck?"
"Oh, he's got a doctor's appointment at ten. He's a total nervous wreck." Sam rolled her eyes. "How'd things go with—oh, speak of the devil …"
That was when his father appeared around the corner.
The halls were still largely deserted (things wouldn't get busy for another ten minutes or so), and Danny stiffened helplessly. He felt a reassuring hand on his shoulder, and he relaxed a bit. He relaxed even more when he saw Mrs. Worthington with him; his father couldn't say anything too cruel with a teacher hovering over his shoulder (or at his elbow, as it were). She blinked at his face, and Danny remembered belatedly that he had a vivid black eye.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Worthington!" Jack sounded rather enthusiastic, truth be told. "I'll have Danny whipped in—back on track in no time."
"He just needs a few gentle nudges, and someone to make sure he gets into bed on time," Mrs. Worthington confided. "Isn't that right, Danny?"
Danny felt himself color a little at the question. "You bet, Mrs. Worthington," he said, his voice sounding lame even to him.
Mrs. Worthington smiled in a way that she probably thought was reassuring, but Danny looked away, gauging his father for a reaction. Jack appeared to be zoning out.
"So long, Mr. Fenton. Thank you for coming in to see me," the teacher said. When Jack gave no immediate reply, Danny nudged him.
"Oh, yes. Of course! Nothing is more important to me than Danny's wellbeing!" Jack announced.
"I'm going to die right here on the floor," Danny muttered to Sam, who snickered. Jack shot them both a glare, and Danny fell silent.
"Well … take care of that black eye, then." Mrs. Worthington sounded uncertain.
"I will," Danny volunteered before his dad could speak. "Bye, Mrs. Worthington." And with that, he walked away, having a hunch his father would follow. "See you in class, Sam," he added pointedly.
Sam gave him a look somewhere between exasperated and worried, but she took the hint. "Bye, Danny."
Danny's hunch proved correct. His dad followed, and Danny found a relatively secluded place to stop. A thought had occurred to him, thanks to a dream he'd had the night before and the red light in Jack's eyes.
"Vlad," he said, turning to his father, "I know you're controlling Dad!"
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Jack suddenly lunged forward, his face rather slack as he pinned Danny against the wall. "Ah, the little badger has figured it out, then," he sneered. "Good show, boy. Tell me, how did you figure it out?"
Danny struggled against the hand pinning him down, helpless. "Get out of him," he snapped, not interested in exchanging pleasantries.
"Oh, no." Jack's voice sounded very weird, spouting Vlad-like platitudes and condescension. "I don't think I will. You see, the more time passes, the more obviously abusive your father will become, until it is clear to everyone that you are a distressed and harmed child. Finally, you will be removed from your home, and I, your loving, caring Uncle Vlad, will step forward to take care of you in your family's time of need." He smirked. "And of course, if your mother realizes she cannot stand such a husband, then that is merely icing on the cake."
Danny growled angrily. "You get out of my dad now!" he snapped.
"Who's going to make me? Besides, I could hardly stand overshadowing your father once. I most certainly am not doing so again."
Danny stared at his father – at Vlad, really – in horror. "Then how are you …?"
"Figure it out for yourself, Daniel. I can't spell out everything for you," Vlad sighed, releasing Danny. "Tah, now!" His father pounded through the door.
&
"I'm kind of relieved," Danny confessed at lunch (although his appetite was still demolished). "At least I know it isn't Dad any more." He still hadn't told Sam the truth about his black eye; Dash had played his part, though, laughing at the discovery his favorite punching bag was getting his somewhere else as well.
"How did you figure it out?" Sam wanted to know.
"I had a dream last night that Vlad came to adopt me, but he kept talking in Dad's voice. It wasn't until we got in the RV this morning that I put it together, though," Danny answered. He gingerly touched his black eye and winced. "Dad sounds a lot like a peeved Vlad right now, so I kind of thought maybe it was Vlad controlling him."
"Don't touch that, silly," Sam admonished. "Smart thinking, though. You are brighter than you give yourself credit for, you know."
Danny blushed a little at the praise. "Thanks, Sam."
"So what are you going to do about it?"
Danny sighed. "I don't know yet! I don't even know how Vlad's controlling him yet. He's not overshadowing Dad." He hesitated. "I guess I'll have to start by finding Vlad."
"You could key the Boooo-merang into his ecto-signature," Sam suggested. "We could follow it together. At least tomorrow's Saturday, so if it takes us all the way to Wisconsin we won't be missing any class," Sam grinned.
Danny nodded. "Yeah … good idea. Should we grab Tuck?"
"Today? He'll still be a gibbering mess." Sam rolled her eyes again. "Nah, we can handle this."
"I hope so," Danny intoned. "'Cause Mom gets back in a month, and if this keeps getting worse …" He pushed a hand through his hair.
Sam blinked. "Danny, what happened to your arm?"
Danny looked down, realizing that the fading black-and-blue on his upper arms had been revealed. He hastily pushed his sleeve back down. "Nothing," he stammered.
"Doesn't look like nothing," Sam said doubtfully, but luckily Danny was saved from answering by the bell.
"Man, time for History, gotta run!" Danny grabbed his books and fled.
"Don't think I won't ask you again later!" Sam called after him, but Danny was already gone.
&
History was a bore as usual, but Danny did his best to take notes, trying to make a good impression on the teacher. It didn't save him from getting called up to the front after class, though.
"I talked to your father about your grades and lack of organizational skills," Mrs. Worthington said. "He seemed a bit dismissive, but he promised to help you study for your make-up test. I'm scheduling it for Monday after school."
Danny nodded, fidgeting. He just wanted to get through English and Phys Ed and cut to the chase, literally. "Thanks again for letting me retake the test, Mrs. Worthington."
The teacher smiled slightly. "Despite what you may think, Danny, we teachers really want our students to succeed. I know you perform well when you want to." But her smile wavered. "That black eye is horrendous! How did you get it?"
Danny was a little surprised by the line of questioning, and then he realized he'd be getting Dash in trouble for something he actually didn't do for once if he said Dash was responsible.
Ah, who cares, he deserves it. "Dash punched me," he answered.
"You mean the start football player? That seems a little out of character for him," Mrs. Worthington said, sounding nervous. "I don't approve of him stuffing students in lockers of course, but punching …?"
Danny swallowed. It was true that the most Dash had ever done to him was an atomic wedgie, swirlies, and shoving him against (and into) lockers, so punching was a little … odd. "It's the truth."
"Mm." The teacher didn't look convinced. "You know, Danny, I've always thought your family was very loving, but today your father seemed … well. I'm concerned. You do know that if anyone is harming you, you can speak to a counselor."
Danny flashed back to Spectra briefly before catching himself, avoiding cracking up in Mrs. Worthington's face by the skin of his teeth. "Ahah … uh … I-I know," he stammered. "Dad's not hitting me, though, I swear." Vlad is. "Look, I've gotta get to English class before Mr. Lancer kills me … again …"
"Of course." Mrs. Worthington sounded resigned. "Here's a hall pass for you in case you're late. Don't forget, the make-up test is Monday!"
"I won't!" Danny promised, flying out the door.
&
The nice thing about having the ghost shield up 24/7 was that none of the ghosts that usually escaped the Ghost Zone had the chance to wreak any havoc. It had been very quiet for two days. Danny met up with Sam after class and they started their walk home, silent for a minute or two.
Then, suddenly, Sam grabbed his sleeve and yanked it up.
"Hey!" Danny turned invisible in a flash of longing to be unseen, and Sam yelped.
"Danny?"
"Right here," Danny sighed, turning visible again. "You startled me."
"Yeah, well, you deserve it, you liar," Sam snapped. "What'd your dad do to you?"
"You mean what did Vlad do to me," Danny sighed again. "Look, Sam … I didn't want to tell you because I thought I was gonna have to live out the weekend with Dad to figure this out, but …" he explained what had happened when his father had found out about the test and the morning activity.
"Oh, man, Danny, you can't live at home," Sam groaned. "What if he hits you on purpose? You can't do anything about it because if you use your ghost powers in front of your dad – and you know he's not overshadowed, so for all you know he'll remember everything – your secret is out!"
"I know, I know," Danny groaned in response. "I've been thinking about it all day. But all I have to do now is get inside, get the Boooo-merang, and get back out. If we can get Vlad to tell us what he did to Dad – or figure out what he did – then I won't even have to worry about it," Danny said confidently.
Sam pressed her lips together. "I'm coming with you." Danny started to protest, but she shook her head. "If we have to fly all the way to Wisconsin, there's no way I'm making you carry me. We'll steal the Specter Speeder!"
"Oh, great, now that might actually get me killed," Danny joked. But from the look on Sam's face, he knew the joke fell horribly flat. "Geez. Okay, uh … let's get inside the Shield first. Then I'll go ghost and turn us invisible and we'll go straight to the lab. If Dad's there, he'll probably capture me, but he still hasn't built a hybrid-proof net, so that shouldn't be a problem."
"If your Dad's there, I'll wreak as much havoc as possible," Sam promised, grinning.
"No, you'll stay in the Specter Speeder and wait," Danny answered. "I don't know how to make it move."
Sam gaped at him. "You don't know how to work the Specter Speeder?"
"It's not like I ever had to learn!" Danny protested. "We only ever use it in the Ghost Zone and I do better on my own in there!"
"Point."
"Okay. So you're fine driving the Speeder?"
"Well, usually Tuck does the driving, but I think I'm okay."
"All right, then." Danny faced the house and took a deep breath, letting it out through his teeth. "Let's do this."
Getting down into the lab was a cinch, but not surprisingly, Jack was there. Danny kept himself invisible long enough to put Sam in the front seat of the Speeder, but he couldn't keep up his invisibility indefinitely. He reappeared as he was looking for the Boooo-merang.
"Ghost!" His father exclaimed, and Danny jumped, grabbing the Boooo-merang just as his father pointed a net-gun at him. He fired; Danny dodged, but not fast enough at close range; the net wrapped around him and he was flung back at the Specter Speeder.
Go intangible, go intangible, go intangible, Danny wished as hard as he could that the net would go intangible with him – and it did. He fetched up inside the Specter Speeder, still trapped but triumphantly holding the Boooo-merang. "Go, Sam, go go go!" he shouted at her.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Sam shouted back, hauling on the aeroplane-like controls, and Danny pressed against the side of the Speeder, putting all his effort into overcoming the ghost-proof net and turning the entire Speeder intangible.
They flew out of FentonWorks successfully, and Danny passed out.
&
"Hey, Danny? Danny, wake up." Sam was poking him.
Danny groaned and tried to move, finding he was still hopelessly tangled in the net, although back in his human state. "I hate these things," he confessed. "I feel like an animal."
"Well, there's another reason you shouldn't eat meat," Sam answered. "Think of all the poor trapped animals! See how humiliating it is?"
"Okay, uh, right now I'm really not up for a 'why I should be an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian' speech," Danny said slowly. "Where are we?"
"About three miles out of Amity," Sam answered breezily. "Once you get the hang of it, this thing's not so hard to drive."
"And better yet, it's powered by ectoplasm," Danny added, picking at the netting. "So once I get myself … out … of this thing … I can power it myself."
"Awesome," Sam agreed. "Can't you just blow the net apart?"
"And slap you in the face with glowing ghost-proof net? No," Danny answered sarcastically. "Help me out." And with that, they wasted the next thirty minutes picking Danny's way out of the net.
Danny finally sat down in a seat, relieved, and closed his eyes. "Ah …"
"You look really tired," Sam confessed.
"I feel really tired." Danny pressed his hands to his face. "I was so worried about Dad, and the fact that it's Vlad? It makes me nervous. I can't take him on one-on-one, and I didn't have the chance to grab a bunch of gadgets to fight him with."
"Uh, Danny?" Sam pointed back behind them. "I think we're covered there."
Danny looked; half his family's inventions seemed to have taken up the storage space behind the chair. "Oh," he said, visibly relieved.
"Well, let's toss this thing," Sam suggested, opening the glass window of the Specter Speeder. "Boooo-merang, please?"
Danny handed it over, and Sam threw it.
It whipped back around and clocked Danny in the head. "Ow!"
"Oh! Oops, it's still keyed into your ecto-signature," Sam grimaced.
"Great." Danny handed it to Sam once again.
"Find Vlad Plasmius," Sam ordered, and she threw the Boooo-merang as hard as she could. It spun away into the distance.
"Follow that stupidly named tracking device!" Danny shouted.
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Sam grinned.
tbc
