Author's Note: I do enjoy Danny's suffering, but this particular fic is just...so sad. Such different emotions from Disparaged.

(after being) Condemned

His vision was starting to blur. Jack removed his goggles and shut his eyes, gently massaging them with gloved fingers.

Maddie came down the stairs to join him in the basement lab, releasing a humming sigh. "Mmm, I'm exhausted. How are you doing down here, Jack?"

Jack checked the clock on the wall. "Were you out shopping with Danny this whole time?"

"No, no. We actually returned a couple hours ago. Then we went through his old clothes together and got rid of anything he didn't need anymore. We'll need to make a run to Goodwill tomorrow."

Jack grunted his assent.

"And then I went ahead and threw a casserole in the oven. It should be done in about an hour." Maddie stretched her arms behind her. "So what have you been working on?"

"A couple things," said Jack. "Worked on improving the accuracy of our weapons targeting systems. Also started figuring out how to begin construction on that new spectral X-ray machine we've been talking about."

"Oh, yeah. That's perfect."

Maddie moved up beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist as she looked over his workstation and studied his blueprints. Jack smiled down at her and placed his large hand on her toned upper arm.

"An hour until the casserole is ready, right?" His finger trailed down toward her elbow.

"Jack." Maddie chuckled. "Tonight, okay? There's actually something I want to talk about first."

Jack's torso stiffened. He knew that tone, and considering she had just spent a whole afternoon with their son—

Please don't be about Danny please don't be about Danny this time please let it be about something else literally anything else.

"I talked to Danny, got him to open up about some things." Maddie's embrace around him strengthened as she nuzzled her head against his suit. "We need to discuss what he said."

Jack held in a groan. "Is he okay? Is he in any sort of trouble?"

"No, no. Not at all. He just said some things that made me really sad." She paused. "Things that you really need to hear."

Jack turned his head and rolled his eyes, making sure she couldn't see his face. "All right. I'm listening."

"Let's sit down."

She tugged and pulled at him, leading him to the chairs set up in the lab. Jack glanced back at his unfinished work with a grimace before giving in and taking a seat beside her.

"Okay, so what did Danny say?" he asked with faux enthusiasm.

"Well, I know that you talked to Danny at Gardner Peak and thought that he was doing okay, that he was just going through some normal teenage drama, but I just wasn't really convinced," admitted Maddie. "He still just seemed so sad and like something was really bothering him. And so I decided to ask him myself, and he told me something a bit troubling that I really think you need to know."

Jack's eye twitched. "Yeah?"

Maddie reached over and took his hand in both of hers. "Jack, I really need you to keep calm right now, okay? I'm not accusing you of anything or saying you did anything wrong, but you really need to know this so that you can try to help Danny."

"What are you talking about?" Jack tore his hand away from her. "What did Danny say?"

"Jack, can you please just listen without getting angry right now?"

Jack inhaled deeply and waited.

"Danny is very sensitive," began Maddie. "We've both always known that about him. Whenever we yell at him and discipline him for something, he always takes it much harder than we intend him to. Which is why I try to be more careful with how I word things around him, what I say to him."

"Yes," said Jack dully. "That's true." He knew very well that she always coddled Danny and let him off easy because she hated hurting his feelings in any way, but what good had that done? Now he was even more sensitive these days, probably too brittle to ever handle anything on his own. How did she expect their son to toughen up if she never gave him any opportunity to do so?

"So." Maddie pressed her lips together briefly. "You're already aware that us getting upset with him for sneaking out Wednesday night and then punishing him for it really hurt him."

"Yes. But wasn't that the point? We needed to let him know that what he did was not okay."

"I know, but—"

"What else were we supposed to do? Let it go? Not express that we were disappointed in him? Not give him any negative consequences at all?"

"No, of course not. We had to discipline him. That was the right thing to do." Maddie paused. "But we both could've handled some of it better. Like when we both first came home after Jazz told us he had returned. The first thing I did was yell at him." She looked down at her lap. "I wish that hadn't been my first reaction."

"It was a perfectly reasonable first reaction," said Jack. "What could you have possibly wished you had done instead?"

"I wish I had just told him first that I was happy he was safe and that he was home, waited until the next day to lecture him when we were all in a calmer state."

"And you think that would've somehow been better for him?"

"I know it would've been. Then maybe Danny wouldn't be beating himself up over this as much as he is."

"He snuck out of the house after curfew, Maddie." Jack's volume rose. "He broke one of our biggest rules. He should feel bad about that."

"He shouldn't be feeling this bad, Jack," said Maddie imploringly. "What he did wasn't anything that any other normal teenager hasn't done. It was nothing illegal or immoral, nothing that caused harm to anyone."

"Still something we definitely don't want him doing again," Jack reminded her sternly.

"No, of course not. For his safety and for our peace of mind. But we also don't want him feeling like he can never make mistakes, that we expect him to be perfect or else we'll be upset with him. Or that he's a disappointment to us. We really need to emphasize that we're only ever disappointed in some of his actions, not in him as a person. As our son."

"He should really be able to figure that out on his own. That should be common sense."

"Yeah, well, it's not for Danny."

A beat of silence. Jack altered his weight in his chair and glanced back at all of the unfinished work at his station.

"Look, Jack." Maddie squeezed his large hand with both of hers. "Danny told me something...really sad, and I know you don't want him thinking it. So I'm just telling you this so that...so that you can be mindful of how you talk to him and maybe...maybe be more careful around him?"

Jack inhaled hard to prevent himself from saying anything because he knew there was no way anything he'd say right now would be kind.

"There's no easy way to say this." Maddie tapped her fingers against the back of Jack's hand. "Danny is hurt that you still seem to be mad at him, and... He thinks you don't like him."

Jack's eyelids fluttered, his jaw shifted position as he tried to formulate a response. Maddie raised uncertain eyes to him.

"What do you mean he thinks I don't like him?" demanded Jack.

"Well—"

"What could possibly make him think that?"

"I'm trying to tell you, Jack. He feels like the two of you don't really have anything in common and that you sometimes do things with him begrudgingly. Like he's not sure if you ever actually have fun with him."

"I just spent an entire evening with him on Friday. I drove us all the way out there and back in just one night. Why would he think I'd do that if I didn't enjoy being with him?"

"But were you completely nice to him during that trip, Jack?"

He recoiled.

"Jack?" she pressed again.

"What did Danny tell you?" he asked cautiously.

"Something that you should've told me if it's true." Maddie narrowed her eyes. "He said that the two of you got into a bit of a disagreement? About ghosts?"

Jack loudly huffed.

"Jack, I know you have really strong opinions about ghosts, but that's no reason to get so angry with someone for disagreeing with you."

"You don't understand, Maddie. You weren't there. He was being really difficult and trying to act like he knew better than me. Don't tell me you don't get offended when someone who knows nothing about ghosts tries to challenge you on the topic."

"I don't when it's a child. Danny is just a boy, Jack. And your own son, for that matter. There's no excuse for hurting his feelings like that."

"Oh, but he's allowed to offend me by insinuating I don't know what I'm talking about? He gets a pass for that because he's just such a sensitive child?"

"There are ways you could've handled it without getting so angry with him."

"What makes you think I was angry?" snapped Jack. "You weren't there. You don't know how I handled it or what I said to him. You're only getting Danny's side, and of course he's going to perceive it as worse than it was because that's what he always does!"

"Yes, but I know you, Jack." Maddie's voice did not lose any strength. "I've been in arguments with you before. I know how you handle disagreements."

Jack's jaw clenched.

"And I've seen the way you've been treating Danny the past few days. You've been impatient with him, and your tone with him has definitely been... Well, I can see why he thinks you're still mad at him and that you don't like him."

"I'm not mad at him."

"Well, he thinks you are."

"Well, I'm not. Reminding him that he's still grounded is not me being mad at him."

"Jack, just—" Maddie groaned. "Please just try to talk to him more kindly, okay? Please?"

"I'm the one who has to change?" Jack glanced up the basement stairs, wondering if their son was in the living room like he was supposed to be. Like he had been ordered to be. "Danny shouldn't just learn to toughen up and not take everything as a personal attack?"

"Well, yes, you're the one who should change, Jack." Maddie's expression was almost incredulous. "You're the adult here, and not just the adult but the parent. He's your son, Jack! Your child! You don't want your child to feel this way about his father, do you?"

Jack glowered at the floor. Fuming. Flaring.

No. He didn't want Danny to feel this way about him.

And he certainly didn't want Maddie fretting over Danny feeling this way about him.

"Did Danny really say that?" asked Jack quietly. "That he thinks I'm mad at him and that...I don't like him?"

Maddie stroked his hand and arm. "He did," she said somewhat apologetically. "But I think that he's just going through a hard time and that maybe...maybe if you just try to be more careful with him, maybe he'll stop feeling that way." She scooted her chair closer so that she could hug him. "I'm certain I've made him feel bad like this at times, too. I agree that we should try to work with him to help him not automatically assume that everything is an attack against him. Maybe therapy is what he needs. But I also think we both need to try to be mindful of the way we talk to him."

Her cheek nuzzled against his triceps, her fingers interlaced with his. Jack stared ahead at the far wall of the lab.

"Okay," he said in a low voice.

Maddie remained cuddled against him until the oven timer upstairs chimed. Jack followed her up to the kitchen and made eye contact with Danny, who was reading one of his textbooks on the couch.

Danny smiled at him. Jack smiled back.

Neither said anything.

During dinner, Jack observed Danny closely and took special care to only speak kindly and enthusiastically to the boy. Danny certainly seemed far more interactive and smiley, definitely a far better mood than Jack had seen from him in a long time.

But as Jack returned all the smiles and laughs and family-friendly conversation, he could not cease his inward fuming.

What was really going on in Danny's head? Was he putting on a front just like Jack was? Pretending to be okay? To be happy? Putting on an act so that his mother would stop worrying? So that his father would like him again?

Why couldn't Danny ever just be honest about his feelings? Why did he always just insist he was "fine"?

All the secrets and laziness and sneaking around after curfew, what did Danny even expect from him? To just dismiss it all with fatherly compassion? To just let him get away with being a slacker and rule breaker?

If anything, he had been too easy on the boy. Danny clearly needed more discipline and yet he would never get it because his mother was convinced he was too sensitive for it.

Across the dinner table, Danny laughed at a detail of an anecdote Jazz was telling. He caught Jack's eye.

They exchanged smiles.

Hours later in bed, Jack listened to his wife's deep breathing and tried to focus only on that and nothing else.

But he could not stop thinking about his son sleeping just down the hall.

He could not stop thinking about his son's betrayal.

Not only did his son dare to think such a terrible thing about him, but he actually had the audacity to confess it to his mother and get him in trouble. Jack knew he didn't deserve that. Being cross with Danny when he had done something wrong did not make Jack a bad father. Not going easy on Danny did not make Jack cruel. And it certainly in no way meant he didn't like his son. Expressing anything short of praise and adoration did not mean he had disdain for Danny.

The vessels in Jack's temples and neck were buzzing. The top of his crown was twitching.

How could Danny do this to him? How could Danny possibly think or feel or dare to say that Jack didn't like him?

He could not sleep. His brain would not shut off, refused to stop oscillating over this frustrating information.

He had to know. He had to ask. He had to demand. He had to do this now.

Jack quietly slipped out of bed, watching Maddie closely as he moved to ensure he didn't wake her. Despite the rage in his veins, he forced himself to step lightly and gently out of their bedroom and strengthened his pace as he walked down the hall.

It was after midnight. Danny had school the next day.

But if Jack couldn't sleep, why should Danny get to?

Why should he even bother to be nice to Danny now when he already thought Jack didn't like him? Danny had NO IDEA what it was like to actually be on Jack's bad side. The boy might as well see what it was really like!

He walked right up to and through Danny's open door without a pause. He groped the wall for the light switch and flicked it on, squinting for just a moment as his eyes adjusted. Danny bolted up into a sitting position on his bed and held his hands out in front of his chest.

Jack glared at him, glared at his defensive reaction, as if he really thought Jack was here to hurt him.

He shut the bedroom door behind him, closing the two of them in. Danny lowered his hands but stiffened in posture.

"Dad!" he gasped out. "What're you—?"

"Why did you tell your mother that you think I don't like you?" Jack demanded in a harsh whisper.

Danny blinked, his eyes darting in several directions. "Why did I—what—?"

Jack moved to right beside his bed. Danny leaned away from him.

"Why did you tell your mother that you think I don't like you?" he asked again more slowly, more carefully, not giving Danny a chance to play dumb again.

Danny's shoulders visibly moved with each breath. "She—Mom told you?"

"Yeah, she did," said Jack in a mock playful tone. "Doesn't feel so good to be betrayed like that, does it?"

Danny stared down at his lap.

"Answer my question, Danny," ordered Jack.

"I—" Danny's mouth opened and closed a few times. "I didn't mean it like that, I just—"

"At the mall today," cut in Jack. "Did you or did you not tell your mother that you think I don't like you?"

Danny did not answer right away. "We—we were just talking about—"

"Danny," growled Jack. "Just answer the question. Did you or did you not say those exact words? Did you pointedly tell her that you think I don't like you?" He narrowed his eyes, his arms resolutely by his sides, hands clenching slightly. "Do not make me ask again. Just give me a yes or no."

"I—"

Jack intensified his glare at the boy, daring him to give anything other than a straight answer this time.

Danny winced and looked down at his blanket, clutching at the fabric. "Yes," he said in a hush. "I... I did say that, but—"

"Why would you say that? How could you say that? What could possibly make you believe that?"

Danny held up his hands. "Dad, please, let me explain—"

"And even if you do really believe it, why would you say so to your mother? If you have some problem with me, Danny, you bring it to me, got it?" Jack crossed his arms and scowled in the direction of his and Maddie's bedroom. "Now your mother thinks I'm being hostile or abusive to you." He looked down at Danny again. "Which is not true. And you know it's not true. But you decided to make me look like the bad guy anyway because you apparently don't know how to solve your own problems and your mom has to do everything for you."

Danny shook his head. "No, Dad, that is not—please just listen—"

"Listen to what?" snapped Jack. "All week you've been acting weird around me, and I haven't done anything to you. And you know I haven't."

"I—yes, I know, but—"

"What exactly have I done to make you think I don't like you?"

Danny's lips thinned, but he did not respond.

"Danny?"

"N-nothing, Dad, it's just—"

"No, don't say 'nothing.' Obviously there's something I did that makes you think that, that would make you tell your mom that. So what is it? What did I do?"

"I—you—it's not what you—"

"Is it because I was angry with you for sneaking out Wednesday night? You broke one of our rules and forced me to get out of bed in the middle of the night, Danny, of course I was angry. That doesn't mean I don't like you."

"No, Dad—"

"Or because I didn't accept your opinion about ghosts at Gardner Peak? You were wrong! Completely wrong! I'm always going to tell you when you're wrong about something, Danny."

Danny was fumbling again, stumbling over more denials and excuses. But still no actual words, no real explanations. Jack wasn't even sure he wanted Danny to say anything at this point; he just wanted him to know that this was not fair and not okay.

"I just really don't get it. Have I ever told you I don't like you?" Jack kept his voice low but amped up the aggression. "Have I ever hit you? Threatened you? Made you feel unsafe?"

No blundering sputters this time. Danny's gaze turned downcast, his brows pushed together. Jack's mouth fell open at the sight.

Danny swallowed. "No," he said in a choked stammer.

It was silent for a few seconds.

"You hesitated," said Jack darkly.

Danny looked up.

"Why did you hesitate?" asked Jack.

Danny's eyes became very round. He shook his head. "I didn't—it's not what you—Dad, please—"

Jack turned and put all his focus into not stomping out of the room, into not throwing Danny's door open so hard it would hit the wall stopper and potentially wake his wife or daughter. He shut off Danny's light and headed toward the stairs to the kitchen. He needed to just sit in silence, in the dark. He needed a drink—

No, he couldn't drink. There was no alcohol in the house anyway. He had maintained his sobriety for so long, Maddie would never forgive him if he relapsed over this. Over their son.

No way he could go back to their bedroom now, no way he could sleep, no way he'd be able to stay quiet enough to not disturb Maddie, no way he'd be able to hide his anger from her.

No way he'd ever tell her anything that had just happened.