Author's Note: I own nothing.
25 Not So Unscathed
It was the cheering that brought Dev, Kyle and Angelica out of their stupor sitting at the table in Fenton Works trying to figure out what to do. Dev ran to the door and threw it open blinking at the bright light of the sunrise. The sky was the dyed red of a sunrise and everyone in the streets was cheering and celebrating. Dev's heart rose then sank like a rock. Dani Phantom had not returned. The sounds of staggering footsteps behind them heralded Jack, Maddie and Jazz coming up the stairs. All looked a little dazed.
"The suit's gone. Phantom took it." Maddie practically snarled. She blinked at the sunlight beginning to pour into the room. "How? How are we back?" She shook her head.
"No idea." Dev said starting to close the door.
"Mind holding that for a minute!" A voice called out and Vlad Masters rushed up the stairs to Fenton Works, carrying Dani in a piggy back ride. She was out cold and had Vlad's suit jacket thrown around her shoulders. Angelica rushed forward, Dev and Kyle hot on her heels.
"I spotted her leaving with a few of the Fenton blasters. She was looking for anyone who got stuck outside the shield. She was attacked." Vlad said as Jack and Maddie rushed forward. Angelica stopped them.
"I'm a trained nurse. I need a room, clean sheets, the hospital is going to be over run. I can check her over here and see if we need to take her to the hospital." She assured and Jack, Maddie and Jazz rushed off to get the things she needed. Angelica placed a hand on Dani's back and found the fabric of Vlad's suit coat was damp. She glanced at Vlad then Dev and Kyle. "Come on let's get her inside." Jazz had set up their makeshift infirmary in the spare room across from Dani's room. Angelica paused and spoke to her.
"I'm going to need gloves and bandages, just in case." She said and Jazz nodded rushing off. Vlad helped them lay Dani down on her front and hovered. Dev closed the door behind them and Angelica pulled the coat off Dani hissing in sympathy. The back of her once white shirt was stained red.
"What happened." Dev demanded and Vlad shook his head.
"Officer I've already told you what happened." He assured them and Dev's hand dropped to his side arm. Vlad's eyebrow climbed, glancing from face to face. He seemed to decide they did know more than they should. "What gave us away?" He asked and Kyle glanced at Dev. Dev's eyes never left Vlad.
"We saw you, when the ghost king attacked you." He said shortly. "Now I suggest you tell us what actually happened when she flew off." Dev said and Vlad shook his head.
"Do you really imagine bullets will do much against me officer?" He asked casually. The whir of a blaster powering up from the doorway drew Vlad's attention.
"Bullets might not but this will. What happened?" Sam demanded from behind the trigger of a large blaster. Tanya dodged around him holding bandages and gloves along with a rag and a bottle of filtered water. She yanked her mother's hands away from Dani and poured the filtered water over them, wiping the glowing blood from them. It was then that Angelica noticed the slight tingling in her fingertips.
"Her blood's a little toxic to people." Tanya explained not looking her mother in the eye as Sam stepped all the way into the room and locked the door behind him. "It's not really bad but it's a little corrosive." Angelica nodded without comment pulling on the gloves Tanya had brought and gently pulling back the collar of Dani's shirt to assess the damage. Vlad glanced around and seemed to decide he was outnumbered.
"The battle suit happened. It was glitchy and when that combined with the beating it took from Pariah the interface ended up nearly embedded in her spine. I don't think she noticed." He said shaking his head. "Regardless, she won and we won't be hearing from Pariah again unless someone else decides to unlock the sarcophagus again."
"You mean like you did." Sam said, his blaster still trained on Vlad.
"My dear boy I have no idea what you're talking about." Vlad said with a slight smile. "I do know that I'll be keeping a closer eye on the happenings here in Amity though. The people here seem a bit too intelligent for their own good." He said eyes flicking to Dev, Kyle and Angelica in turn. Sam let him pass but didn't lower his weapon until Vlad was gone.
"We're gonna need to know what happened." Dev said directing his statement to the room in general. Angelica shook her head.
"Not right now you don't. Right now all three of you need to leave so I can treat my patient. Tanya you seem to know some things about treating Dani, you can stay. We will be having a discussion later." Angelica snapped and Dev nodded he took Kyle's hand and Sam followed them out of the room. He leaned on the wall. Dev stood next to him.
"Why are we waiting here?" Kyle asked and Dev nodded curious about that as well. Sam glanced around as though making sure they were alone before speaking.
"Dani's parents don't know, any of it basically. We aren't sure what they'll do if they find out." Sam admitted and Dev nodded. Kyle shook his head.
"This whole situation is so very fucked up." He said and Dev shook his head.
"Language Kyle, there are children." He didn't exactly disagree though. Sam rolled his eyes.
"I'm not a child I'm fifteen." He insisted and Dev snorted.
"Still a kid." He muttered leaning next to Sam.
It was a few hours before the door opened again. Jack and Maddie had been pulled away to help in the clean up, Dev had volunteered to watch the kids. They'd collectively come up with the idea that Dani had broken at least two ribs. It explained away the bandages. Dani had woken briefly but fell back asleep quickly. The day was spent clearing away what remained of Pariah's army. At the end of the day though Sam and Tanya cornered Dev.
"What are you going to do?" Sam asked.
"Right now? I am going to go home and see if we have any leftovers to reheat. Then try and get some sleep." He said and shook his head. "No one's going to learn anything from me." He assured and Sam nodded.
"Thank you. You'll need these." He said pulling two belts from his pocket. Dev raised an eyebrow.
"Why? What are they?" He asked taking the belts.
"Specter deflectors. Tanya's been making more of them. These are the one's she's finished. They'll keep Vlad out of your head and any other ghost for that matter, Just don't touch Dani while you're wearing them." He said and Dev nodded.
"Thank you." He said clicking on the belt under his shirt.
"Thanks for not turning Dani in." Tanya said and Dev shook his head.
"She does more good than harm. I hope she'll be willing to talk to me when she wakes up though." He said and Sam shrugged.
"We'll talk to her. I think she will. I think she knew you'd figure it out eventually. She wouldn't have recommended one of the books we use if she didn't." Sam assured and Dev nodded heading out to the car where Kyle was waiting. When they reached their apartment they both flopped onto the couch too tired to even think about food. Kyle leaned against Dev and sighed.
"Life just got a whole lot more complicated didn't it?" He asked and Dev wrapped an arm around Kyle leaning back against him.
"Yeah I think it did."