Idk where the energy for all these phics is coming from lol.

Phic Phight 2022 for gilbirda and murphy-kitt on tumblr!

"You're like the opposite of my sister."

Valerie's head whipped around. In the past three years that she'd known the ghost, and the past two since their uncanny friendship had begun, he had never offered her any insight into his personal life. She had tried several times to pry, but each question was met either with an uncomfortable stutter or a response so outlandish that not even Dash would have believed it.

Because Valerie knew that he didn't die from a feral ninja attack thank-you-very-much.

"A sister?" She propped her leg on her hoverboard.

Phantom snorted, flipping on his back and putting his hands under his head. He floated aimlessly around her, a serene smile decorating his lips. "Yeah. She's this bossy know-it-all genius. You're way more chill."

The use of present tense wasn't lost on Val. "So…she's alive?"

"Yeah."

"Do you see her a lot?"

Phantom paused, a thoughtful expression donning his face. "Sort of. She uh, she doesn't live here anymore. She's in a different state now, so it's harder for me to get there unless I know of a natural portal that's opening there. I need the Infimap for that, and I can't ask Frostbite for it too often so, you know how it is."

Valerie, in fact, did not know how it was, but she wasn't about to admit that. Dozens of questions popped into her mind, but she held back. Just because Phantom was willing to offer her breadcrumbs, didn't mean she could get too greedy.

Fortunately for her, he decided to continue on anyway. "She doesn't know about me. I'm always invisible when I see her. She can't…"

Alarm bells went off in her head. "Like, she doesn't know that you were her brother?"

"Yeah."

Valerie stared. She knew she was staring, but she couldn't help it.

Why?

"Do your parents know?"

"No."

"But you see them too?"

"Sometimes, yeah."

What used to be alarm bells had now escalated to full blaring foghorns. Why? Why did he keep it a secret?

Why not tell them?

She tried to put herself in his family's position, imagining if her mom was still around as a ghost, and chose to keep it from her. That level of selfish cruelty…

But it didn't make sense. Phantom wasn't the vicious ghost she had first assumed he was back when she was fourteen. Since they started actually talking, Valerie had come to realize just what a kind and empathetic soul he was, full of that childhood innocence and the belief that people were inherently good.

So why hold this so secret? Why not tell them, why not talk to them? Why pretend like they'll never see him again?

Valerie swallowed, rehearsing the question in her head. She wasn't usually one for tact, but even she could see what a delicate situation this was. "Do you mind if I ask why you haven't told any of them?"

Phantom gnawed on his bottom lip. "It would ruin them."

She wasn't sure what kind of response she'd been expecting, but that certainly wasn't it.

"Ruin them?"

"You know, if they found out that their son turned into…" He swept his hand over his body. "This."

"I think they'd probably be more relieved that they could talk to you again. I bet they miss you a lot."

"They do. I know they do. But they still can't know about me. They…Valerie, they think I'm a monster."

She felt her eyebrows spike up. Phantom was usually so peppy it made her want to puke rainbows, but this?

This was a whole new side to him she'd never witnessed before.

"Why do you think that?"

He sat up and crisscrossed his legs in the air. His eyes were wide, pleading with her to understand. "You don't know them like I do. I've heard them, I know what they think. My sister, maybe not so much, but my parents would probably kill themselves if they found out." His voice fell, and he let his bangs cover his eyes. "I know I'm not a monster now. But they don't. They already lost their kid, I can't let them know what he turned into. And besides, it's not like they'd ever believe me."

"I'm sorry," Valerie said reflexively.

"Yeah…" Phantom looked back up at the clear night sky.

The twinkling stars seemed almost cruel now.

"And I feel bad because…I don't know if I should even be saying this."

"Tell me. I won't say anything, I swear."

"Okay." He breathed out. "Okay. It's just that no one knows."

Valerie floundered with a response. "What, that you became Phantom?"

That same puzzled look came back over Phantom's face, and he refused to make eye contact with her. "Well, that too."

"Then what?"

"No one knows I died."

On instinct, Valerie's hoverboard jerked back. Her eyes widened, and her body felt like she'd just been punched in the gut.

"How?" she choked out.

How could no one know he died?

She always figured he had died tragically. After all, the more powerful the ghost, the more emotions they experience d during their death. And no one who died young and became one of the most powerful ghosts in the Zone did so peacefully.

But she'd never actually sat down and thought about it. And even if she had, there was certainly no way she could have predicted this.

"My body's still out there," he continued on. "I keep waiting for someone to find it, but nobody ever has. And I don't think anyone ever will."

"Phantom…"

But he was lost in his own little world now. His face twisted sardonically, a dark chuckle at his lips. "I don't think anyone really tried to find me, to be honest. No one ever cared about me. When I disappeared, I think people were like, 'oh well, that was bound to happen.' But it wasn't. I was…I was just a kid. Still am, I guess."

"I'm sure people tried," she offered.

"No." His voice was sharp, bitter. "They didn't. Red, I was no one before I was Phantom. I was just some loser kid from a weird home. And when I disappeared, people spent all of two seconds trying to find me before they just gave up. There were no obvious leads, apparently, and no one cared enough to find out. No body, so the cops just assumed I ran away. They don't really investigate runaways, especially not ones from teens like me. The rejects. Losers, whatever."

Every sentence felt like a stab in her chest. To hear that he really thought so little of himself? And that apparently he felt like everyone else did too?

Maybe that's just his restless spirit talking, Valerie said. There was no way that his community truly cared so little that they were just willing to give up like this.

"My sister tried to find me, I think. And my best friend is still looking. Every so often I see him on message boards online still looking. He thinks I'm still alive, I guess." Phantom brought his knees to his chest, hugging his legs. "It would probably be better if he gave up. Just admit that I'm gone."

"They care about you," Valerie said softly. "That's why they won't give up. They still have hope that you're okay."

"Yeah, well I'm not. I'm a ghost."

"So does that mean your case is still open?" Valerie asked.

Phantom sighed. "Fuck if I know. I never got a memorial service or anything, so probably. I bet my parents refused to give me a funeral because if they did that, then that would mean my family actually facing the truth."

"Oh…" Valerie wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. In her eyes, funerals and memorial services were always an act for the living rather than the dead. It was a way for friends and family to remember the life that person lived, to keep them alive in spirit. It was a physical marker for the life they'd lived and the people they'd met along the way.

But based on Phantom's dejected face and slumped shoulders, it almost appeared like he was hurt he never got one.

When she thought about it, that made sense. Phantom was, supposedly, a forgotten teen. One who apparently no one remembered enough to give a proper investigation to. One whose body had surly disintegrated to bones, who was laying out somewhere still yearning to be found. He had left no mark in his community, in Amity Park.

Of course he would want to be recognized.

"I know it's selfish for me to want something like that."

"It's not," Valerie said. "It makes sense."

"I don't know, I just feel like I never got that one thing that every other dead person gets. Just like a day where everyone gets together and thinks, 'yeah, this person was alright.'" Phantom shrugged dully. "Maybe it's better I never got a funeral, though. Then I wouldn't have to face the truth that no one actually gave a shit I died."

"Why would you think that?"

Phantom looked at her with a blank expression. When he spoke, it was matter of fact. "'Cause I don't think anyone would have shown up."

Organizing the memorial was…surprisingly easy.

In her Red Huntress persona, she approached the city council and proposed the idea. At first, they didn't seem engaged, simply letting her speak and then sending her on her way. But word spread quickly, and public support caught like wildfire.

Because if there was one thing for certain, it was that over the past few years, Phantom had become a staple in Amity Park. And the majority of the city liked having him around. Once Valerie might have slipped that Phantom was never given a memorial service when he died, it was truly incredible how fast the city rallied around the idea of honoring him now.

People donated their time, money, and resources. The flower shop designed a lovely, intricate bouquet of white and black flowers. A local priest volunteered to run the service. A funeral home offered to help organize the event, the town donated a plot of land in the cemetery, and a fundraiser was set up to purchase a headstone. Flyers were printed, the music was sorted, and everyone seemed excited about the event.

After the ball got rolling, Valerie wondered if Phantom would be angry with her for leaking his wish, for mentioning that he never got a memorial. But Phantom, thankfully, didn't seem to mind. In fact, the young ghost also seemed excited.

And it wasn't so much that he said it in words. There was a certain energy around him, an especially prominent glow to his eyes. And when Valerie nonchalantly asked if he was going to the memorial, Phantom almost looked offended that she would imply that he wouldn't be there.

"Of course, Red!" He rolled his eyes. "I'll be invisible though. I think it's a bit weird if the dead person is just standing off to the side."

"That's a good point."

And so the week passed and then the next, and before she knew it, the day of the memorial service and candlelight vigil was here.

It was all so beautiful.

His headstone was clean, polished, but not too showy. Engraved in the stone were the markings:

Danny Phantom

Protector of Amity Park

Hundreds of people showed up, all dressed in black, most holding small candles or flowers. But instead of a sea of crying faces, people were happy. They were excited.

Because this wasn't a goodbye to the dead, this was a celebration of the ghost he had become.

Valerie appeared as the Red Huntress and stood up front. She had donned a black peacoat over her suit, but even with it, the red made her stick out like a sore thumb.

Not that she could complain. This day was about Phantom, not her.

"Over the past few years," she began. "I've gotten to know Phantom. Not just as a ghost, not just as a colleague or ally, but as my friend. He's a kind soul, and away from the ghost fights, he's the most gentle spirit I've ever encountered. Phantom is a kid who lost his life too young but had enough fighting spirit left in him to come back and continue making the world a better place. I don't know who he was when he was alive, but all I can say is that I have no doubt he was just as kind and selfless back then as he is now.

"Phantom, if you're out there, I want you to know that I do care about you. Very much so. I know we got off on the wrong foot, and I know we've long since moved passed this, but I will forever be grateful for the empathy that you showed me when I was at my lowest. It's only thanks to you that I've been able to grow into who I am today.

"To Phantom!"

Valerie went back down to the side and listened to the other speeches from people who had close encounters with Phantom or people higher in Amity's city government.

She was surprised when Mr. Lancer stepped up to speak. He told a story that Valerie herself didn't even know about, of Mr. Lancer showing up to his classroom late after school one day, only to find Phantom himself dozing at a desk.

"When I asked him what he was doing in my classroom, he panicked, but then I invited him to stay. Despite him appearing in my class every other week for a ghost attack, it occurred to me that I'd never had a conversation with young Phantom before then. And what a lovely conversation it was. Hidden underneath that brave face was a joyful teenager, one who had dreams and ambitions of his own, and who saw life and death differently than I did. He was someone who, despite having died young, still had passions and hobbies of his own.

"We've spoken several times since then. As I've discovered, young Phantom seems to have a certain affinity for coffee. For a young teen such as himself, he is intelligent beyond his years, especially concerning philosophical debates about what it means to be alive, to be human. Phantom may not be human anymore in the technical sense, but the humanity he's displayed to our city and those in our community stretches far beyond what most have done. I have been honored to get to know him, and I thank him for his service to the betterment of our community."

The service ended, flowers were piled onto his grave until the plot of land was full, and people began leaving flowers on other graves as well. Soon, the cemetery was filled with roses and other miscellaneous flowers.

Valerie thought it was beautiful.

She didn't see Phantom at all. True to his word, he stayed invisible throughout the service. But then later when she was out for patrol, maybe it was instinct that caused her to fly by the cemetery.

She was thankful she did because beyond the gates was a glowing, black and white figure. Standing in front of a headstone and a mountain of flowers.

She touched down behind him, not wanting to disturb him while he was clearly lost in thought. Although she tried to make her footsteps as silent as possible as she approached, ghost instincts were better than that.

"Thanks for the speech, Red," Phantom said. A smile touched his lips. "You didn't have to do all that."

"Please, like I wouldn't say anything, you little stalker."

He chuckled, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "Of course."

She stood next to him, noting how small he was. In the air, it was less noticeable. But on the ground, the disparity was more apparent than ever.

Once upon a time, they had been the same height. Back when they were both fourteen, and she just figuring out how her equipment worked. But now she'd grown, and he hadn't, forever stuck in a form that died just before he hit his teenage growth spurt.

"Hey…" Phantom said in a tone that either meant he was about to suggest something really dumb, really dangerous, or both. "Can I show you something?"

"Sure?"

"Okay."

Without another word, he took off.

Valerie was quick to follow, and together the duo flew to the edge of the city where fields and trees met tall buildings. Red flags raised in her mind, and more than once she meant to ask Phantom where they were going, but one look at his face told her better.

She trusted him. Whatever it was, it would make sense when they arrived.

And finally, sometime later, they did arrive. In the middle of nowhere, in a field with tall grass and weeds that grew to heights beyond their own.

"So…" Phantom took a deep breath, shaking out his hands. "Um, this is really weird."

"So long as you're not taking me out all this way to kill me, I don't mind," Valerie quipped.

Her attempt to lessen the tension in the air seemed to do the trick, and Phantom smiled, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, definitely not going to ax murder you."

Valerie gave him the universal 'go on?' gesture.

"Uh, so, you see…" He crouched down and activated his intangibility, sticking his hand into the ground. "This is where my body is."

Suddenly, her veins filled with ice. "Huh?"

He pulled, and Valerie watched with a mix of horror and fascination as a black trash bag followed his arms out of the ground. It crinkled, and with disgust, she recognized one of the sounds as what could only have been bones clanking in the bag.

She felt lightheaded. "Your body?"

"Yeah, I sort of freaked out when I first died," he gave a low chuckle, dropping his intangibility. "I think I was afraid my parents were going to be mad? I don't know. I dumped myself in this field."

"Jesus Christ." Valerie stared wide-eyed as the bag lay on the ground unmoving.

"I know it's really weird. I'm sorry, I just feel like this is the right time."

"The right time?" Her voice was breathless. "For what?"

"To put myself in the cemetery, of course."

"Oh."

"Yeah, uh…" Phantom stood, shuffling awkwardly. "Sorry, you don't have to do anything. I just am gonna phase myself into the ground."

"Okay."

Valerie's eyes did not leave the bag as they flew back. They tracked every crinkle, every jolt, every speck of dirt on the plastic, every curve and spike in the bag where she knew, just a millimeter under it, a dead body was.

She felt sick. Nausea threatened to crawl up her throat, and her hands felt numb. She moved with no purpose, just following Phantom like a puppet back to the cemetery where true to his word, he simply phased that vile bag into the ground.

And then he thanked her for being there for him and left.

Leaving Valerie standing there. Alone.

In front of his headstone, his black and white flowers, his gravesite where his decayed body was resting just a few feet below the surface.

Valerie wasn't typically one for teenage drinking, not with the threat of ghosts forcing her to be constantly on-call, but her father was out tonight and she had never needed a glass of something alcoholic more than this.

Her grandfather's old clock ticked away on their wall. It was an hour off, they had forgotten to set it after daylight savings last week, but Valerie didn't care.

Phantom's body. She saw Phantom's body.

The one that was still missing. That his parents didn't even know existed. That his sister and friend were supposedly still out there looking for. The one that people thought was still alive and just couldn't find his way home again.

The missing child.

The open case.

And she knew where it was.

She could call this into the police. She should call it in. This was someone's son, someone's brother. This was some kid who just disappeared one day. This was a hole in people's hearts.

This was a dead, decayed body in a trash bag.

But it was Phantom. Her friend. Someone who had his own reasons for never reporting where his body was, someone who had kept it hidden for at least three years, likely more. Someone who could have—at any point—confessed to the entire truth. Who could have given closure to his loved ones.

Who chose not to for his own reasons.

And who was Valerie to decide this for him? To out his ghost persona to his family? Hell, to the entire world?

But this was a dead kid.

Valerie clutched her drink in one hand, and her phone in the other.

She should report this to the police.

Her vision blurred, and she felt tears spill onto her cheeks. She screwed her mouth close, choking back cries of frustration and pain and sadness.

She was Phantom's friend. If she called, then she would be throwing that friendship away. He would never forgive her. She knew him well enough to understand this with one hundred percent certainty.

She cherished their friendship too much to throw it all away.

The clock ticked louder on the wall, echoing around the silent house.

You should report this.

gilbirda's prompt: It would've been nice if Danny had gotten the beautiful grave and memorial that he deserved. Instead, no one even found his body. (from danphanwritingprompts)

murphy-kitt's prompt: Valerie bonds with Phantom over his past life. Not an identity reveal.

Thanks for reading!