Chapter 5: I'm Still Here, But Not Completely
Several hours later found Danny floating above Sam and Tucker as they zipped through Amity Park on their scooters. The patrol had been rather quiet so far, with few ghostly disturbances. The overall quiet, combined with the cathartic effect of flying and the presence of his friends, had settled Danny's emotional level back to normal.
Just as he considered diving down towards his friends to startle them, Danny felt his phone buzz in a pocket of his jumpsuit. Pulling it out, he saw that Jazz had texted him. She must've returned home and heard about the events of earlier that day.
He stopped, mid-air, to read the message Jazz had send him. From the corners of his eyes he saw that Sam and Tucker had stopped as well. They had probably seen him, and had decided to wait for him to explain.
The text, a rare single text considering that it was send by Jazz, was simple and to the point. 'mom and dad think that a ghost killed danny and replaced him, wtf?'
Danny couldn't stop the snort that came through, and barely stifled the bitter laughter that followed it. God, what a mess. How did he always get himself into trouble like this, without even trying? The universe must really hate him.
He briefly considered the possibility that there was a ghost controlling this sort of stuff out there, similar to Clockwork, but dismissed the thought almost as soon as it came up. If there was a ghost of fate, then it most likely is Clockwork.
He shook his head to clear the thoughts, deciding that he should probably just go and talk with Jazz in person instead of trying to explain the situation via the phone. He sunk lower to the ground so he could talk with Sam and Tucker more easily, white boots soundlessly hitting the asphalt of the street.
"Apparently Jazz just got home, and has been informed by my parents that a ghost killed and replaced me. So I think I'm gonna fly over real quick so we can talk this entire thing through, preferably before she gets all overprotective older sister on me."
"Dude, I'm pretty sure it's already too late for that."
Elbowing Tucker in the ribs, Sam added. "But you should go anyway. We'll finish up patrol for you."
Danny nodded. "Alright, thanks. I'll meet you back at Tucker's place, okay?"
The other two acknowledged him before turning around and continuing down the street. Danny quickly texted Jazz ('omw') before launching himself back into the air, shooting off towards FentonWorks.
Not much later, Danny hung (invisibly) outside of Jazz' window. Hesitantly, he knocked. Jazz looked up from whatever she was working on, glanced in his general direction, and then nodded.
Permission to enter thus granted, Danny quickly phased through the window, turning himself visible again once he was inside. He opened his mouth to explain, well, everything, but Jazz was faster.
"So, what on Earth is this about?" she snapped at him.
He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "Well! When the accident happened and I became half-ghost, I may or may not have left behind my old, fully-human body. And since we were kind of, you know, panicking, we decided to bury it in the forest so no one would ever find out what happened."
Jazz stared at him, an incredulous expression on her face. Apparently he had stunned her to the point of speechlessness. He didn't even know it was possible to turn Jazz speechless. Somehow it didn't quite feel like the achievement it should have been.
Apparently Jazz had finally found her voice again, since she chided him. "Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were past lying to each other, Danny."
He hunched up, blushing in embarrassment. "We are! I just… I just kind of forgot?" he muttered the last few words, guilt lacing his voice.
"Oh my God, please tell me you're joking." Her tone was a rather odd combination of appalled and bewildered.
Danny remained quiet. He considered complaining that he wouldn't joke about a situation this serious, but they both knew that he always cracked jokes in situations where he shouldn't. It was like, his number one coping mechanism. The less suitable the situation, the more he joked.
Jazz stared him in the eye, then sighed. Apparently she had determined that despite his normal behavior, he was not, in fact, joking.
"Danny, how on Earth did you forget about the fact that you buried your own corpse in the woods?"
He shrugged, somewhat uncertainly. "Look, the Accident was a really confusing time, and then I had to learn to control my ghost powers, and then ghosts started attacking and we just kind of forgot, okay? Now will you please help me explain this to mom and dad so they'll stop shooting at me?"
Jazz looked at him with an expression he couldn't read, but she put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. She didn't even flinch at how cold his ghost form was.
"Of course, little brother. We'll figure this out, okay?"
He hummed, wrapping his own arms around Jazz. They remained like that for some time, and Danny felt the last of his dread and panic melt away. Jazz was here, Jazz would help him. Everything was going to be okay.
The assurances no longer felt hollow, like they had before.
Finally releasing him, Jazz put her hands on her hips, face settling on a determined expression. "So, first things first. How much are you going to tell them?"
"Uh, everything, I guess." He shrugged, biting the inside of his cheek. "Well, except for the Phantom part, they don't need more encouragement to shoot at me."
"You're not going to tell them about Phantom? Are you sure?" She set a scrutinizing gaze on him, and he pointedly ignored her by turning away.
"Jazz…" he sighed, deflating. He shook his head, then turned back to look at her again. "If this goes well I'll tell them, okay?"
She nodded, before cutting back to the original subject. "Alright, so you're going to tell them that you got into an accident with the Portal, and that you instantly became a ghost, and that you freaked out and decided to bury your body and pretend nothing happened. Does that sound about right?"
"Yeah, I guess so. You think that that'll be enough?"
She offered him a smile, and he felt himself calm down even further. "Of course it will be enough. The only reason they freaked out is because they care about you."
Jazz looked him over for a moment longer before her eyes softened again. "Do you have somewhere to stay for tonight?"
"Uh, yeah, Sam and I are sleeping over at Tucker's place." Knowing what she was about to ask, he elaborated. "I've had dinner at his place too. Don't worry Jazz, you're not the only one making sure that I take care of myself."
She huffed and rolled her eyes, but ignored the jab. "Good, good. Come by tomorrow after breakfast and we'll talk this through with mom and dad."
He groaned, grimacing. He knew that he had to talk with his parents. That was the whole point of talking with Jazz. That didn't make the thought of coming over and facing his parents any more appealing.
Seeing his hesitation, Jazz spoke again, with a soothing but somewhat stern tone. "Danny, don't worry about it. Everything will be fine, I promise. Now go and get some sleep, because you need it."
He eyed her for a moment. Sighing, he rubbed in his eyes with his fingers. "Yeah, alright. Thanks, Jazz."
"That's what I'm here for, little brother. Now go, shoo." She made some shooing motions with her hands as she said it. Danny grinned at her before tugging on his invisibility, disappearing from sight.
Jazz watched him leave, before shaking her head, a fond smile on her face.
The next day, not long after when he would normally have eaten breakfast with his family, Danny found himself hesitating on the steps of his house.
Had this been an ordinary Saturday, he would have been in the kitchen now, breakfast just finished but everyone still lingering around. But, unfortunately, it wasn't a regular Saturday. Hell, Danny didn't know if he would ever have a regular Saturday with his family again.
But no matter how much he wanted to leave, he couldn't. No matter how badly he wanted to put off this confrontation, Jazz was waiting for him. And no matter how much bad everything got, he knew Jazz would come through for him.
He clung onto that thought, took a deep, fortifying breath, and entered the house.
Quiet chattering came from the kitchen, and Danny made his way over. He watched them for a moment from the doorway. They were all sitting at the table, the remnants of breakfast put away. It was a rare occasion, since there weren't even any inventions of his parents' around.
He didn't get long to observe before his dad spotted him, however. The man grinned widely at him, and Danny felt his hopes lift. Maybe his parents had already gotten over him being a ghost?
"Danny-boy!" Jack boomed, but suddenly his face soured, and Danny's hopes were crushed again. Apparently his ever-brilliant dad just forgot about their last interaction. His mother's face also fell, and Danny almost winced at their expressions.
Jazz, however, shot him a warm smile, and grabbed their parents before they could pull out any of their weapons. That didn't stop them from attacking with their words, however.
"What are you doing here, ghost?" Maddie hissed. "Haven't you caused us enough pain yet?"
This time Danny actually winced, and Jazz glared at their mother.
"Mom!" she chastised. "I asked Danny to come over, not that it should have been necessary, since he lives here."
"Jazz, honey," their mother tried to soothe her. "That's not your brother. That's some foul ghost playing a sick game of pretend."
"No, you listen to me!" Jazz continued to glare, so angry it was almost tangible. "Danny has been a ghost for two years, but he never told you. And this is exactly why! And despite knowing that this is how you would react, he still came over to tell you what happened! And you won't even let him!"
It remained silent for a few infinitely long minutes. Both of their parents were visibly working through this new information, processing it- and everything it meant.
"Jazz, you knew? How- How long have you known?" Danny had never heard his dad so quiet, and he hated it. He hated everything about this conversation. He could barely stop himself from turning invisible, his emotions churning and stormy. He forced himself to stay focused on the conversation, however.
"I've known pretty much from the start, but he told me about a year ago. And yes, I know the entire story." Jazz looked over at Danny, clearly hoping that he would take over to tell the story.
But Danny could barely pay attention to the conversation, let alone play an actual part in said conversation. Seeing this, Jazz picked up the slack again.
"Do you remember when he had an accident in the lab, in freshman year?"
Their parents glanced at each other, sharing a brief but silent conversation before relaxing a little. "Was that it? Was it- Was it one of our inventions that- that killed our son?"
Danny could hear how close his mom was to tears, and he sighed, inadvertently drawing the attention back to himself. He uncertainly rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, kinda. It was the Portal. I uh, may or may not have turned it on while I was inside." He shrugged at them, smiling sheepishly. "You put the 'on' button on the inside, that's why it didn't work."
"Sufferin' spooks," Jack swore quietly, eyes locked on Danny.
"But if it was the Portal, then how did your," her breath caught for a second, "your body end up in the woods?"
"I- We panicked, okay?" He wrung his hands uncertainly as he spoke. "We didn't know what to do and we didn't know what happened and we were all really freaked out so we decided to just bury my body in the woods and pretend it never happened."
"Oh sweetie," Maddie mumbled, standing up from her chair and walking over to Danny. She touched his face, gently, before pulling him against herself, hugging him. "Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."
Danny stiffened momentarily, before the events sunk in and he wrapped his arms around his mom. "It's- It's okay. It's not your fault." Before he could say more, however, a second pair of arms wrapped around the two of them.
"Oh Danny-boy," his father muttered, and Danny was shocked to see tears forming in his dad's eyes. "I- We-" The man murmured uncertainly, tripping over his own words.
"No, no, don't blame yourselves." Danny pulled himself partially out of the hug so he could look his parents in the eyes. "I don't blame you, okay? Not for anything. None of it is your fault. Not the accident, not the- the events yesterday. None of it. Okay?"
His parents nodded at him, uncertainly, and he nodded back. Finally they broke apart again, and as they smiled at him, Danny found that he couldn't keep the truth to himself any longer.
"Actually," he started, before hesitating. He anxiously licked his lips, and glanced over to see Jazz nodding her approval. Thus steeling his resolve, he cleared his throat and started again. "Actually, there's something else that I need to tell you. Uh, promise you won't freak out?"
"Oh sweetie, of course. You can tell us anything." His mom laid her hand on his shoulder, her smile a little more uncertain but still kind.
He nodded, smiling back, but carefully shook off her hand and stepped away. Then he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, focusing on the feeling of ectoplasm coursing throughout him. He braced himself, then called on his ghostly core, letting its power wash over him. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes again, looking away from his parents.
"I'm, uh. I'm Danny Phantom too. This," he made a vague hand motion towards himself, "is what I actually look like as a ghost."
Suddenly he was drowning in warmth again. His father hugged him, ruffling a hand through his hair. "Look at my son the ghost hunter! I knew you would follow my footsteps!"
Danny grinned at his dad. "Yeah, I guess I had some good role models." Seeing his dads uncertain expression, he winked theatrically.
"Well, I still think that Phantom has done some… questionable things," Maddie trailed off, apprehensively. "But… knowing you as I do, I'm guessing that you can explain all of that?"
"He can, trust me." Jazz cut in, not wanting to ruin to moment for Danny by having him recall those events. "He has told me everything, about all of that and more."
Maddie nodded, and once more smiled warmly at her daughter, and then at her son as well. "Then I must say that I'm proud of my ghost-hunting son as well. My own little superhero, huh?"
She re-joined the hug as well, and Jack grabbed Jazz and pulled her in as well. Danny melted away in the familial love, feeling far happier than he had in a long time.
But he knew that the same didn't go for his parents. They thought that they had killed him, for fuck's sake! He said he didn't blame them, and he didn't, but it wasn't enough. The guilt would be eating them alive. That was the main reason why he hadn't told them before. After the Reality Gauntlet thing, he knew that they would accept him. It was their reaction to themselves he was most afraid of. As long as they thought that they had killed him, they would feel guilty about it.
So what if they knew that they hadn't killed him? After all, he wasn't actually dead, was he? So maybe- maybe if he told them, they would be happy too?
And surely if they accepted him as a full ghost, they would accept him as a half-ghost too? It was weird, yes, but they were his parents. They had said it themselves, in that alternate reality. It didn't matter if he was a ghost, or a human, or a little of both.
He took in the moment a little longer, letting the warmth soak into him. Then he phased through the arms holding him in place, grimacing at the startled expressions of his family. He released his hold on his ghost form, allowing the warmth of his human body to roll over him again. It was little compared to the familial warmth he had just given up, but it was better than nothing.
"I-" He hesitated, cleared his throat again. "There's something more. Something else I need to mention as well."
Jazz quirked a questioning eyebrow at him, before she realized what he was going for. She also untangled herself from the group hug, walked over to Danny, and wrapped a supportive arm around his shoulders. He looked at her, uncertainly, but she nodded her approval.
"I'm not- I'm only half ghost."
Silence lingered for a few, uncomfortable seconds. The expressions on the faces of his parents had shifted, an array of emotions that he couldn't decipher playing on their faces.
He bit his lip, glancing at Jazz for strength. Then he took another deep breath, looking his parents in the eyes.
"I'm not actually dead. I'm only half ghost. I, uh. I don't know the exact science behind it and stuff. But that's why I can switch."
"Sweetie," his mom said, softly. "There are all kinds of ghosts who can take on a more human appearance. You don't have to lie, to yourself or to us, okay?"
"But it's- it's different! The ghosts know it too! They call me a halfa, a human-ghost hybrid." He groaned, mussing up his hair with his hands. He had to convince them, somehow. But how?
Suddenly an idea struck him, and he strode towards his parents. He pulled off his moms glove, and placed her bare fingers against his neck.
"Danny, what-"
"Feel it. Feel my heartbeat. Ghosts can't replicate that, can they?"
She opened her mouth, about to protest, but suddenly stilled. Her eyes grew wide. She glanced at Jack, uncertainly, and then back at Danny.
"How?"
He shrugged, offering a sheepish smile. "Like I said, I don't really know how it works. Running theory is that it has something to do with the supercharged ectoplasm in the Portal."
Frowning, Jack inserted himself into the conversation. "So why not tell us from the start? Why make us think you were a ghost?"
Danny shrugged again. "It's… hard to explain. Mostly, I don't tell anyone because it's kind of hard to believe?" He grimaced. "And right after the accident, I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't get my powers to work right so I couldn't prove that I was telling the truth."
His mom finally pulled her fingers away from Danny's neck, slowly putting the glove back on. She frowned as well. "But then what about the body?"
"Well, I'm not a scientist, obviously. And the only other halfa I know of… Well, I'm not really on speaking terms with him, so I couldn't ask him either." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But what I- What we think happened is that my DNA was altered by the ectoplasm. But you can't just infuse a body with ectoplasm, so a new one had to be formed. Or something like that."
"Well, son, how about this," Jack said, pulling out a chair and gesturing for Danny to sit down. "Why don't you tell us exactly what happened, and then we'll figure all of this out together. As a family."
Danny nodded, smiling, and sat down.
"Alright, so it all started two years ago, in August..."
AN: Title is from "Middle Ground" by The Dear Hunter. Also I'm so completely out of it that I almost forgot that today is Wednesday, whoops.
Also look! A double-whammy reveal, one for Jack and Maddie and one for the audience! In Unearthed I kind of accidentally avoided mentioning Danny being half-ghost for most of the story, and looking back, I thought that that was an interesting hook. So for Disinterred I alluded to it but never outright stated it - until this chapter.
So yeah, that plays into why the Trio aren't traumatized to heck. Besides the fact that it's been 2.5 years since the Accident, it's easier to think of him as just "Danny but with ghost powers" instead of "Danny who died but not really". And maybe that's stupid and not realistic but hey, I never said I understood how emotions work.
Next week: Chapter 6 - Offer Me That Deathless Death