Bonjour, mes chers! Here's chapter five and chapter six will be coming up in the next hour or so!
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With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
"I still can't believe Vlad bought this place out." It wasn't that Danny hated Axion Labs or anything, but after dealing with the ghost of a dead puppy they put down, it was kind of hard to bring himself to like them any. "I mean, what is he up to?"
"You know, I'd really like to have a day where you didn't become your parents and get paranoid about ghosts and their plans. You realize you sound like your dad, right?" Sam was looking utterly unapologetic at the lies that were coming out of her mouth. "All your missing is the orange jumpsuit."
"Didn't he give you one as a Christmas present, this year?" Traitors. Danny's best friends and closest confidants were traitors. "You should wear it for Halloween next year. You can go as a ghost hunter."
"Isn't the point of Halloween to go as something I'm not?" Danny might not be a ghost hunter like his parents or the Guys-in-White or anything, but, come on. He protected the town and caught ghosts for not even a living. He was a ghost hunter. "Seriously, though. You guys know Vlad is probably using this place to run some secret experiments on ghosts or something like that."
It wouldn't surprise him if the man was. Vlad was rich and powerful and all that shit, but he was also an insane fruit loop who seemed to think he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it. Now, suddenly, they were visiting Axion Labs on a school field trip? Suddenly it was Danny's class that was there? That reeked of suspicion. "I just have a bad feeling about this."
"A Fenton with a bad feeling? Should I be worrying about any ghost attacks?" Startling at the words more than anything else, Danny looked over to see Valerie's dad.
"Oh, hey, look, I think one of our classmates wants to ask us something." Sam, the heartless traitor, grabbed Tucker by the hand and left Danny to what was probably going to be the most awkward and threatening talk by an adult he'd ever had as a human.
"Ha- Ha! Hey there, Mr. Gray!" Danny swallowed and tried to calm himself down. He had faced far worse things than a protective dad, after all, right? "What, uh, what can I do for you? Sir?"
"I've noticed that you and my daughter have been spending more time together, lately." Oh, god, please, no. "I just wanted to make sure I don't have to worry about any funny business."
"Oh, uh, no- No. We're just- We're still just friends, and stuff, and-" Danny snapped his mouth shut as the man raised a hand.
"I meant ghost wise." Oh, man, that was even worse. "Valerie's had a hard time with the ghosts that attack Amity Park, especially when they cost me my job at one point in my life. I don't want any of that Fenton ghost business to interfere with her life."
"Trust me, sir, we're totally on the same page about ghost business and it not affecting Valerie." The last thing Danny wanted was to deal with the Red Huntress again. Like, okay, he could understand why Valerie had started the whole ghost hunting thing, but things were finally settling down! In fact, Danny was almost certain that her dad had taken away her suit, which meant way less worry for him.
Plus, Danny was getting better control of his powers, the ghosts were becoming less of a danger, and Danny knew that he could finally keep his friends and family safe without having to worry about them getting hurt by all of this. Things were good, so he wasn't too worried about Valerie running off to pick a fight where there wasn't one.
"I promise you, sir, I'll be keeping the ghost stuff away from her as far as I possibly can." Valerie's father seemed to study him and look him up and down for a moment before patting his shoulder.
"You're a good kid, Danny. I hope I see more of you around." Huh. That sounded like he just got roundabout approval to date Valerie. Did he just get roundabout approval to date Valerie? It sounded like her father just gave him approval to date her. That- Okay. Cool. That was cool.
"Right, er, yes- Yes, sir!" The man walked away to probably go continue doing his work, Danny staring after him for a moment before shaking his head and alright, that had certainly been something. Danny couldn't help but mutter a little 'weird' under his breath as he looked around to see where the rest of the class had gotten off to.
It was actually kind of cool to explore Axion Labs and see all the science and stuff they were up to, especially considering they were working on space exploration lately, but Danny couldn't even enjoy himself. Who knew what Vlad was using this research for.
"Hey, Danny! They got this cool jetpack rocket thing over here!" Looking around quickly, and spotting where Tucker was waiting, Danny's eyes widened at just what he was talking about and that was so cool.
Danny managed to enjoy himself for almost an hour as they got into the science behind their space research, but of course this was Danny and his life could never be enjoyed for very long before his worries came speeding back at full force.
They were just starting to head to another section of the building, which was shaping up to be just as sleek and shiny as the rest of it, when Danny felt Sam grab his wrist and pull off into a corner between two large databanks. "Are we about to have some movie moment where you tell me someone is following us?" Even as he joked, Danny was already scanning around them. He hadn't noticed anything strange, and there didn't seem to be anyone paying them attention. Mostly it was tired security guards and even more exhausted scientists.
"What? No. Your life isn't a movie, Danny." Hey, now. "If anything, it's a Saturday morning cartoon with a poorly contrived plot and even poorer writing." Hey. "No, look, you just- You need to be careful around Valerie."
"C'mon, Sammy, not this again." Danny groaned as he scrubbed his hands down his face, shaking his head. "Sammy, I thought we got over the whole jealous thing- Ow." Clutching at his right arm where he was very solidly punched, Danny pouted at a completely unapologetic Sam.
"You deserved that and you know it." Yeah, he totally did. "You know I'm not jealous. Unless you want to have that very uncomfortable talk about feelings and emotions, again?"
"Ugh, no thanks." Having one 'We're just friends, so I guess we can finally stop crushing on each other and please let's not make this awkward!' talk was enough for one lifetime and all the ones after that. God. That had been such a long conversation and Danny was beyond grateful that both he and Sam had made a pact to never mention the tears shed by both of them that night. "Sorry. Still, I mean, come on. She's not that bad."
"That's not what I'm worried about." Sam crossed her arms and rubbed at the skin where goosebumps were rising, Danny frowning. It wasn't that cold in here. "She just… She really hates ghosts, Danny. She really, really hates ghosts. If she ever found out about you-"
"Which she won't." Danny knew the price of his secrets and they were ones he wouldn't be telling anyone. Enough people knew who he was, and he knew that if the ghosts knew just how big of a wreck they could make his life, then they would tell the whole town with no hesitation. He was honestly surprised Spectra or Walker hadn't tried that, yet. "It'll be fine, Sammy."
"Will it?" Oh, jeez. Danny hadn't thought Sam would get so worried about all of this. Glancing around to make sure no one had noticed they were missing, Danny stepped forward to pull Sam into a tight hug. "I don't want anything to happen to you. It takes work to find new friends, you know."
"And we all know how much you hate putting effort in being social." Danny laughed at the swat to his side even as Sam hugged him back. "I get it, Sammy. Just… trust me, okay?"
"You sure? You tend to get a bit stupid around the people you like." Yeah, well, that was true, but there were limits when it came to being a little bit stupid. "It looks like you're really starting to like her, Danny."
"It'll be fine." The ghosts weren't that much of a threat, Danny was getting more control over his powers, and Valerie didn't seem to hate ghosts as much as she used to. It wasn't perfect, but things would be okay.
::
He was an idiot. Danny was an idiot. Trust me, he had said. It'll be okay, he had said. He had told Sam, and then eventually Tucker, that things were fine, that he and Valerie were okay, and this was fine. It had been going great, and then Danny had forgotten that he was the half-ghost little freak that wasn't allowed to have life be good to him.
It hadn't even been a week before everything had gone to shit. Now Danny could only stare at his hands as he panted harshly through the stale air of his bedroom and tried to figure out where it had all gone so wrong. It had been going so well in the beginning.
He and Valerie had been getting closer and spending more time together and Danny had started to believe that something was really there for them. He had overheard her that one day and Valerie had been willing to give up ghost hunting for him, and then fucking Technus had come in and ruined everything-
No… No, Technus hadn't ruined things. He had just been the one to show Danny how wrong he was about all of it. It was one of the tougher fights he had been in lately, and they had all ended up fighting in space. He didn't even have a chance to enjoy it because he had been trying to destroy that stupid satellite that could have ruined so much,and he ended up fighting both of them and he had almost-
He had hurt her. He had hurt her. He hadn't even thought about it, before, but just how much power did he have? Was he supposed to be this powerful? None of the other ghosts were ever really a huge threat to him anymore, so just how much of a threat was he?
Ha, well, he already knew the answer to that one, didn't he? He had seen how much of a threat he could become. Just because he was no longer going to become destroy-the-world evil didn't mean he still wouldn't have the power Dan did. Fuck, he had power now that Dan didn't have until years later. He had defeated Dan when no one else in the world could. That… What did that mean for him?
"Danny?" Quiet knocking on the door startled him out of his thoughts, Danny swallowing as he heard Jazz's soft voice. "You in there? Sam and Tucker texted me. They thought that maybe you would want to talk?"
Unable to even think of anything he could say, Danny instead wrapped his arms around himself. For as much as he loved his sister, she couldn't help with something like this. God, and the only 'ghost therapist' was fucking Spectra. No doubt she'd get a kick out of all of this when they next met.
The freak who couldn't control his powers. The little weird child who didn't know where he belonged. Collapsing back onto his bed, Danny stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars that barely glowed anymore, the edges becoming blurred and undefined in the darkness of his room as the sun really began to set.
"Stupid." He finally got up into space and he didn't even get to enjoy it. There was a peaceful quiet in his room that lasted for a wonderful thirty seconds.
"Danny? Are you even in there?" Throwing his hands over his face, Danny stared at the backs of his eyelids for what felt like an eternity before he was triggering his transformation into his ghost half. "Danny! I know I just heard you change! I can see the light coming out from under your door, young man!"
Just as the door began to open, Danny triggered his intangibility, falling through the floors and ceilings until he was in the basement. The lights were off since his parents weren't there at the moment, but that just meant it was lit up only by the active ghost portal which… was sort of amazing.
Setting his fingertips against the energy, Danny frowned as he almost felt like he was being pulled towards the portal. "I'm not that much of a ghost." Great. He was talking to thin air. Again. "Might be more of one than I thought, though."
Pressing both palms up against whatever the Ghost Zone was really made of, Danny breathed out slowly as he glanced upstairs at the sound of Jazz's heavy footfalls. He just… He'd talk to her later, but right now he needed someone who wouldn't have an opinion about all of this.
"Doors are always open, huh?" It hadn't been too long since he had last been there, but… Maybe Ghostwriter wouldn't mind a friendly chat?
It was better than thinking about how he'd always grow up to be Dan, in some way. He didn't want to think about that.
No. Right now a chat with a ghost who didn't hate him sounded perfect.