Slowly pushing his feet against the sand to move the swing he was seated in, Buster stared out into the sky lost in his thoughts. He did not realized that he was no longer alone until a voice from the swing beside him interrupted the silence, "You shouldn't be making a habit of this. It's a school night isn't it?" Phantom said as he swung higher than Buster, a wide smile on his face.
"I can't sleep; nightmares," Buster said shrugging his shoulders to play it off, the nightmare had been pretty bad. He probably wouldn't be getting back to sleep tonight at all.
Phantom slowed down his swinging and turned his head to look at him "oh," he said in his echoed voice but made no further comments.
"And I was hoping you'd show up again," Buster said turning his head to meet Phantom's eerie eyes that still creeped him out a bit.
Phantom grinned again, "Well here I am," he said cheerily.
Smiling at the ghost, "yeah" he whispered. Buster thought of how weird it was that he was sitting in the middle of a park past midnight waiting for a supernatural being. He had always been weird, but even he would have never expected this.
"So, how was your day?" Phantom asked oblivious to Buster's internal musings. Buster watched as his glowing form moved back and forth, unnaturally fast, carefree.
"It was pretty good actually, I made some new friends." He replied, thinking of the three older kids. Well at least he hoped they were his friends. They did say they would see him later, well Sam and Tucker did. Danny didn't really have time for a proper goodbye.
"That's great to hear!" Phantom enthusiastically said, Buster picked up his swinging to try and match speeds with the ghost.
"You said you know my cousin right?" He asked.
"Yeah" Phantom absentmindedly responded, Buster had the feeling he knew that Buster was trying to match his speed and was going faster.
"Well do you know Danny and his friends?" He asked, at that the ghost slowed down allowing Buster to finally gain the upper hand.
He turned to Buster, "Danny Fenton?" he asked.
"Yeah, him" Buster said, smiling victoriously. He knew the victory would be short lived but he could bask in the glory for a few moments longer.
"Yup, I know him. He's the son of Amity's greatest ghost hunters. He's a great guy, very fun to be around." Danny said after a small pause, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Yeah, he's really nice." Buster said, "kind of strange though," He added as an afterthought.
"Strange?" Phantom asked curiously, the amusement not leaving his tone.
Buster guessed that Phantom knew exactly what Buster meant but replied anyway, "it's probably nothing, they just had some jokes that I didn't understand. He left kind of abruptly."
"Oh, that's normal for him. He's known for his disappearing acts. Nothing to worry about really," Phantom offhandedly commented. He smirked at Buster before effortlessly surpassing his speed again. He chuckled at Phantom's competitiveness and opted on slowing down, he was getting tired. He wiped the sweat of his brow and watched as an airplane flew across the sky.
Just then Phantom jumped of his seat, "I'll be right back," he yelled and flew of in the direction of the plane. Buster watched as Phantom's figure became smaller and smaller, suddenly there was a blast of green light similar to what he saw that night before school started. He realized that the 'airplane' was probably another ghost that Phantom had flew off to fight.
It wasn't long before the ghost boy returned carrying something in his left hand, he set it down carefully in the sand then phased through the bottom of the swing seat and sat down. He smiled and said, "I'm back," but didn't bother swinging anymore.
"What's that?" Buster pointed down at the object in the sand.
Phantom followed his finger with his gaze and said, "oh this, it's a Thermos."
Confused, "Ghosts can eat?" Buster asked.
Phantom laughed, "Well this isn't for carrying soup, it's a ghost fighting device. It captures ghosts so I could take them back to the ghost zone"
"The ghost zone?" Buster asked, growing very curious.
Phantom nodded, "the dimension or plane of reality where ghosts live," he explained.
Buster hummed and a thoughtful look came across his face, "why don't you live there?" he inquired.
Phantom looked at him in the eye, raised his left eyebrow then rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm different" he finally said.
Buster noted that he didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, but he couldn't help question him further. "Is that why you fight the ghosts and help the humans?"
"I guess so" Phantom said, nodding slowly.
"So are you the only good ghost?" He asked, the question elicited an unreadable expression from the ghost under scrutiny. It was mixture between amusement, gratefulness and sadness.
"No, there are plenty of good ghosts, they just don't bother leaving the ghost zone. It's the 'bad' ones that want to come here and take advantage of the humans." He said a matter-of-factly. Buster thought about his words, they made sense. Ghosts sounded similar to humans, just because you only see the bad things people do on the news doesn't mean all humans are bad. But, there are bad people out there as well as bad ghosts that are capable of terrible things. A shiver ran down his spine, there was something he wanted to know.
"Do you think they would kidnap a human and take them into the ghost zone forever?" He asked, his voice cracking. Phantom shot him a concerned look and Buster looked away, not wanting him to see the wetness forming in his eyes.
After brief hesitation, he replied "uh, maybe. I've seen it happen but I got them out before anything bad happened to them."
Wiping at his moist eyes, he bit his lip and whispered, "Oh."
Phantom floated out of his seat to position himself in front of the obviously distraught boy. He put his hands on each shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?"
Refusing to meet the ghost's eyes, he mumbled out a soft, "nothing."
Phantom didn't move despite the denial, Buster wished he had never asked. "Are you sure? You could tell me anything, you know. I'm not going to betray it to anyone," he said softly, in a caring tone.
Buster knew that he could, that maybe he should…but he wasn't ready.
Politely removing Phantoms hands from there spot on his shoulders, "thank you, but I'm fine."
Phantom didn't look convinced but he floated a little backwards to give him some space. Buster felt guilty for ruining their fun so he asked, "hey can we go flying again?"
Breaking out into a cocky grin, Phantom responded with a confident, "sure." He disappeared out of sight but reappeared seconds later behind him. He tucked his arms securely under Buster's and lifted him up before skyrocketing away.
He bit his lip in concentration as he stared down at his worksheet. Mr. Ratburn had taught this to them in third grade, he wasn't very good at it then but maybe if he tried hard enough he could remember…
"Hey cuz" Dash bellowed, interrupting his concentration as he barged into Buster's room. He sighed, threw down his pen on his desk and turned his swivel chair to face the loud boy.
"Hey," he replied with much less enthusiasm.
Dash walked over to a shelf and started to fiddle with random things, he opened and closed his mouth several times trying to start a conversation before finally settling with an eloquent, "so…"
At Dash's odd but obvious behavior, Buster rolled his eyes and asked in an irritated voice, "Yes?" he needed to get that worksheet done and Dash was not helping.
"Can you please explain to me why you refuse to make normal friends and choose to hang-out with the creepy crowd?" He finally said, Buster could tell that the fact had been bothering him for quite some time, and he felt a bit flattered that Dash was so worried about his social status. But the anger that bubbled from the rude comment about his friends overpowered the feeling.
"How are they creepy?" he asked, crossing his arms defensively. Buster really liked his friends, they were much nicer than the popular kids Dash forced him to hang-out with. Dash raised his arms in exasperation and practically yelled, "Dude have you even seen that girl? Foley is a techno-freak on top of being a sleaze and don't get me started on Fentina."
Buster stared at his cousin, he understood what he meant about Sam and Tucker even if he didn't agree. However, Danny didn't have a distinctive category like his friends. He was a perfectly normal guy, to Buster it felt like Dash just had some sort of grudge against him. He narrowed his eyes and questioned, "What do you mean?"
Dash ran his fingers through his hair and made his way over to the bed. Buster swiveled so he was facing him again and watched. The jock stuffed his hands in his pockets and said, "Man, I know you are kind of clueless but don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet."
His roundabout way of telling him was really getting on Buster's nerves. He just wanted Dash to go away and mind his own business, they were Buster's friends not his.
"What?" he inquired disinterestedly.
"You haven't even heard the rumors?" Dash asked.
Buster clenched his jaw and spit out, "Dash, I don't know what you're talking about."
Dash studied his angered features for a moment before leaning back on his arms and finally declaring, "Fenturd, he's into some really deep shit. He's always running out of class, coming to school covered in cuts. You could tell if you look him the eye sometimes when he comes back, he's on drugs. I don't want you getting into that"
Buster was taken aback by the solemn expression. Dash was actually serious about this, Buster realized, but he couldn't help burst into a fit of hysterics. Clenching his stomach with his left hand, "That's hilarious, Danny is nothing like that," he said. Dash jumped of the bed and defensively yelled, "You've only known him for like a week!"
Instantly sobering up, Buster plastered and calm expression of his face and stated, "Yeah but I can tell."
Dash raised an eyebrow at that, "no offense Buster, but you thought the ghosts were aliens."
Deciding that he was done with this conversation, he swiveled his chair back towards his desk and picked up his pen, "That's different," he whispered.
Stomping towards the door, "Fenton is not a good person to be around, there is trouble wherever he goes. Everyone knows he's a freak, even the teachers. I can't control you, but don't come crying to me when you realize I'm right," he shouted before slamming the door shut behind him.
Walking into the Baxter residence, Danny was not paying much attention to his surroundings. With his head turned to look over his shoulder as he spoke with his friends, he didn't notice the large mass in front of him and collided hard into it. Cursing under his breath he backed away and looked up to inspect the damage on the wall only to realize that it wasn't a wall at all, but a jock.
Dash stood with his arms crossed glaring angrily at Danny, he smiled slyly and lifted his right hand, giving a little wave. "Watch where you're going, Fentertainment tonight," he grumbled as he pushed his way past Danny.
Completely ignoring the presence of the other two, Dash ruffled Busters blonde hair and left the house without another word
"Huh, I guess he really does like you doesn't he," Tucker said as they made their way towards the stairs.
Buster shrugged, "I guess," he said nonchalantly.
"I'm surprised he didn't try harder to get you to stop hanging out with us," Sam commented dryly.
At the statement, Danny noticed Buster bite his lip as if trying to hold back laughter. "Well he did try to tell me that you were on drugs, " He said turning to Danny at the top of the staircase as he spoke.
Danny blushed, rubbing the back of his neck he whispered, "I didn't think anyone believed that rumor."
Approaching a door in the hallway, Buster turned the knob and gestured them to enter. "I don't," he told Danny as they walked in.
Smiling sadly at him, "thanks," Danny mumbled. He had known something like that had been going around, but he had chosen to ignore it. Telling himself that no one was dumb enough to actually believe Danny would be mixed up in that sort of thing. However, he had to admit, it was the most plausible conclusion to jump to. Save for claiming he was a half-ghost, there really was no other way the citizens of Amity Park could explain the strange case of Daniel Fenton. Including his parents.
Trying to distract himself from the self-loathing thoughts that threatened to form, "Hey your room is so cool, I didn't know you were into space!" he said in an overly-excited tone.
Not noticing the fake attitude, Buster matched his enthusiasm. "You're into it too? I have always been that weird kid that believes in aliens and monsters. But space is just so cool, who knows what kind of creatures could be out there." He backed up and sat down on the bed looking dreamily up at the posters.
Danny genuinely chuckled at the expression, "I had always wanted to be an Astronaut," he confessed.
Buster looked up at him and seemed to notice the longing look in Danny's eyes, "so what happened?" he asked.
The past two and half years flashed before Danny's eyes, the portal accident, the ghost fights, the sleeping in class and the plummeting grades. He closed his eyes in frustration, he didn't like to think about what could have been if he was normal. He was a hero, he should be proud. "I realized I suck at math," he told the questioning boy in a tone that indicated that the conversation was over. The silence on Buster's end showing that he got the message.
Oblivious to the exchange, Tucker called over from Buster's desk holding something up in his hand. "Hey, I've never heard of this comic. Bionic Bunny? That sounds cool," he commented as he flipped through it.
Buster walked over and picked up another issue from his collection, "It's kind of childish, but it was my favourite. Still is I guess," he replied. Tucker hummed and continued to read the comic. Danny and the others exchanged looks and simultaneously giggled as Tucker gasped audibly at something.
Rolling her eyes, with a smile still on her face, Sam turned back to the framed pictures she had been looking at. "You look so cute in this picture, is that your mom?" She asked Buster. At the mention of his mother, Danny noticed the bags under Buster's eyes seemed to get deeper.
Buster slowly nodded, "yeah, it was taken on my first birthday without my dad. She was so worried, but all I cared about was the cake," he was smiling slightly, But Danny could see the hurt.
"Your parents are divorced?" Sam asked thoughtlessly, she hadn't turned her attention away from the photographs. Danny tried to clear his throat loud enough to get her attention, but she ignored him.
"Yeah," Buster replied. His voice threatened to crack. Danny scrunched his eyes, why couldn't she just take a hint?
Finally turning to face Buster, "where are they?" she asked. Danny slapped his forehead, she raised her eyebrow at that and finally met his eyes. From his positon behind Buster he motioned for her to stop. She seemed a bit confused but nodded in understanding.
Replying to her question, "my dad is a pilot, he can't stay in one place to too long. I traveled the world with him once," he said, carefully avoiding the subject of his mother. This did not go unnoticed by the trio, and before any of the other two could naïvely ask for the obviously distraught boy to explain, Danny attempted to steer the conversation away.
"That's so cool, have you been to Paris?" he asked.
Buster nodded, "yeah, I didn't eat any snails though," he added quickly. They all stared at him, his arms up in defense as if accused of it before.
"…okay," Tucker said breaking the silence and proceeded to ask Buster about something in the comic he was still reading. Danny watched as the tension dissipated from Buster's shoulders as he eagerly explained the overused plot, he breathed a sigh of relief.