A/N - Thank you again for the wonderful reviews, it definitely improves my mood when I need it. Chapter seven, Danny actually has some contact with his friends. The title is a play on 'One Call Away', though not in any romantic sense. Enjoy!
Chapter Seven
One Phone Call Away
Back at the hotel, Danny gently closed his room's door and slipped out onto the balcony. He needed to talk with Sam and Tucker. It had only been one day, and yet so many things had happened in that short space of time. He was mentally and emotionally exhausted.
Pulling out his cell phone, he sent off a quick text to his friends, asking them if they were up for a group conversation. Receiving positive responses, he leaned back against the cool metal railing and looked up at the sky.
New York City wasn't a place where you could see the stars. Years of pollution, smog, and other environmental hazards mixed with bright lights in the 'city that never sleeps' to block out anything but low clouds and the moon itself. In that moment, Danny could really appreciate Amity Park for its small size and quiet nightlife. The two cities were about as different as night and day, summer and winter.
When he received a call from Sam (she had the better phone), he let a soft smile light up his face. His friends were always there for him, even several states away.
"Hey, guys," he greeted, hopping up to sit on the railing. "How's it going back home?"
There was a quiet discussion on the other end, not loud enough for the halfa to make out, and Sam spoke up. "Clockwork asked us to tell you to be careful, and to see him as soon as you got back. There's nothing exactly dangerous, or at least, we think there isn't, but I'd still keep my guard up."
Tucker added, "We don't know what's going on in the Ghost Zone, but something big is happened, or getting ready to happen. Dan said it wasn't urgent, though. He mentioned something about a party."
Danny wondered what it could be. It wasn't anywhere near Christmas, so it wasn't the truce, but then what could it be? "Guys, is it the anniversary of anything special soon?" he asked, curious to see if they had any ideas.
He heard a deep laugh, and sighed. "Hey, kiddo. Remember what day it'll be in a couple weeks? It may be a little shocking to remember. It's a big day for us both." Dan liked puns just as much as Danny did, but he liked word games much more. That was from the half that was Plasmius, of course.
The halfa teen thought about it. Big day. Important to both of them. A party. What could it be? He thought of everything. His birthday wasn't for another two months.
Then it hit him. "My deathday?!" he exclaimed.
A dark chuckle from the other end of the line made shivers roll down his spine. Ancients, sometimes Dan could be creepy. Danny's voice still hadn't finished maturing, so it was halfway in between Vlad's smooth tenor and Dan's deep baritone. He had initially wanted to take a vow of silence when his voice started changing, because there were times when it had reached that smooth baritone his evil future self spoke in. That was before Dan was let out and sent on the path to redemption, though. These days, Danny actually enjoyed how low his voice could go, and enjoyed messing with Dash (whose voice was still in that prepubescent stage where it cracked every two sentences).
"Bingo, kid. It's been nearly three years, and your allies want to celebrate. Adding to that, the Observants have something special planned that I'm not allowed to tell you about. Giving you the hint to figure out the occasion is stretching it, but Clockwork wouldn't let me be here for this call if he didn't want me to," Dan drawled, and the teen could almost see his fanged grin.
Danny heard someone sigh, and chuckled. "Can you give the phone back to Sam or Tucker, now? Oh, and thanks for helping them out."
"No problem, mini-me. Talk to ya later, I've gotta go on patrol anyway."
Then, Tucker took his chance. "So how was dinner with Tony Stark and Vlad Masters?"
"Tucker, you didn't tell me Danny ran into Vlad!" Sam shouted.
Laughing, he answered, "Pretty tense. Did I tell you that I nearly got them into a fistfight? Because I did. It was almost scary how much those two disliked each other. Kinda like how Vlad hates my dad, but this time the hatred is returned. Pepper, Pepper Potts, was the only thing stopping them from battling it out right there in the middle of the party."
"Nice! Are you gonna hang out with Stark some more?" Tucker asked curiously.
"Yeah. He's pretty cool, and Steve is really nice. It'd be rude not to drop by and say hello when I have six days left in New York," Danny replied. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm just worried about what they're going to do tomorrow. Tony kind of looked up my records and things, he likes to research people, apparently."
"Dude, you don't think they'll figure it out, do you?" Tucker asked, anxiety lacing his voice.
"You've gotta be careful, Danny. They may not be the Guys in White, but the Avengers are a government-sanctioned team of heros, and they might not treat Phantom as an ally." Sam sounded really concerned, and she had a right to be.
Danny hadn't thought of it like that before. He had missed practically all of the invasion of New York City because of a training session with Frostbite and Dani, and he hadn't felt the need to look up information about the attack. It was over, and their people had won, so he had just shrugged it off. Sam was right, though. Tony and Steve were connected to the government, and while they may be heros and less likely to cart him off to some facility to dissect, there was still a chance they had to report their findings to some big boss who would have him carted off.
"Thanks, guys. I hadn't thought of that, I'll keep it in mind," he finally said, after a long silence. "I keep messing up, too. I actually let it slip to Tony that I'm no stranger to kidnapping, can you believe it? Three years of nothing, and all it takes is one day to nearly reveal myself."
"Nice going, clueless," Sam commented, yawning. "It's pretty late, here. I've gotta get to bed or I'll be pulling a 'Danny' in class tomorrow."
"Hey! I thought we agreed to stop calling it that!" the teen in question yelled.
Tucker and Sam laughed. "Sorry dude, but it stuck. Talk to you later, Danny," Tucker replied, and there was a call of agreement from Sam. Danny exchanged farewells and tapped the 'end call' button, tucking the phone back in his pocket.
His friends had raised a good point about being careful. He knew he couldn't afford more slip-ups, and he couldn't help but worry about his new friends' reaction to the fact that the teen they had been hanging out with the day before was half-dead. He didn't think it'd really matter to Tony, but he wasn't so sure about the Captain. Steve was very accepting, but he had been raised in the '30s and '40s. Old ideals were bound to get in the way of general acceptance.
As Danny changed into his sleep clothes, he desperately wished that nothing bad would happen over the next few days. With his luck, though... he wouldn't count on it.
Breakfast was a pleasant affair for the Fenton family. Maddie had decided to order room service before Jack and Danny woke up, so everything was there, fresh and hot, by the time the two men were conscious enough to want food. Maddie had asked Danny about how his day had gone and if he was planning on spending more time with Tony and Steve, before sharing how well their lectures had gone over with the scientific community of the Expo.
"It was wonderful! Now that there's proof ghosts exist, so many scientists are flocking to our lectures," she exclaimed excitedly. "We even had some stay after to ask us more in-depth questions about their abilities and the technology we've developed to hunt them."
Danny grinned. "Did you go on and on about how ghosts were just like people, but driven by an obsession, like you always do?" he asked. His mom and dad had finally gotten it through their heads a year ago that ghosts could feel everything humans could, including love, pain, and fear, after Phantom had sat down and had a long chat with them. They still didn't give up hunting the white-haired ghost, or most of the other ghosts who invaded Amity park, but they accepted that not all ghosts were evil, ectoplasmic scum. It made Danny so proud.
"Of course!" she replied. "What do you take me for, an amatuer?"
The raven-haired teen just shook his head, a silly grin on his face. His phone buzzed in his pocked, and he pulled it out to see a text from Tony. -Happy is waiting to pick you up. Red mustang, like your sweatshirt yesterday.- He rolled his eyes.
"Tony's sent someone to pick me up. Do you want me back here by any specific time?" he commented, glancing at his parents.
"Would you actually show up at that time?" Maddie asked knowingly.
Danny shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not. Tony might decide he needs to take me shopping again, or do the exact opposite of what Pepper told him to do and take me clubbing, because he seems to only follow reverse psychology."
His mom hugged him and kissed his cheek, while his dad slapped his back cheerfully. "Have a good day, sweetie. Try to avoid clubs, and be back before midnight," she said, answering his earlier question.
Danny grinned. "I'll do my best. See you later."
With that, he pulled on his red sweatshirt, grabbed his wallet, and was out the door.
Happy was indeed waiting patiently for Danny to come down. When the chauffeur spotted the teen, he flashed Danny a friendly smile and motioned for him to follow. The ride to Stark Tower was shorter than the one from the Expo, even though there was the morning rush hour to deal with. It reminded Danny once again how strange a city New York was.
"Hey, Happy?" he muttered, wondering if there was some social protocol that dictated whether or not he could talk to his escort. "Have you met any of the other Avengers?"
The driver glanced in the rear-view mirror with a knowing smile. "Nervous?"
Danny swallowed thickly and nodded. "I mean, they're all so impressive. I'd rather not get on anyone's bad side, if I can avoid it. Steve and Tony are really nice, but I don't know anyone else aside from Pepper, and she's not an Avenger, she's a friend of Tony's."
Happy nodded. "They can be intimidating, at times. I haven't really spoken to any of them except for Mr. Stark, but I do know that they won't hurt you unless you turn out to be a villain in disguise." He paused, and clarified, "That was a joke. You're a nice kid, Danny. You don't have anything to worry about with them. I also doubt Mr. Stark and Mr. Rogers would let any harm come to you. You're their friend, now."
Danny gave him a shaky smile. "Thanks." Then, in a whisper, he muttered, "I really hope you're right."
Happy pretended he hadn't heard the last bit. Whatever Danny's issues were, it was none of his business so long as the teenager wasn't a threat to his employer. The teen hadn't shown even the slightest bit of hostility to anyone as far as he was aware.
Before long, they were pulling into the mustang's spot in the garage. Steve had taken the opportunity to work on his bike some more while waiting for Happy to return with Danny, and was there to greet them.
"Danny! I'm glad you could make it," he said, grinning. "Ready to head up?"
The blue-eyed teen nodded, forcing his face to relax into a smile. Steve wasn't acting any differently than before. That either meant he hadn't learned anything about Danny, or he didn't really view any of it as worthy of changing their relationship.
As they were walking, Steve explained, "I know you're probably not comfortable with meeting too many new people so quickly, since Tony and I are still practically strangers, but apparently Tony mentioned you to Bruce, and now our resident scientist wants to meet you, maybe discuss some of your parents' theories, if you know them well enough."
The prospect of meeting a scientist, who was also an Avenger, was frightening, but he nodded in agreement anyway. Nothing had changed. Steve was still being kind and warm towards him. No one had showed up to interrogate him. He was just being paranoid.
"You're not paranoid if they really are out to get you," the little voice in his head that reminded him of Dan said. He knew everyone had an internal voice, but sometimes he wondered if his was a little more separate because of the accident. Not that it really mattered. It only repeated things he had thought or heard before.
"That would be... interesting. I'm game," he replied casually.
The blond man gave him a warm grin. "Great. He and Tony are 'science bros', whatever that means, and I think Tony was disappointed that you didn't get to meet him yesterday. He talked me into a headache last night. I almost think he had coffee at the party, but I know Pepper was there, and she wouldn't have let him have any caffeine."
That startled a genuine laugh out of Danny. "Yeah, no, there was no caffeine involved. I'm sorry you had to deal with that, he sounds like me after not sleeping for three days straight."
Steve chuckled at that. He realized that what Danny said meant that he had enough experience missing three days of sleep to actually consistently behave in a certain way, and the pit of worry in his stomach grew a little.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Just subtract exhaustion from the mix, and you've got it."
Danny rolled his eyes. "Did you know I actually ran into him at the party, and he didn't spill his drink? Not a drop made it out of that glass. I don't think I've ever been that impressed at such a generally useless skill, but that was pretty cool."
Steve laughed at that. "What were you running from, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Old ladies!" Danny exclaimed. As the doors to the elevator slid open and the two collapsed against the wall in fits of laughter, the teenager considered the possibility that this might actually be an enjoyable visit.
Tony stared, wide-eyed in shock, at the two of them in hysterics, frozen. And promptly snorted the scotch he was sipping out his nose. Oh yes, this would be an enjoyable visit.
