Chapter 3: Ghost Town
The signs on the road looked odd. No, they came straight out of a bad B-movie script. For instance, there was apparently a bootleg Lake Erie nearby, promising more Eerie sights. The insurance ads were worrying, making Tim question if his own plan had enough coverage for half the things the billboards listed. And then there were the ads for funeral homes, promising protected caskets for "eternal rest". "What dies in Amity Park, stays in Amity Park" one of these read in the tagline.
No wonder everyone called this place the most haunted town in the US. The signs alone could haunt anyone, alright. Tim did have to give them points for originality, though. If he were here as a paranormal enthusiast, it did sound like a promising place to visit.
The drive to Amity Park took three days in total. Danny and Tim made the best of the small detours, visiting small coffee shops, a flea market, and finding tons of photo opportunities at the different trails and landmarks; not to mention that time they went on a search for a town that did have a gas station, driving for two hours because some maps just weren't up to date enough.
So, all in all, it had been quite an adventure and, from what his family and friends told Tim through the comms late at night, there were no signs of impending doom to make him go back early. That allowed the couple to relax and enjoy themselves in the meantime.
But now it was time to face the truth. The conversations they left on hold would need to restart once they started getting closer to Danny's hometown.
It had made sense for Danny to drive them there, since he knew these roads better. For some reason, despite setting the coordinates in his GPS, Tim couldn't get an accurate reading of where they needed to go, which should have been his first clue that something was off. Danny claimed he would know how to get there once they reached the closest place they could get directions for.
Tim wasn't usually concerned about Danny's driving skills, even if he did claim the most ridiculous things on the way, like having already steered a spaceship in Florida, or driven a blimp, or even taken a jet on a cross-country trip. But something happened on their drive into Ohio that set his boyfriend on edge. It could have been nervousness about picking up their previous conversations, or even the experience with the biker with no helmet who drove next to them for a while and cut too close in front of their SUV.
As he stared at the white knuckles on the steering wheel, Tim opted for plan A: get Danny to laugh. With his new mission in mind, he changed the song in the playlist he had curated for Danny's amusement, picking the songs by their content instead of their genre. Reggae was not necessarily in his usual tastes, but this song would do…
A dramatic organ began to play followed by a flute, eventually including among the eerie sounds the chorus: "This toooown is coming like a ghost town."
Danny turned to face Tim with a raised eyebrow. When he replied with an innocent shrug, Danny chuckled lightly. He must really be stressed out if the joke didn't land as Tim thought it would.
Time for plan B, then. Distraction.
"Ok, I know what will help release some of that stress," the Gothamite said as he tried to ignore another concerning billboard outside depicting movers who guaranteed ghost-proof boxes. Okay… "Why don't you tell me some of the good things I can expect from Amity Park?"
Danny frowned but at least seemed to release some of the tension in his muscles. "Hmm, well, the Nasty Burger is really good. We could go for a milkshake later."
Tim nodded. "Sounds good," he replied cheerfully and waited for Danny to continue.
The song kept on playing while the conversation took a long pause. Was Danny thinking about his next answer? Was he so distracted by his thoughts that he forgot the question?
After a few more seconds in silence, Tim decided to prompt his companion. "And?"
Danny glanced in his direction with confusion etched on his face. "And what?"
Tim looked incredulous. "You mean that's it? You have a really good burger joint?"
The local seemed to consider this for a moment. "Ok, I'm being unfair. There's also a really low crime rate."
"Seriously, Danny?" Tim only got a shrug in reply.
Plan C it is, then. Confront directly.
Tim sighed. "Alright, so, with the way you're holding the steering wheel, I'm guessing we're close," he asked bluntly. Sure, there were billboards all over the place, but no sign had actually shown where the exit to Amity Park was.
There was an exit, right?
The question finally snapped Danny out of his thoughts as he took a deep breath. "There's…something in the air," he began to explain. "You might not notice it at first but…try to close your eyes and I'll show you how to get a better sense of it."
The skeptical and vigilant part in him thought this could be either an elaborate prank or a way to get him to not look at how they got into the strange town. The trustful and loving part of him decided to give it a try and led Tim to close his eyes. "Alright, Houston, give me directions."
Tim heard Danny's soft snort and then silence. He tried to keep his mind clear, focused, aware of everything around him, which was not much more different to some of the training he did as Red Robin.
Danny's voice had a strange tinge to it as he spoke. Almost ethereal. "There is a slight buzz under your skin. It's probably making the hairs on your arms stand on end. Do you feel that?"
"Yeah?" he replied when he did, in fact, feel that eerie sensation.
"Okay, so think of that tingling as a connection. Like a thread to something else. You might feel a chill nearby but you can't really pinpoint where it's at. Know what I mean?"
Tim focused and got the sense that there was something cold and heavy looming near Danny. And yeah, there was that chill down his spine. "You turned on the AC, so that doesn't count."
"I haven't done anything," Danny replied. "Okay, last but not least. Focus on that presence. You probably now feel like it's staring at you, like it's moving, saying something."
Tim felt uncomfortable now and he decided on his own accord to break the exercise. He turned to look at Danny with a deadpan look. "You're telling me this is part of the ghostly thing the town's got going on?"
His companion half shrugged. "Well, yeah, basically."
Danny had to be messing with him. Tim had researched this town. Babs had done it too. There were no signs of any of it being real. "Starlight, there has to be an explanation. Like, an electromagnetic interference of some sort. Or climate change. I don't know, but we can probably find a way to explain it."
"There is an explanation," Danny replied with some amusement. "Amity Park's haunted."
"C'mon, Danny, I'm not going to buy it. No matter how many weird billboards we've seen on the way here."
At the sight of a new road sign, this time depicting a green blob and a few words Tim didn't get a chance to read, Danny seemed struck by inspiration. He didn't bother turning on the hazard lights when he pulled over to the side of the road, where once again they were fairly alone compared to other routes. Once the car was parked and turned off, he got out and gestured at Tim to follow him.
As soon as he got out and closed the car's door, Tim walked in Danny's direction, which apparently led to the previous billboard with the blob image. "Okay, this is it, birdie," Danny said as they reached the back of the sign. "I'm going to share something really important before you meet my parents. I'll understand if you want to go back to Gotham without meeting them—"
"This again?" Tim huffed.
Danny gave him a lighthearted glare and stopped once they were in from of the large ad. "Hey, it's just a fair warning or Jazz will say it's entrapment or something." He paused and turned towards the billboard.
Now that Tim got a closer look at it, he noticed the logo for a business called "Fentonworks" written in bold across the top, the blob in the image was being pulled by a vacuum of some sort, and the words "ghost experts" were mentioned among the ad's claims. Which meant…
"My parents are ghost hunters," Danny said and Tim heard the words as if they came from far, far away.
This was way too elaborate to be a prank. "Danny, is this for real?" he turned to ask. "Is the name really related to your family and not some other Fentons in Amity Park?"
Danny shook his head and stared at Tim. "I don't know any other Fenton family who opened a portal to another dimension full of ghosts in their basement."
Tim blinked slowly trying to process the insane words he just heard. "No, hold on, something like that would've made national news, at least. The Justice League would have gotten a call or some kind of alert."
At the mention of the group of heroes, Danny laughed. "Trust me, no one cared that it happened because the news couldn't get out beyond our city limits, and we hadn't been aware of that at the time."
No, this couldn't be real. Even if technology and communications weren't the same whenever this had happened, it would definitely have breached containment somehow.
"It's not some weird cover-up," Danny answered the unspoken question. "It's sort of like the Bermuda Triangle of small towns. Amity has always had this weird displacement and that's why my parents theorized they could use this phenomenon to rip a hole through reality, and that messed everything up, from communications to GPS, recordings, and pictures…" Tim's distress must have been visible because Danny immediately amended with a placating gesture, "don't worry, my phone works just fine, and you can call Bruce or Babs so they don't worry about you glitching out of their trackers."
Tim could definitely compartmentalize. He was trained to handle difficult conversations and scenarios. Sure, he hadn't expected Danny to drop this kind of bomb, which in hindsight might have been somewhat idiotic, considering Tim hadknown Amity Park was haunted.
He just didn't have confirmation that any of it was real. Were the billboards and Danny's words enough proof?
"I need a minute to process all of this," he replied after a moment, trying to put into a new light all the mentions and findings he recalled from the small town. Everything he knew about Danny's life here and his relationship with his family…
Danny walked up to Tim and rubbed his arm. "I didn't tell you before because then you would've brought the Justice League or the Titans to research this place and that could put everyone in danger."
That made him raise his eyebrows. "In danger? Why?"
"Well, can you imagine someone like Kon or Supes himself being overshadowed by a ghost?"
The memory of so many fights they've had against Superman due to mind control or possession made Tim's stomach do a nasty flip. If what he heard was true, how did all the locals handle this? Were ghosts really out in the open as so many stories claimed on social media?
"So let me get this straight," Tim started to elaborate.
"I don't think we qualify for that, birdie," Danny interrupted with a grin.
Tim closed his eyes and sighed. "Please, Danny, be serious. Just to be clear—"
"Sure, I can be totally transparent now," the local joked again, but Tim managed to ignore it. He needed answers.
"Amity Park has been out of the radar because it's a weak spot between dimensions?"
"Yep."
"What kind of ghosts are we talking about here? Invisible ones breaking things? Creepy shadows? Dementors?" If it was bad enough to have the potential threat of Superman being possessed, he figured ghosts were definitely hostile.
Danny didn't agree if the scrunched-up nose was any indication. "I can't summarize it like that. Or even tell you what the Amity Park experience is like. You might see some of it, but ghosts are not bothering this world anymore."
There was this certainty that Tim didn't recall seeing before. These were familiar topics to Danny, from the way he casually mentioned what ghosts did or didn't do. Would he talk passionately about these supernatural concepts as he did when it came to space?
The first signs of a headache began to crawl near the back of Tim's neck. He needed to unravel this one thread at a time. "Why are ghosts not bothering our world now?"
Danny gave him a small shrug. "Because you were coming to visit, duh," he joked.
Tim covered his face in his hands and groaned. "I can't even tell when you're joking and when you're telling the truth anymore."
There was a hint of sadness in his boyfriend's eyes as he frowned. "You know, it's actually kinda funny. I always say the truth, you just never believe me."
"It's kinda hard to take your word at face value when you talk about undead turkeys attacking you during the holidays," Tim pointed out. When Danny stared unimpressed and crossed his arms, he almost lost it. "You mean it did happen?"
Danny searched for the car keys and started to walk back to the car, followed closely by Tim. "I was three back then and I still hate Christmas, I told you that's why I don't visit my folks during the winter holidays."
When he reached the door, Tim stared dumbfounded at Danny before they got inside the SUV. "Holy shit, what else have I missed?"
His boyfriend looked at him from the other side of the vehicle and then turned to look at the road ahead, the signs marking fewer miles to reach their destination. "No clue, duckling. But, I guess this gives us a new chance to get to know each other better?"
Tim didn't know what to say to that.
The two young men got in and sat inside the car in silence. Danny slowly started the car but didn't set it to drive yet. His bright blue eyes stared at Tim as if prompting him for questions, the unsaid 'I'll explain everything' was clear in his open stance.
Tim had many questions, sure, but he decided to take a leaf out of Danny's book and break the tension with something lighthearted. "Please, just tell me if they'll be going full ghostbuster get-up when we get there."
That elicited a chuckle from Danny. "Oh, Darkwing Duck, you have no idea. I'm not going to spoil it for you. I mean, they have mellowed down in the last few years, but they can still be too much."
Tim no longer knew what to expect from the Fenton family. Maybe he needed some time to regroup, to analyze how to handle the situation. He might not make that many plans when it came to Danny's surprises, but he might need to rethink how to approach the eccentric parents to avoid making the visit tortuous for his boyfriend.
First things first… "Are we going to hunt ghosts when we get there?" he asked.
Danny smiled. "No, you're fine, birdie. You're bound to see weird things as we get closer, but I've got your back."
He wanted to know what he meant about having his back. He wanted to learn all about whatever was going on.
"Okay, next question: the whole thing about having ghost drills at school or the deal with the therapist trying to stay young using teenagers' tears… Those weren't jokes, then?"
"Oh, no, you sweet summer child," Danny replied with a dramatic gesture over his chest. "Why don't I take you back to the closest neighboring town so we can talk about this over food."
The clueless tourist stared with concern. "Why do we need to go to another town?"
"Just so we can avoid the ambient ectoplasm," he replied as if it were the obvious response. "Sure, it won't hurt you or turn anything sentient, but you might feel less tense without the eerie factor in the air."
Tim nodded absentmindedly. What even was this trip anymore? As they drove back on the same road they took to reach Amity Park, he looked at the signs for the nearby towns and noticed they would more likely go to Salem. The irony of the town's name was totally not lost on him.
The unhinged billboards on the way back disappeared, the new ones promising peace and a fresh start for those leaving.
A memory from a previous conversation struck him all of a sudden. "Wait, and what about the time your town was sucked into another dimension. Did that really happen?"
Danny sighed. "Yeah, I think you'll want to sit down at the diner for that story."
After a long brunch away from what was essentially a cursed town, Danny continued the drive back to Amity at top speed. He claimed part of his driving skills came from his dad's influence, a man who had a tendency to bypass all transit laws to get to a ghost attack. At this point, Tim was not going to dismiss anything his boyfriend said anymore.
Learning about how the town had been attacked relentlessly by ghosts was not an easy topic to discuss either. It meant people got hurt, including his boyfriend, his loved ones, his neighbors, and his classmates, with no help from the outside. They were stranded in a sense, forced to rely on ghost hunters and sketchy organizations that were privately funded.
Danny had been guarded on that whole part of the conversation and even advised Tim to not touch that particular ghost topic with his parents if he wanted to keep some peace of mind.
In fact, Danny had given him a long rundown of things he shouldn't consider discussing during his visit to keep things somewhat peaceful.
"Don't bring up your dad's name. My parents are still kinda sore about how he denied them funding when they started."
"Probably best not to mention Gotham's rogues or heroes. It's a bit of a touchy subject."
"Try not to ask them for demonstrations. They can get carried away and it's not always safe when they do."
"Don't eat anything that moves or glows."
"Don't accept any ham, either. I don't know how long it's been there."
"Don't tell them about our plans to move in together? They'll find out after we do it."
Tim took note of everything but wasn't convinced by some of the stipulations. He tried to process all of it while they passed by the mall, Danny's school, large houses in some fancy neighborhood, and the infamous Nasty Burger.
"Oh, and don't mention your last name," Danny cut through his musings. "You could say you're just Tim. You'll get the usual dad joke of 'oh, nice to meet you, Just Tim', but other than that, you'll be fine."
"Danny, are you sure that's even necessary?" Just Tim asked after a tired sigh.
"Hey, I'm trying to save you from Tucker's fanboying if the word spreads, okay? He's always gushing about you and the tech you developed. It would be worse than that time at Comic-Con."
"Tim No-Last-Name it is," the visitor conceded.
"Sorry, mockingbird."
"It's okay," Tim said with a dismissive hand wave. "Not my first undercover mission, anyway."
Danny frowned. "This isn't a mission, birdie."
"Are you sure, Houston? Because with all the specifics you've given me, it sure felt like one of B's debriefings." The guilt on Danny's face made him backpedal immediately. "Sorry, I'm just stressed. I…try to always stay at top of things and I feel so lost here. The most you've surprised me with was with a joke or with some cute date or maybe even a pun when I least expect one. But…" he licked his lips, trying to put his thoughts in order. How could he put this delicately? "I didn't expect to have a thousand things to report back to Bruce when I went back home."
Danny remained completely silent, shoulders tense, his mouth closed, and his eyes staring at the road. Even his speed lowered to a more reasonable pace. Something twisted in Tim's gut. He hadn't said the right words, the right way, had he? He basically told Danny he didn't trust him. This after his boyfriend had put all this trust in him, pouring all of Amity Park's deepest, darkest secrets for Tim to understand Danny's upbringing a little bit better.
And Tim had admitted he would report it back to Batman, founder of the Justice League. Which, admittedly, could only happen after he had proof to share.
This was a mess.
"Look, starling, hun," Tim said in a softer tone, but Danny continued as stoic as before in the driver's seat. "We'll figure out that part later. Just please let me process this my way."
That got a response out of Danny at least. "Okay. What do you need for that?" he said in a serious tone.
It took a moment for Tim to mentally summarize the best course of action when a whole new world was literally revealed to him. "I need to be able to ask questions."
Danny's lips turned slightly upward. "Well, duh, that's why I told you about the ghost situation before going to FentonWorks."
"Oh," Tim replied with some surprise. "So why all the restrictions about certain topics? It felt like you didn't want me asking your parents anything about that."
"Honestly?" Tim nodded in response. "If you really want to get the answers you want, your best bet is to go straight to the topics you want answers for. If you let my dad blather on and on about ghosts or other things they're passionate about, we'll be here all summer."
Tim rolled his eyes. "C'mon, it can't be that bad."
Danny turned to shoot a brief deadpan look at Tim, his eyes dangerously off the road for a moment. "Duckling, my dad went once to a school assembly to talk about ghost safety and spent nearly one hour talking about his childhood so he could explain why he gave the Fenton Peeler that design."
There were so many new names to learn. Fenton Peeler? How many inventions did the Fentons even have? They hadn't been able to find any patents of whatever they worked on back when Babs researched Danny's family. One thing was certain: Tim was eager to get his hands on some of their inventions, figure out how they worked, or if they could help him against any of their rogues.
But first things first. "So it's okay to talk about ghosts?" he tentatively asked.
Danny's shoulders looked more relaxed as he shrugged in response. "Yeah, just keep your questions focused. Like, the science behind them, how their weapons work, how the portal works. I know those are some of the things in your mind, anyway."
Huh, ambient ectoplasm hadn't made his boyfriend a mind reader, right? While that wasn't a genuine suspicion or concern, there hadbeen something nagging at Tim nonetheless. The way some of the things they talked about during breakfast raised more questions than answers.
"Is there more you're not telling?" Tim asked after a beat.
The silence felt heavy and Tim didn't know if it was just the general feeling he got from the eerie atmosphere Danny had blamed before. "Yeah," he replied in a lower voice. "Let's just get through this first and I'll share more later." He turned to squeeze Tim's hand, sending an electric chill down his spine. "I promise," he added with a heavy look.
Despite the honesty behind his words, Tim didn't like the implications of that statement. So many theories ran through his head. For a moment he pictured Danny telling him everyone in Amity Park was only an echo of a lost town. A real ghost town. He felt the dread of imagining Danny admitting he was really a ghost all along; he already was one online, considering his lack of a digital footprint, no social media, no usernames in sketchy forums. Nothing.
Tim feared if he blinked it would all fade from view, Danny included.
But Danny was here, breathing, emotions visible, smile disarming, and heart beating. So he threw the ridiculous thought out of the window. This was just his anxiety getting the best of him.
Tim tried to reign in his thoughts and glanced forward to the end of the street, his attention immediately shifted, focusing with alarm on a roof with a huge metallic structure that almost doubled the size of the building beneath it. It was almost like an alien spaceship, but he knew this town was invaded by ghosts, not extraterrestrials.
"What the hell is that?" he asked.
Danny perked up. "Oh! Before I forget. Don't mention— no, hold on, let me rephrase. I don't recommend bringing up OSHA either. My mom has a long-standing feud with them."
Before Tim could ask why Danny had dodged his question, they neared the strange building and he could finally read the giant sign at the front. He furrowed his brows. "Wait, Fentonworks? That's where you grew up?"
"Well, yeah," his boyfriend shrugged. "This place wasn't so bad. Very homey, unless you took into account the house's security systems attacking you while you're minding your own business."
Tim could only stare horrified. Now he understood why the concern with OSHA. "Your parents built something that could hurt you?"
Danny winced and seemed ready to crawl under a rock. "Yeah…we might want to avoid that topic, too."
He wanted to scream. Now it's when he wanted to turn the car back around to Gotham and just consider meeting the parents through video call or something to have some words with them. Even if his parents hurt him by accident, it wasn't right. Tim was well acquainted with how the people who should care for you, who love you, can also hurt you in the process.
"Please, you don't have to worry, duckling. And I did promise I'll tell you more later," Danny said with a reassuring smile. That didn't really give Tim much confidence.
The car came to a stop once it parked in front of Fentonworks. Danny looked at the large building, a fondness in his eyes and the soft smile, despite the new bomb he had dropped on Tim. "Well, anyway, we're here," Danny declared. "Anything you want to talk about before we go in there?"
To be entirely honest, all the precautions and guidelines Danny had given him, as well as the ghost talk only put Tim further on edge. He was sure his partner in crime was just sharing the tip of the iceberg, maybe to get him to ease into the paranormal situation in his hometown with some baby steps. He had yet to see a ghost, so it could all still be an elaborate hoax.
Maybe they needed to take firmer steps. Take the plunge and figure it all out from there. "Let's just rip the band-aid," Tim replied.
He noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Someone had just spotted them from the window and hastily moved away, leaving the curtains to shift in their retreat. After they both got out of the car, Danny opened the trunk to get their bags out but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening.
"Oh, my baby boy is finally here!" a woman with short and graying auburn hair, wearing a teal jumpsuit (which, wow, she did have the whole Ghostbuster get-up), jumped down the front steps and ran to hug Danny.
His boyfriend dropped the backpack in his hands and responded with a warm hug back. "Hey, mom, it's so great to see you!"
When they broke the embrace, Mrs. Fenton turned to look at the other young man and smiled. "Oh, you must be Tim! It's so wonderful to finally meet you!" she said and gave her son-in-law a soft squeeze on his upper arm. "Danny has only gushed about you when we talk."
Tim smiled awkwardly. "It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Fenton."
"Oh, please, call me Maddie," she replied. "Let's head inside. We have lots to talk about, I'm sure."
As the three walked toward the door with their bags in hand, Tim could picture it as an entrance to a new rabbit hole, with so many ludicrous stories, with so much to learn about a whole new dimension, about their family dynamics…about a whole new side of Danny Fenton.
Taking a deep breath, he took a plunge into the unknown.
Notes:
- The song they were listening to is "Ghost Town" by The Specials
- Salem is a real place in Ohio, not related to the other famous Salem.