~~Courage~~
Tucker's POV words: 494
I know that it is a cold hard fact in life that the human race was undeniably stupid. Seriously, Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton. If the world opened its eyes just a tiny bit wider we wouldn't have to worry about jumping through hoops to keep the secret. Of course then we would have to worry about the ghost hunters, the government, the media, and the scariest of them all, the 'Phans'. But there were other, more subtle, things that went unnoticed. The way Danny hid a limp while rushing to his next class, the bloodshot eyes drooping above black bags below them, the green-red stains on the occasional identical T-shirt (seriously how many of those does he have?), everything went without questions or concerns.
The greatest thing that went unnoticed, by human and ghost, friend and foe alike, was Danny's bravery.
People who knew wimpy Danny Fenton might laugh, especially Dash and his friends who made a habit of picking on the seemingly frail kid. Danny's own parents might smile politely and nod, "Of course he is," they would say.
They didn't know.
I didn't even see it until two months after Danny had gotten his powers.
Somewhere around one in the morning a loud thump woke me up from a particularly wonderful dream I was having. Something about me being the mayor of the city of the future. I practically fell out of bed, almost kicking Danny, who was lying on my bedroom floor. A bloody gash ripped across his chest as his green eyes were shaking the dark.
"D-do you have a f-first aid kit?" came Danny's shuddering question.
I knew Danny since I was a kid, my first and only friend for the two years before we met Sam. When we were six, Danny and I were playing at the park and he twisted his ankle. He had screamed and cried and didn't stop when his mom came to help. Now though, as blood poured from over his heart, he stayed quiet.
It hit me that Danny was half ghost, not immortal. He could actually die in battle one day, torn apart by some animal ghost or dissected by his parents if he was ever captured. As people watched him take hit after hit from the sidelines they didn't understand that he was risking his life for them.
Once Danny was patched up and gratefully asleep on the small couch in my room, I allowed myself to break down a little. I sat on my bed and tried to wrap my head around just how deep my friends and I were in this situation. Whatever happens, I knew that I had to keep Danny (and myself) from falling apart. Before I went back to sleep, I felt a small sense of pride creep into me. I knew the truth. I knew exactly how much courage Danny had. I had to be brave too, or I would be the one falling apart.