Danny woke that morning feeling… odd. It wasn't a bad feeling, per se, it was just unusual. As if something had been changed, but subtle enough for him not to know what it was. Maybe he should have eaten more at dinner last night. Yawning he got up and got ready for the day.

By the time he sat down for breakfast everything seemed normal again. His mom was up already, making toast in her ectojammies. When his dad woke up she'd change into her jumpsuit and they'd begin working in the lab. Usually he woke up with her and sat at the table drinking black coffee while she made breakfast, but he seemed to have slept in today.

Nonchalantly Danny asked, "Where's dad?"

He had expected to get a short one word answer and drop it at that but what his mom said next was unexpected.

"He started his new medicine this week and it makes him feel a bit sick so I let him sleep in this morning." She said it while buttering a piece of Fenton toast, not turning around.

"Oh." Danny said quietly, looking down into his cereal.

New medicine? He hadn't known his dad was on any medication. Their parents usually didn't bring up things like that; serious things that couldn't be changed. Maddie and Jack had a firm belief that their kids shouldn't worry about those types of things. They'd have plenty of time for that later on in life.

Jazz entered the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal while Danny finished his. She started talking about her plans for the day, (mostly researching in the library and what tests she needed to study for), and Danny forgot about the medicine comment.

—–

The drive to school was silent, as usual. Neither teenager really wanted to talk while they waited for the car's heating to start working. Danny sat on his hands and shivered. You'd think being dead would let him tolerate the cold better, but no such luck.

The day at Casper High passed normally enough for him. He met with his friends, went to classes, ate lunch. Things started to go downhill after that.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker were at their lockers in between classes getting books and talking. Tucker looked down the hallway and squinted, looking for someone among the crowd of students.

"You know, Dash hasn't slammed us into the lockers all day." Tucker said. A smile snaked its way onto his face. "Maybe he's sick!"

"Hopefully." Danny replied, bending over to put his books in his backpack. "It'd be a nice break for my face. I hate letting him rag on me. Maybe he'd be less of an asshole if someone put him in his place."

Danny stood up and slung his backpack over one shoulder before turning to face his two friends and freezing. His wide eyes met Dash's furious ones as he pushed past Tucker and into Danny's face.

"What was that, Fenton?"

Danny's heart beat fast as he answered quickly, trying to find a suitable lie.

"I said maybe you'd be less of an asshole if someone put you in your place."

Dash had Danny by the shirt and slammed into the lockers before Danny could even process what had happened. Why had he said that? He hadn't meant to say that, at no point had told his brain to send that shit out of his mouth, but it had.

Dash had almost amused glint in his eye when he asked, "And who's gonna do that? You? Ha! I'd like to see you try."

"No you wouldn't." Danny responded, immediately cursing himself again. Did he want to die a second time? The late bell rang and the students rushed to their classrooms. Dash looked around and smiled. Only Sam, Tucker, Danny, and Dash were left.

"You know what Fentwerp? I could use some entertainment." Dash said. He dropped him on the group and backed up, arms wide. "Come on. Come "put me in my place" or whatever. Give me your best shot."

Danny stood up and and tried to figure out what to do. He clearly couldn't actually fight Dash. He didn't need anyone wondering where he'd learned to fight. He looked at his two friends still in the hallway, but they just frowned at him. He'd have to fake it.

He comically reared his arm back and took a very slow swing at Dash. He had intended to harmlessly hit his shoulder, but at some point before he made contact his body decided enough was enough, and let Dash have it. It was over so fast that the three students still standing actually looked around in confusion, as if something else had sent Dash flying into the opposite wall and knocked him out.

"Oops," was all Danny could say.

Danny stared at his arm warily, like it had a mind of its own. What was that about? He had only meant to barely tap him!

"Danny what they hell?!" Sam said rushing over and shoving his arm down. "You didn't actually have to hit him!"

"I didn't meant to! I don't know what happened!"

Tucker walked over but his eyes didn't leave Dash's limp form in front of the dented row of lockers. He snapped his head up at the sound of students getting out of their desks to investigate the noise in the hallway.

"Dude we have to get out of here or people are going to see us." Tucker said, grabbing Sam and Danny's arms and dragging them down the hall and around the corner.

"We'll talk about this after school, don't bring it up in Lancer's class." Sam said and the other two nodded.