Chapter 4:
Panic
It was around nine o'clock in Amity Park, Illinois. The Trio had gone through twenty-three cures, (nearly all of which involved controlling your breathing,) and had no clue where Danny's parents were. Which only made them more nervous.
Tucker had given up on trying the cures in order after all the breathing exercises caused Danny to hyperventilate. He was lying sideways across Danny's bed, head tilted back over the edge, looking through the list of 'cures' for anything that sounded promising. Sam was in the hall, calling her grandmother for old family remedies. Danny, meanwhile, was pacing his bedroom ceiling.
*Hiccup* (Fenton)
And, then, he wasn't.
"Dude," Tucker said, without looking up. "Stay on the floor, and you'll stop falling."
"I can't help it! It's like I can't stay on the ground. And, now, I can't get off the ground!" Danny half-panicked, hopping up and down and flailing his arms around wildly. Tucker could see this was taking its toll on the halfa.
"Okay, bro. Let's just calm down," Tucker said in an uncharacteristically-soothing way, easing his friend into his computer chair. Had it been any other time, Danny would have suspected a prank in the works. But, at the moment, he was too frazzled to do much. That is, until they heard Danny's parents come in, punctuated by the slam of the front door, just as Sam was coming back into the room.
The female trio-member hurriedly shut the door, leaning back against it, watching in horror as Danny's half-panic became a full-panic. The boy was as pale as a - well, you know - and he started whisper-screaming his thoughts as they raced through his mind. "They're home. They're here. What're we gonna-"
*Hiccup* (Phantom)
"-do? They'll see me. They'll find out. They'll dissect m-"
*Hiccup* (Fenton)
"They're home. They're here. We're gonna FIX it. They WON'T see you. They WON'T find out. THEY LOVE YOU." Sam assured, backing the ghost-boy up further with each rebuttal, until he was sitting in his chair again. He was still pale and trembling, but somewhat calmer. Then, they heard Danny's father on the stairs.
"DANNY-BOY!"
*Hiccup* (Phantom)
"COME LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THE GHOST YOUR MOTHER AND I FOUGHT-" The big man stopped short in the doorway of his son's room, when he saw the lump in the bed. He paused while it sunk in, watching his sleeping child. He looked toward the bathroom, hearing a noise coming from inside, followed by a slightly quieter noise. He almost went to check, but figured it was just that leaky faucet he'd been meaning to fix. Oh, well. It could wait. No use waking Danny-Boy.
"Aww, I'll... tell you about it, tomorrow. G'night, Danny-Boy." And, more quietly than anyone who'd ever seen the man would think possible, Jack Fenton shut the door and slipped back downstairs.
Danny had still been panicking when Sam shoved a pair of pajamas into his chest and pushed him, backwards, into the bathroom, mid-hiccup. Danny's back-end hit the floor, just as the door shut in his face. She shoved Tucker into the closet, emitting a muffled yelp from the techno-geek, and hopped into Danny's bed. She pulled the blankets up over her head, hearing Danny's panicked clamoring die down, just as Mr. Fenton barged in.
The big man stopped short. Danny's rampant hiccupping could be heard from where Sam lay, and she shifted the blankets slightly to peek at the bathroom door. A flicker could be seen below the door, from what she assumed was Danny's involuntary transformations, before it stopped. The hiccupping could still be heard, but Danny must've done something to hide the flash.
There was a sudden thud, and Sam risked a stealthy glance at Mr. Fenton, who seemed to be listening for something. She fervently hoped he didn't hear Danny. After what seemed like an eternity, the big man whispered something (more quietly than she had thought he was capable of,) and slipped out.
Sam sighed in relief, sitting up as tucker half-fell, half-stumbled out of the closet. They opened the bathroom door to tell Danny it was safe to come out. Flipping the lights on, they found the room a wreck. The hamper was tipped over, clothes and towels were everywhere, (some of which were shoved against the crack under the door,) soap and shampoo were spilled and/or splattered on the floor and walls, and a leg hung over the edge of the bathtub, an empty shampoo bottle against the wall directly opposite.
Danny Fenton was contorted in the bottom of the tub, looking like he'd fallen there, softly hiccupping - and transforming - in his sleep. He was wearing mismatched pajamas, and they weren't the ones Sam had handed him. Looking around, she spotted the clean ones among those shoved under the door. She guessed he had grabbed some dirty ones by mistake, in the dark.
After looking him over, making sure he really was asleep and not knocked unconscious, the two set to work. Tucker sat down at Danny's computer to continue his research, and build a more comprehensive list, (one he could add to,) while Sam crept down the hall to get Jazz.
It was gonna be a long night for Team Phantom. Good thing it was Friday.
A/N: Longer chapter! Yay! This is probably going to be the normal size for chapters.
Next week, we hear Danny's side of this incident, and learn about a new problem *Evil grin*
As always, hope you enjoyed, and God bless :) - Ellie
