I do not own Danny Phantom.

Proud and Angry Parents

"Why didn't you tell us you wanted to hunt ghosts?" Maddie asked her son. "We would have taken you out and shown you the ropes!"

"Finally, I can have a sidekick instead of being one!" Jack said happily.

Danny groaned in exasperation. He slouched against the couch, his backpack resting by his feet. The plastic bag of ghost artifacts was stuffed inside, and he hoped Lancer didn't tell his parents about them. That was something he didn't feel like explaining.

The confrontation had started the second he arrived home from school. To his slight surprise, they were more excited than disappointed in his little ghost fighting adventure. And that made him feel guilty.

Time to break their hearts and listen to a lot of sobbing from Dad, he thought. Ghost hunting with his parents just wasn't an option. How could he continue being Phantom if his parents believed him to be a ghost hunter? They would become overprotective. They would be watching him closely, and in the worst case scenario they would probably plant a tracking device on him.

And he didn't need that.

"Mom, Dad, hold on. That was a one-time thing. I had the Fenton Blaster and Fenton Thermos on me because Tucker wanted to study them."

"For what?" Maddie asked with a frown.

"It's Tucker." Danny shrugged. "Who knows what goes on in that twisted head of his?"

Maddie studied Danny for a moment. "So, there's no chance you're going to become a ghost hunter like your father and I?" she asked, disappointed.

"Never."

One of the many lies he and his friends have been forced to tell ever since he became Phantom.

As predicted, his father began sobbing into a large hanky. "Why, Danny? Why?"

Danny leaned forwards and awkwardly patted Jack on the arm in comfort. "Dad, I'm just not into ghost hunting, that's all."

"Noooo!" Jack wailed.

Maddie consoled her husband. "Danny showed real skill battling those lowdown ghosts, so he has our ghost fighting genes!" she said soothingly. "That's something to be proud of!"

Jack stopped crying and looked thoughtful. "Yeah, you're right!"

Danny tried to slip upstairs but a black-gloved hand fell on his shoulder. "Not so fast, young man. We're very proud that you fought those ghosts and won. It shows the time we spent training you and Jazz has paid off. But you brought Sam and Tucker into that mess, and you know better than to bring inexperienced people on ghost hunting missions."

The raven-haired boy sighed. "Mom, Tucker and Sam were there when the ghosts attacked, and they're not inexperienced! I showed them how to use all the Fenton gear you've invented, just so they could be prepared."

Jack perked up. "Do you think one of them could be my sidekick?" he asked hopefully.

"No," said Danny. "I don't think so."

Maddie hesitated before letting go of her son's shoulder. "Well, if you've trained them, then I guess it is okay. But their parents aren't going to like it."

Danny inched his way towards the stairs. "Don't worry. Like I said, it was a one-time thing. Circumstantial. It'll never happen again," he promised before hurrying up the stairs to his bedroom.

His parents were taken care of. Of course, he would have to tell a different story to Lancer. How else was he going to explain to his English teacher the many more bruises he was going to get?

At least, getting busted will never happen again, he thought.

After this, he was going to be extremely careful. Or as close to careful as he could get, anyway.

…

"Do you have any idea how dangerous ghost hunting is?" Pamela cried.

Sam was lounging in the black leather chair in her rec room, watching the gory events unfold on the plasma screen in front of her. "Relax," she sighed. "Those ghosts came out of nowhere and we had no choice but to use the gear Danny had in his backpack."

"I don't like you hanging out with that Danny boy," snapped Pamela. "His family is insane! Fighting ghosts for a living, that's crazy!"

"Mother, have you ever seen Danny's parents ever catch a ghost?" asked Sam.

"N-no," Pamela was forced to admit.

"Then they're obviously not good ghost hunters and they're not putting anyone in danger. Just themselves," she reasoned. "And besides, Danny trained me and Tucker just in case something happened. Which did. And we survived. You should be thankful."

Pamela was about to comment when Jeremy stormed down the stairs. He had just come home from work and heard everything from his mother. "Samantha, this is the last straw!" he cried. "I'm filing a restraining order and this time it's staying!"

Sam sighed in annoyance and turned around. "Father, if you file a restraining order, I'll run away and elope with Danny. And I know by the time I get my wedding certificate, that restraining order won't even be active yet."

"You're only fourteen!"

"Las Vegas, baby." Sam turned her violet eyes back to the horror movie.

"You wouldn't!"

"Try me. And even if you try to get the restraining order in secret, I'll run off and marry Tucker."

Ugh, yuck. Sam wrinkled her nose. Threw up a little, there.

But it was the strongest weapon in her arsenal, and she was going to use it as much as she could.

"Ugh!" Jeremy snarled and stormed back upstairs, knowing he had lost another battle with his nonconformist daughter.

Pamela bit her lip and sighed. "Promise you won't fight ghosts again?"

"I won't fight ghosts unless it's for self-defense or if someone needs my help."

Knowing that was the most she was going to get from her daughter, she hurried upstairs to calm her husband down, leaving Sam to watch her movie and dream about marrying Danny in Vegas.

…

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mary asked, frantically studying her son for any more injuries.

"It's just a fat lip Mom. It won't happen again," said Tucker.

Alex frowned. "What was Danny doing with ghost gear in his backpack?"

Tucker stuck to the story his friends had made up. He, apparently, had lost the right to speak. "I wanted to study the ghost gear, put the info in my P.D.A. You know, to get more informed on ghost technology."

"Well...it's a good thing you wanted it when you did. Otherwise..." He shuddered at the possibilities of what the ghosts could have done to his child.

Tucker smiled. "Don't worry Dad. We beat the ghosts, thanks to Danny training Sam and I."

Mary crossed her arms. "Why didn't you tell us Danny had trained you?"

"I didn't think you'd approve."

These lies come too easily. I don't know how I should feel about that.

Mary sighed. "Well, I suppose it's a good skill to have. Especially in this town."

Tucker let out a sigh of relief as his parents filed out of his room, effective closing the conversation. Danny's secret was safe. He knew he and Sam would have to lie low in the ghost fighting game for a while, but other than that, everything was back to normal.

Or as normal as anything could get for them, anyway.