Author: loosedefense
Title: Weak
Pairing: Danny/Dash
Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is the property of Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon. This story implies nothing about the characters nor does the plot of the story have any effect on the show itself. This story is pure fiction and fantasy.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"How?" Danny lowered himself on to the bed. Kwan, having just sealed Ember in the Fenton Thermos, turned his head to the ghost boy's direction. Danny was bent over, arms resting on his legs, looking as though he were going to vomit at any moment. Kwan briefly wondered if the Danny was talking to him or himself. "How could you have found out?"
Kwan fisted the thermos uncomfortably. "It wasn't hard," he told him. "There were a lot of similarities between you and Phantom. You guys look a lot like each other, everyone's always thought so; it's just that the hair and the eyes, and, you know, we never knew you to be the hero type that threw everyone off. And there's the name. And we've all seen you with this thermos, and I know your father makes them—" he was rambling, he knew, but he couldn't stop.
Danny held up a hand to stop him from talking, turning back to the eighteen-year-old Kwan had known for years.
"You can't tell anyone," he looked up, eyes blazing with determination. "It would ruin everything."
Kwan grinned and raised his hand in solemn oath. "On my head."
Danny eyed him suspiciously. "Not even Dash?"
"Not even Dash," Kwan nodded. "Don't worry, Danny. I'm good at keeping a secret."
Danny regarded him silently for a moment, trying to figure out if he was actually meant to believe that. Wordlessly, he thrust out his hand, waiting for Kwan to give him the thermos. Kwan, however, didn't seem to realize that, as he slapped Danny five.
Danny hung his head exasperatedly. "The thermos?"
"Oh, right!" Kwan handed it over, a sheepish grin on his face. "What are you going to do with it?"
"I don't know," Danny murmured, taking a good look at it. He did not want to have to release Ember back into the Ghost Zone. From what she had said, it sounded as though everyone there would soon be after his blood; bringing her back would only give her another chance to come after him, more determined than ever to get the spirit. He focused back on Kwan and was surprised to see that the boy's face had darkened a little bit.
"You should put her back," he said.
Danny frowned. "What? Why?"
Kwan faltered. "Well, what would you do with her here? I mean, what if she gets out?"
"I've never known a ghost to get out of this before," Danny said. "Not unless it was broken or if the release button was pressed."
"But it's still going to take up space right?" Kwan persuaded. "If you keep collecting ghosts that come after you, this place will be filled with used thermoses pretty soon."
"No, you're right," Danny allowed. He knew this of course. "The thermos can fit multiple ghosts though. But I don't want her here."
Kwan nodded understandingly.
"And you care … why?" Danny raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I think everyone in this town has a vested interest in whatever Danny Phantom does," Kwan grinned jauntily, eyes crinkling.
Danny gave a feeble attempt at a smile in hopes of getting Kwan out of here as soon as possible. "I, um – my parents are going to be here soon," Danny informed him. "Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea for you to hang around right now. I mean, I'm sure they'll be too tired to put up with company."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Kwan nodded. "I was just about to leave."
Danny led him down and out of the front door, bidding him goodbye. Closing the door, he fretted, absentmindedly biting down on his lower lip and nibbling upon the soft tissue. Peeking out the window close to the door, he saw Kwan walking away, and rushed to the phone in the hall.
"Get Sam," he said when the person on the other line picked up. "And get over here. Now."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kwan hummed to himself, hands shoved deep in either pockets as he strolled down the street from Danny's home. He paused when he heard leaves rustle, turning his head to find the source, and smiled when he saw the otherworldly being waiting for him amongst the shrubbery.
He walked over.
"So you revealed yourself."
"As you knew I would at some point or another," Kwan replied.
"Of course. He, true to his nature, does not trust you." It leaned past to look at the FentonWorks building past Kwan's shoulder. "Even now he calls his friends over to consult over what ought to be done over this predicament."
"And now the next part of the plan."
"Convince him that you are a friend to him," it nodded.
"Just as easily done as it is said," Kwan smirked. "And now, I must go – it won't do, will it, to be seen in your company."
"No," it said. "And his friends must be rushing over as we speak. I will see you again."
"Fine." Kwan nodded, stepping back.
"And please," it called back to him before he left, "do Daniel Fenton the courtesy of not attending his funeral."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Danny flung open the door the second he heard Tucker knock, not giving the boy a chance to do more than tap once, startling both he and Sam. Danny's eyes darted warily from left to right, as though he expected to see groups of people hiding in the bushes waiting to pounce on cue. Quickly, he grabbed his two friends by their arms and pulled them in.
"What's going on?" Sam asked in astonishment, catching her footing.
Danny turned around, pushing the door into place with his back. He looked tense, and there was a sort of air about him that reminded Sam strongly of a trapped animal.
"Kwan—" his breath caught, "Kwan knows."
Tucker blinked.
"Knows what?"
"Knows!" Danny exclaimed, hands raised as he went over to a couch in the living room and half-fell on the cushion. "'Knows' as in 'knows the secret that no one outside the three of us is ever, ever supposed to know."
Sam gaped, going to him. "He knows you're half-ghost? How?"
"Vlad knows," Tucker added, joining his two friends on the seat.
Danny and Sam gave him an annoyed looked.
"How did Kwan find out?" Sam asked again, turning to Danny.
"I – I don't know," Danny said. "I was patrolling and Ember caught me off-guard; we started fighting, and ended up in my room. And the next thing I know, I'm held up at …" he sputtered, "guitarpoint, and all of a sudden, Kwan comes into the room and blasts her with one of my dad's ghost guns. Then he takes out the thermos and sucks her in – oh, and did I mention, he said 'Out of the way, Fenton,' before he trapped her."
Tucker and Sam didn't speak.
"Guys?"
"So, he just walks into your house out of the blue?" Tucker frowned.
"No," Danny shook his head. "Dash invited him."
"Dash was there as well?" Sam's eyes widened.
"No," Danny's voice took on a whiny tone. "Dash was over today, and he invited Kwan over, God knows why, and—what does it matter?" he cut off suddenly. "The point is, Kwan knows. What do I do?"
"What can you do?" Tucker said. "It's not like you can modify his memory or anything."
"What did Kwan say?" Sam questioned. "Did he say anything at all?"
"Yeah, of course," Danny mumbled. "I asked him how he figured it out, and he said it was really obvious. You know, with the name and the face and all that."
"And?" Tucker pushed.
"And I told him he had to promise not to say a word," Danny told them. "He agreed. He said he's good at keeping secrets."
"Keeping secrets!" Sam threw her hands in the air. "Those people? Danny, that's not going to hold! By the time you wake up tomorrow, the whole town is going to be talking about it. They don't know how to hold secrets."
"Yeah," Tucker nodded. "Remember the time in fourth grade when Kwan told the whole class that Sam—"
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Sam snapped. "Are you still going on about that? It was eight years ago!"
"Oh, come on," Tucker grinned. "Remember how shocked we all were?"
"Tucker," Sam warned, clenching her fist.
"I just think it was such a crying shame, that's all," Tucker held his hands up in defeat.
"Yeah, I believe it was my crying shame that everyone was making fun of the whole week," Sam muttered.
Despite himself, Danny gave a small chuckle at his friends' antics and the memory of the incident in question. But in a moment, he returned to his somber mood. They were right; neither Kwan nor his clique were known to be able to keep secrets, and this was probably the biggest one Amity Park had to offer. What guarantee did Danny have that he wouldn't be this year's public freakshow? He wasn't close to the popular group, never having what it took to become a member of Casper High's elite; Kwan didn't owe anything to him that his word would uphold.
"So what do I do?" he asked, hugging a small pillow left on the couch.
"I don't think there's anything you can do," Sam reasoned.
"Except blackmail," Tucker said, his mind having just landed on the option.
Sam looked at him in surprise, then turned to Danny delightedly. "There's an idea."
"How could I blackmail Kwan?" Danny raised an eyebrow. Tucker rolled his eyes.
"Go invisible. Intangible. Whatever. Who's better at discovering secrets than a ghost?"
Danny began to consider the possibility. It was desperate, and he had never done it before, not really. The secrets he had found about people around him in the past had sort of been delivered right into his lap. But what other choice did he have than to seek some leverage of his own? Danny sank back dejectedly. "But whatever secrets Kwan has can't match up to knowing who Danny Phantom's secret identity is. How do I beat that?"
They didn't say anything, each trying to come to a solution.
"If you can't beat him in quality," Sam said slowly, "maybe you could beat him in quantity."
"Of course!" Tucker nodded eagerly.
"All you have to do," Sam explained, "is to make sure that you have enough of Kwan's secrets to keep him quiet. He only has one of yours – but if you can dig up more than that, stuff that he doesn't want anyone to know, maybe he you'd have enough pull over him."
"It's a long shot," Danny mused. "But what other choice do I have right?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It wasn't, Danny found out, as easy as it sounded. In their haste to protect the secret, the three of them had forgotten about the fact that Danny was condemned to spend each day after school with Dash; it would do no good to try and dig out any secrets whenever Kwan decided to join his friend coming to FentonWorks. Danny couldn't bear the thought of looking at the Asian boy again, not until he knew that some damage control had been done to take care of this potentially explosive situation.
"You're gonna have to follow him then," Sam determined when Danny voiced his concerns about the plan.
"How?" Danny was growing more and more agitated with the entire thing. This was not how he was meant to spend his last year in high school, he was sure.
"Every night after Dash leaves, go over to Kwan's house," Sam said. "Eventually, I'm sure you'll find something … although, try to hurry it up – who knows what that jerk could do in the time until you get the dirt on him."
And so, Danny was forced to spend another afternoon with Dash and Kwan, steadfastly avoiding the latter's eyes whenever possible.
Fortunately, there wasn't much to put up with. The three of them mostly sat around the living room watching television, with Dash telling Kwan that Paulina was planning to throw a party in two weeks. It was a true sign that the animosity between Danny and he had not progressed when Dash completely ignored Danny when he spoke to Kwan about it, while Danny pretended not to care.
"You, uh, you think Paulina's still holding out that Danny Phantom will appear at one of her parties someday?" Kwan asked, his eyes stealing a glance to Danny.
Dash wrote this gesture off as his friend wondering if he was ever going to acknowledge Danny's presence and invite him to the party, which he had no intention of doing. He would already have to spend the entire afternoon in the Fenton residence thanks to this whole program, he had no desire to bring the loser into one of the exclusive parties he and his group were invited to.
"I don't think she'll ever stop," he sniggered. "It would be way cool for him to show up though."
"Yeah," Kwan leaned back in the chair, "but why would he bother to hang out with a bunch of really cool high school kids?"
"I'm going to get more soda," Danny muttered, getting up. He didn't know how much more of Kwan's teasing he could take.
Inside, he placed his empty glass on the kitchen counter and sighed, his tense body relaxing in the reprieve from Kwan's onslaught. He couldn't take the pressure; so much with Kwan being able to keep a secret.
Flipping open his cell phone, he quickly sent a text message to Sam and Tucker telling them that he was going to stalk Kwan that night, and would tell them everything when he got back.
Closing the phone again, he fixed his eyes on the glass, still not refilled, but staring at nothing. Unconsciously, he fingered it, gently running his index finger over the rim, and down the side, thinking about how his life had so suddenly spiraled out of control. In his mind's eye, Danny imagined a dramatized version of the way things were, watching himself decide that he had had enough and smash his wrist against the glass, and pull away to reveal a shared buried deep in his veins.
Shaking himself out of the fantasy, he set about refilling his drink.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Finally around seven, Dash and Kwan said their goodbyes.
Peering out the window as inconspicuously as he could, Danny made sure that the two boys had reached the other side of the street before morphing into Danny Phantom once again. Turning invisible and intangible, he shot through the door, pausing as Dash and Kwan separated, and trailed behind the Asian boy, hoping that he would simply go home and not anywhere else. It was, after all, extremely early.
Danny floated higher, anxious to keep a distance between the two of them, even though he knew that there was no way for Kwan to see him. It just made him feel safer, what with so much at risk.
Fortunately, Kwan turned into the street that Danny knew was his own, recalling the times he, Sam and Tucker had passed by to see the popular group milling about enjoying one of the parties the rest of the student body could only dream to get into.
When Kwan went in, Danny was waiting for him in his room, still invisible, undetected. He briefly wondered how he was to snoop around if he were intangible. He didn't expect Kwan to simply blurt out whatever deep, dark secrets he may have to an empty room. Danny supposed he would have to wait until Kwan left the room to get anything done.
That wasn't how things were going to go, it seemed: Danny winced and averted his eyes as Kwan began to strip out of his clothes, and didn't turn his face back until he had redressed.
Now dressed in a tank top, shorts and sports shoes, Kwan left his room and headed for another, which Danny discovered was a workout room; there were weights all over the place, and a punching bag was in one corner of the room, which was what Kwan headed for. Danny watched in surprise as Kwan began to hit it, at first gently, but as time moved on, the attacks became harder and more powerful. He had obviously been doing this for a while.
Danny wasn't sure how much time had passed; in the back of his mind, he knew that this was his chance to go back and search around Kwan's room, while he was busy with his exercise routine, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. He wondered where Kwan had learned to punch like that. It wasn't with the clumsy strikes people his age hit with; there was certain grace in his movements, and every punch told Danny that he fought with an experience one was not meant to possess unless circumstances, like Danny's own with fighting constantly against ghosts, forced it.
Eventually, Kwan slowed down and ceased altogether; he was sweating profusely, and Danny was sure that his muscles ached after the intense routine, but rather than take a break, Kwan jogged over to where a skipping rope hung, and, pulling it out, began to work with it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm telling you guys, it wasn't normal," Danny insisted over the phone later that night. He had just left Kwan's place and was now back in his own house, having made it back before his curfew, and was now currently engaged in a three-way call with Sam and Tucker up in his room.
"All he was doing was working out. What's the big deal?" Danny could hear the confusion in Sam's voice.
"I have to agree that it's just wrong for a person to work out for so long at night after a hard day of classes, but he's a jock Danny, that's all he knows," Tucker chimed in.
"It wasn't the fact that he was working out that was weird," Danny told them. "It was the way he did it. When he was using the punching bag, he was … skilled. Like, years of skill."
"Maybe they've had that punching bag for years," Sam said indifferently.
"Maybe," Danny said. "But it didn't look like it. It looked like he knew how to fight. How to really fight."
Tucker snorted. "Must be from all those years he used us as his punching bags."
"So you didn't find out anything at all?" Sam sounded disappointed.
"No," Danny apologized. "I was just in there with him the whole time. He worked out for over two hours."
"Over two hours?" Tucker exclaimed. "And you didn't look for anything suspicious in all that time?"
"Well, that looked suspcious," Danny argued, rolling his eyes. "Oh, and another thing: after he stopped with the punching bag, he went straight to the jump rope – and he jogged to get it."
There was silence on the other end.
"So?" Sam finally asked.
"Well, what kind of person, after working out that much, jogs to get a jump rope and immediately starts. He didn't give himself enough time to breathe. His muscles must have been aching, but he didn't relax for a while. Who does that – I'll tell you who," he had come up with his theory on the way back home, "someone who's working towards ... something, not someone who's just working out to maintain his body or whatever."
"He probably didn't want to break his rhythm," Sam rationalized.
Danny bit back a frustrated groan. "Look, I'll talk to you guys later," he said. "I need to get my homework done."
"Okay," Tucker said. "Bye."
"See you tomorrow," Danny clicked off the phone and put it back down on its receiver.
He knew he wasn't imagining it. Sam and Tucker didn't know; they had never had to fight before, not really. Danny recognized the furious desperation of a person whose body burned with exertion but didn't have the luxury to stop. That ws no regular workout session, he was sure of that. Kwan had had a goal in mind throughout it all, but what it was, Danny didn't know.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day was Saturday, and Danny couldn't have been happier about it. Unable to write his assignments for dwelling on Kwan's mystery, which the more he thought about, the more unsure he was about its existance outside of his mind, he had abandoned all attempts on schoolwork for seeking out any ghosts in the area to vent his frustrations upon. The box ghost, who he had spotted making his way to the box factory, had provided as a nice little outlet.
Today, Danny planned on spending some much-needed time alone and to stalk Kwan more later. However, while enjoying a nice bowl of frosted cereal, his plans changed when the doorbell rang.
Maddie got up to answer it, and a second later came back in with Dash Baxter trailing behind her.
"Dash!" Danny jumped up, staring at the blonde boy in surprise.
"Get your running shoes, Fe—Danny," Dash told him. He smiled at Jack and Maddie angelically.
"Hello, have we met?" Jack asked in a boisterous tone.
"Yes, Jack," Maddie answered for Dash. "This is the nice boy that Jazz used to tutor before she went to college." At Jack's blank expression, she continued, "he also joined our Ghostateers team that time just before Danny Phantom attacked the mayor."
"Ah yes!" Jack hit his fist on the table excitedly.
"How do you do, Mister Fenton?" Dash said politely. He turned back to Danny.
"Get your stuff."
"Uh, Dash—" Danny gripped him hard by the elbow and led him out of the kitchen and into the living room. "What are you doing here?"
Dash raised his eyebrows. "Uh, I'm here as part of our arrangement, remember?"
Danny stared at him in horror. "You mean this includes weekends too?"
"No rest for the suicidal, Fenton," Dash smirked.
Danny narrowed his eyes.
"I can't spend all day with you," Dash went on. "Even I'm not that dedicated to waste an entire Saturday here. So come on, we'll just … hang out a bit," he said this as though it mortally wounded him, "and call it a day if you promise not to cut yourself or whatever afterwards."
"I don't know, a Saturday morning with you and self-mutilation sounds pretty tempting," Danny taunted.
"Shut up Fenton," Dash hissed, careful as Danny's parents were in the next room.
"What about all that stuff about not wanting to be seen with me in public?" Danny questioned.
Dash frowned. "Well, screw that. Kwan's probably already told everyone. Dude's the biggest mouth in town after Paulina and Star."
"Just what I needed to hear," Danny murmured softly to himself.
Dash frowned. "What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Well, then go get your gear. Let's go."
"Um, Dash?" Danny said, "you still haven't told me why I would want to waste a perfectly good Saturday morning with you."
Dash cocked his head. "I'll do better than that," he smirked before sauntering into the kitchen announcing, "Mister and Missus Fenton, I have to tell you something—"
Danny's eyes widened in horror; he rushed over to Dash, who was blocking the entrance to the kitchen and hissed, "Okay, okay, I'll get changed."
"—I really love that huge silver billboard blimp thing on top of your roof," Dash gave them a flattering grin.
"Why thank you, Dash," Maddie smiled back. "It's actually—"
"It's actually a prototype jet that we built!" Jack jumped in. "Not as fast, but …" his voice took on a loving caress, "… you'll never find another baby safer."
Maddie patted his hand.
"Okay," Danny grumbled, walking down the stairs and pulling a white tank top over his body, "I'm here."
"See you later," Dash waved goodbye to them and went with Danny to the front door.
"I'm so glad Danny's starting to be around more friends," Maddie said to Jack, pausing to take a sip of her coffee. "He shouldn't limit himself to just Tucker and Sam."
"Ah, don't worry Maddie. He's a good kid. Probably as well-liked as I was in high school," Jack replied, biting into his toast.
"Yes, Jack," Maddie smiled indulgingly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I really hate you."
"I really hate you."
Danny and Dash had been running for twenty minutes and had so far been exchanging the same insult, or ones barely varied, back and forth the entire time.
"I have to say, Fenton, I'm impressed you've managed to keep up so far." Dash panted. "I thought you'd have passed out by now."
"Just another example of how much you know, I guess," Danny wheezed. In truth, he wanted to kill himself. Surely death was better than this: his legs were screaming, he could barely catch his breath, and what little of it he did have left was wasted trading insults with Dash. He both admired and envied the smooth sheen of moisture coating Dash's pale skin; he was sweating like a pig.
Along their run, the passed the Odyssey Gym, and Danny slapped Dash's arm in irritation. "Why don't you just get a damn gym membership and do this there?"
Dash glanced at the gym and snorted. "Please. I'm already a member, thanks. But only losers run with air-conditioning."
"Is there any other word in your vocabulary to describe a person?" Danny demanded.
"Plenty, Fenton," Dash said. "I can give you another name if you want."
"Shut up, Dash," Danny muttered. He stopped in surprise though when he caught sight of a familiar figure by the large window of the gym. Dash caught sight of this and paused.
"What?" he asked.
"I didn't know Kwan was a member here," Danny said, watching him head for one of the rooms that were almost completely out of sight from where Danny stood now.
Dash turned around and saw who he was talking about. "The whole team has a membership," he shrugged. "Gotta keep the physique up, you know. I didn't know he worked out this early on Saturdays though."
"I'll be right back," Danny told him.
Dash frowned in confusion. "What? Where are you going?"
Danny didn't reply but ran around the building. "Fenton!" he heard Dash cry as he ran. Turning invisible and intangible in his human form, Danny slipped into the building and looked around to see if he could spot Kwan. No luck.
He headed for one of the rooms, and saw a bunch of people spinning; another room revealed middle-aged and older women doing some sort of yoga-type of exercise; finally, he found a room with only one person in it: Kwan. There was a pommel horse in the center of the room, and Kwan, dressed in clothes similar to the ones Danny had seen him in the night before was vaulting upon it, performing agile movements that Danny hadn't known he was capable of.
He heard the front door swing open and poked his head out to see Dash walk in, a deep frown on his face, no doubt looking for him.
Quickly, Danny left the building, taking one last look at Kwan who was still working the horse without pause. Walking out the side of the building, he rematerialized outside and jogged over to the front. He saw Dash looking around in annoyance, thinking he'd be inside. Danny rapped sharply on the window, catching the boy's attention. Dash came outside and stared at him curiously.
"Where were you?"
"Oh, um, I went to take a leak," Danny lied.
Dash curled his lip. "Where?"
Danny folded his arms across his chest. "This is why we should have done this in the gym."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
They were silent as they continued with the remainder of their run. Danny used this time to think. Dash knew Kwan better than anybody else, and even he didn't know that Kwan had taken to working out so early on Saturday, which meant two things, as far as Danny was concerned: either it was a very new activity, or it was a secret.
With his manic routine the previous night, and now strenuous aerobics in such a short time later, Danny was more convinced than ever that Kwan was up to something. The question which plagued him was what?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Note: Thanks for all the great reviews up until this chapter. I hope to hear from more of you. evil review whore grin
Thanks, everyone, for the compliments on keeping everyone in-character.
Nonasuki-chan: Thanks so much for the comment about the cliffhanger. This update fast enough:p
Please read and review, everyone:D