"It's prom week!"
All around Danny, signs of bereavement over the shocking events of the past weekend were beginning to fade, to be replaced by the excited buzz of students anticipating the long-awaited event topping their social calendar. Having managed to gain closure over Vlad's untimely demise, it was hard for Danny not to get swept up in the tides of good cheer himself. Though he had made no plans thus far, he was determined to put aside his frustrations and enjoy himself. It was time to feel happy again.
"So who are you taking with you?" Sam asked him when he closed his locker that Monday. Danny could see the effects all this prom talk had on her; the antisocial teenager walked with a renewed vigor, and could barely keep a grin off her face. Danny was quite sure her eyes had a certain sparkle about them too.
"Oh, I don't know," he said breezily. "I'll probably go stag."
Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Going alone to the prom? I have to say, Danny, that takes a lot of guts."
Danny shrugged. "We usually go alone for these things, don't we?"
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "but prom?"
"Don't tell me you've got someone?" Danny shot her a wide-eyed look.
"Of course I do," a giddy look overcame the goth girl's face. "Winston said he would come down from Princeton on Saturday."
"Winston?" Danny said with some surprise. "You guys are still together?"
"I managed to do some fast talking after you and Tucker nearly broke his back," Sam said coolly. "Speaking of which, do you know who he's bringing?"
"Tuck?" Danny laughed. "Man, if Tucker managed to find himself a date, I will eat his hat."
Sam smirked. "Careful, Danny – you've never had a good track record with that particular threat."
The person benefiting the most from the approaching event was clearly Paulina; with the committee's dedication to creating the greatest prom night yet in the history of Casper High had all of them flitting back and forth to the girl for final approval on everything that went down.
Sam fumed in silence as the three of them watched the display in fascination in the cafeteria that afternoon. "It's so ridiculous," she said, stabbing at her lettuce unseeingly. "Little over a week ago they completely abandoned her because she advocated the Guys in White spying on us – and now it's like none of it ever happened."
"Yeah, well, that's teenagers for you," Tucker said sagely, stuffing a handful of fries into his mouth. "Short attention spans, every single one of them."
"It's not even them who infuriate me the most," Sam continued as though he hadn't spoken. "It's her."
"Oh, there's a new one I haven't heard before," Danny quipped.
"How can she act as if nothing happened? You would think that experiencing the unpopular side of high school would give some depth, some insight – that's what always happens in the movies!" she slapped an open palm against the table.
"The band says that they won't have any transport until 10:30, which will be way too late," one complained, waving a pile of papers in her hands to grab the Latina's attention. "I would threaten to cancel their gig, but I don't think we can book someone else in time!"
Paulina heaved a put-upon sigh. "Tell them to get to the hotel and set up. We'll move them to the afterparty – and make sure you wring an extra hour out of them to make up for the inconvenience, no charge. Then put up signs to audition students to play for the prom. There must be some talent hiding away in this hellhole." She took a sip of her coffee, made a face, and glared at another girl hovering by her side. "I told you I wanted a double tall non-fat half-caf extra hot latte with whipped cream, vanilla, hazelnut, almond and raspberry with extra foam and two packets of sweet 'n' low and one packet of Splenda topped with caramel sauce, dumbass. What the hell is this?"
"S – sorry, Paulina," the girl squeaked, fumbling with the hot Styrofoam cup tossed her way. "I can go back and get another one—"
But Paulina shifted her body so that it angled away from the girl, a clear indication that she was blanking her out. Danny winced at the harsh dismissal.
"She's a nightmare to put up with in drama class," Sam muttered.
"Paulina takes drama?" Danny asked curiously.
Sam rolled her eyes. "Of course Paulina takes drama. You don't think any possible ambition she could dredge up goes beyond wanting to be a model or an actress, do you? All she ever does is shoot through her lines like she's trying to get as many sentences out before losing her breath. It's awful."
"You know, that method always worked well for Katharine Hepburn," Tucker said mildly. Sam glowered.
Of all the nominees for the title of Prom Queen, Paulina was the only one who didn't seem to put any outward effort into gaining votes for the big night. Star had abandoned her initial method of tiptoeing around the other girl to quietly scrounge up support and could be seen frantically hanging up posters urging students to vote for her.
"Screw her," she said brashly when Danny asked her about it. "It's my senior year too – why shouldn't I do all I can to end it on a positive note? All those years having to take a backseat to her … just because she had the fancier house, nicer clothes, bigger boobs – the day that she got breasts first was the day everything changed between us, but now, after all this time, we're finally on the same level again, and I am going to run with it all the way to the end."
"Um, I don't think you should talk that way if you want to get people to vote for you," Danny advised. "Maybe you try being a little bit nicer."
"You're a loser, Fenton," she said plainly. "I don't have to be nice to you. Vote Star!" she slapped a pin over his chest. Danny yelped as he felt cold unforgiving metal graze against his nipple.
While Star aimed for the jugular with posters of herself in her cheerleading outfit, an obvious attempt to play for the concept of team spirit that Casper High was so obviously missing these days, Eleanor Davis had gone for a different tactic.
"Nice poster," Danny couldn't help admiring. The rather mousy looking girl dazzled in an olden Southern Belle costume. Her normally straight hair had been teased to curls falling down her face, and makeup and digital rendering erased all signs of the small acne scars that marred her cheeks. Eleanor thanked him with a practiced giggle.
"I asked Antonio what he envisioned for the shoot, and he suggested a going for a more romantic aspect," she told him. "I thought it was so smart. Amity Park really does need a break from the doldrums of daily life. I think this school could really do with some sort of fantasy to escape from the hardships the students face every day, and I'm willing to provide that."
"Yeah, well, it's really good," Danny felt his face heating up as the girl ran her fingers against his arm.
"I'm really not like those other girls, Danny," she toyed with a fancy studded cross that hung around her neck, gazing at him through eyelids lowered invitingly. "Vote for me?"
"Sure," A flirtatious smile crept lazily on to his face. Who knew a little reinvention could make someone so hot?
"What do you think you're doing?"
Danny turned around and nearly jumped back at the sight that greeted him. Never had he seen such ire in the eyes of Paulina Sanchez. For a wild moment he thought that she was jealous that he was paying attention to another girl – but no, that was ridiculous. Then he remembered that Paulina was close friends with Dash, and that she was aware of his relationship with the jock.
But the Hispanic girl reached out and coiled her fingers around the fancy cross ornament decorating Eleanor's neck, ignoring the girl's cry of surprise and she pulled it forward to inspect it. "Why is it," Paulina began with barely suppressed rage, "that in all the years I've known you, I have never seen you wearing this until now?"
"It – it was a present," Eleanor gasped.
"From who," Paulina sneered, "your photographer?"
"Paulina…" Danny started. Eleanor grasped the silver cross close to her chest when Paulina let go. "Why do you care?" she admonished. "It's mine!"
Paulina loomed over her and waved a long pointed finger in her face. "That cross," she snarled, "represents two thousand years of blood and suffering. You don't get to put it on to win votes for some stupid tiara." She rotated her arm so that both Danny and Eleanor were staring at the underside of her wrist where Danny was amazed to find, in green ink, a small tattoo of Jesus with his eyes closed and head held high as he hung from the cross.
"This – means – something," Paulina continued in a loud, clear voice. "Got it?"
And then she straightened her back and marched off while a sea of students parted for her, gaping in disbelief over the display. Danny's eyes found a thunderstruck Sam standing next to an equally disbelieving Tucker by the lockers.
"Dude," Tucker said in a low voice when Danny slid up beside them, "I think Paulina just had some sort of breakdown."
The three friends gazed back to the spot where the incident had taken place, where Eleanor Davis was still standing, frozen, her hand clapped over her heart. Danny turned to Sam to make some comment, but frowned when he noticed the preoccupied look upon the goth girl's face as she fingered the underside of her wrist.
Sam was in a weird mood for the rest of the day. Danny watched from his periphery as Sam spent the next lesson alternately rubbing at her wrist and sneaking glances at the oblivious girl. Try as he might, Danny couldn't stop his own eyes from drifting to Dash's empty seat. Before his mind could contemplate on the athlete's whereabouts or ruminate on the conversation he had eavesdropped upon between him and Mr. Lancer, Danny would force himself to concentrate on the nattering teacher in front of him before once again turning his attention to Sam.
Drama was the last class of the day for Sam, so Danny bade her goodbye as he turned the opposite direction to his own classroom. Before entering, he turned back around one last time and was surprised to see Sam approach the popular girl and initiate one of their undoubtedly awkward conversations.
"Mister Fenton." Danny turned around to find Lancer standing at the edge of the doorway with a cocked eyebrow. Flushing, Danny hurried inside to find his seat.
Lancer turned to the chalkboard and began squiggling on it; Danny felt his eyes droop and his mind start to wander. Suddenly there was a loud rhythmic banging that jolted the students out of their reverie and caused Lancer to veer off-tangent in the middle of his diagram. The flimsy door flew open and the entire class stared as two burly men dressed in white suits and dark sunglasses stormed in.
"Shantaram!" Lancer growled exasperatedly. "If you don't mind, we're in the middle of a class—"
One of them held up a badge. "FBI, baldy," he stated. "We're here for Daniel Fenton."
Danny's eyes widened as all eyes turned to him.
"Daniel, I think you'd better go with these men," Lancer said after a moment's silence. "Don't make any trouble for yourself," he mumbled through barely-parted lips as Danny passed him, still shoving his textbook into his bag. Danny gave him a small grateful nod before being flanked by the two agents who escorted him out the class and led him through the school's entrance into a waiting van.
"Whatever you're going to do," he managed to say in a steady voice, "you'd better have spent a long time thinking about it first.
Neither man answered, opening the back of the surprisingly spacious vehicle. "Get in," one ordered. Danny glared mutely at him before complying, heaving himself inside and sitting down on one of the benches poking through either side of the van's walls. One after the other, both agents climbed in after him, the second one slamming the door shut behind him. Immediately, the van lurched forward. Danny sat in stony silence facing his two compatriots until he nearly fell over when the truck came to an abrupt halt.
Not missing a beat, the two agents jumped to their feet and threw the doors open again, and shoved him out. Danny stumbled and found himself outside Amity Park's police main police station. His mind flashed to the last time he had been here, presenting his statement for the officers to take down following Kwan's accident.
Whatever Danny expected to happen when he walked through those doors, he certainly did not expect his family to be involved. He blinked upon seeing the faces of Jack, Maddie, Jazz and Jasper and the stressful expressions they wore.
"What's going on?" he blurted dumbly.
Maddie glided over to wrap him in a hug. "It's going to be okay, sweetie. These men just want to ask a few questions…"
Danny didn't understand. He pulled away and stared in confusion into his mother's brimming eyes before darting to take in the uncomfortable look his father had and the way Jazz kept bringing her hands together into knots and pulling them apart again. No, he didn't understand at all.
"This way, Mister Fenton," one police officer gestured through another set of doors. "Our questioning rooms are right through here. You'll be attended to by Agent M and Agent N here…"
Maddie turned to the man. "We're going with him."
"We have to question him in private!" one of the Guys in White barked.
"I told you before and I'm telling you again – no!" Maddie seethed.
"That's right," Jack jumped in. "We're his parents and we're going with him."
The party turned to the ageing police officer for help. He shifted his weight from one foot to another. "Ordinarily, its procedure to question a suspect alone, but given the fact that he's a minor…" he offered.
That was all Maddie needed. She gripped Danny's arm tightly and said resolutely, "We're coming."
Jazz got to her feet hastily. "I'm coming too."
"No," Jack told her with an air of finality.
"We won't be long, sweetheart," Maddie said kindly. "You can stay here and keep Jasper company."
Jazz sank back down to her seat in disappointment, but didn't argue. Danny tried to silently question her about what was going on, but she kept her eyes on the floor and didn't look up.
"Come on," one of the men in suits snapped. "Let's get this over with."
They led Danny and his parents into one of the small, poorly-lit rooms enclosed by one-way windows and sat him down on one chair. One agent remained outside, watching the proceedings as they happened while another took the seat opposite Danny and bore down on him with his impenetrable sunglasses. Jack and Maddie stood on either side of their son, each placing a protective hand on his shoulder. Maddie solemnly requested that the officer remain in the room with them, and Danny was slightly comforted by the presence of the three adults. It was one thing facing the Guys in White as Danny Phantom; it was far more intimidating to be seated before one sneering contemptuously down at him in a small room as Danny Fenton.
The agent, an olive-skinned man who was most likely in his mid-thirties, Danny guessed, with a fine crop of dark hair adorning his head military-style, pulled out a small tape recorder and activated it before speaking directly into it in a low rumble, "Case number #50721: Daniel Josiah Fenton. Location: Amity Park Police Headquarters—"
"A proud all-American name for a proud all-American boy, too!" Jack interjected loudly, thumping Danny solidly on the back. The agent gave him a dirty look and set the recorder down on the table.
A grim silence settled over the room. Danny squirmed in his seat, hyperaware of the strong grips his parents had on his arms.
"Mister Fenton, please describe your relationship with one Vlad Masters," the agent stated.
Danny looked from his mother to his father. His mother gave him a small squeeze and his dad provided him with an encouraging smile.
"Um, he was best friends with my parents, I guess," Danny said, eyes shooting back to the tape recorder sitting a few inches away. "I didn't really know him that well."
"Really?" the agent said in a tone that clearly showed he didn't believe him. "In that case, Mister Fenton, would you care to explain why Mister Masters named you as one of two beneficiaries to his fortune?"
Danny shrugged off his parents' hands, rubbing some feeling back into his shoulders. "I don't know," he said slowly, "he was an old rich guy. It'd only be normal for him to be a little eccentric."
The agent leaned forward, the dim lighting catching on his sunglasses. "How eccentric?"
Danny stared. There was a pregnant pause brewing.
"Maybe it would be best for you to clarify your question?" the officer in the background suggested.
The agent pulled away, leaning back against his seat. "Fine."
"Mister Fenton, have you ever had sex with Vlad Masters?"
"What?" Daniel shrieked.
The agent watched him coldly. "Answer the question, Mister Fenton."
"I – I – no! How could you even think—" he turned his gaze on to his parents face. "Mom, dad – you guys don't honestly think—"
"Of course not, honey," Maddie glared at the man sitting before them. "This is just sick. I told you before, my son has always retained minimal contact with Vlad—"
"Then why is it that Mister Masters offered to pay your son's medical bill?" the agent slid forward a slip of paper. Maddie fell silent and picked it up, scanning over its contents.
"Danny, you were in the hospital?" she asked, surprised.
"The very same day Masters disappeared," the agent informed triumphantly. "He paid your son's medical bill hours before. Of course, Danny here didn't accept any sort of treatment, did you, son?" He leered. "These doctors sure do charge a heck of a lot for a simple consultation."
Danny clenched his hands into face. "I was careless in shop class," he lied. "The school nurse advised me to go to a doctor just as a precaution. It – was – nothing."
"Nothing," the agent repeated softly. "Maybe so; that still doesn't explain why you're entitled to half of a multi-billion dollar empire amassed by a man you 'retained minimal contact' with." He brought forward another slip of paper, one with creases upon it gained from having been folded up many times over. "I think you'd like to read this." He handed it over to Danny's father, who accepted it wordlessly. "And I think your wife would like to hear it too."
"'My dear Daniel'," Jack recited in a zombie-like tone. Danny shut his eyes, his face burning with humiliation. His lip trembled as his father continued to read the contents of the note out for all to hear. He wished he hadn't handed it over to the lawyers, wished that he had had the foresight to at least deliver it to them anonymously. "…still say, you will always be my little badger." Jack lowered his hand to his side mechanically.
"Well, now, if that isn't the sweetest thing these little ears ever did hear," the agent drawled, raising his arms to rest on the back of his head. Danny couldn't lift his face, couldn't bear to look at his parents, at anyone, or have them look at him in return. The agent smiled vindictively at Jack. "I'm sure you must have found it as odd as we did that Masters named your wife to inherit all his money in his will – but I simply cannot imagine what must be running through your head now." He turned back and addressed Danny, "You wanna explain to us what that 'little task' you perform so exquisitely was all about, son?"
Shaking with fury, Danny raised himself to tower over the smirking man. "I don't have – to explain anything – to you," he hissed poisonously. "I don't have – to defend myself – to you. Your little vendetta – against my family – and my town – is over." There was so much he wanted to say; so much he wanted to do; but justifying his actions and his whereabouts, his life, would only serve to accomplish the needs of this vile piece of filth sitting before him.
He turned around and marched towards the door, his hunched figure providing only a hint of the murderous expression that twisted his face. "We're not finished," the agent called back.
"Yes, you are," Maddie said quietly. She leaned in towards the unperturbed man. "Like my son said, your agenda against my family is over. I am not going to sit idly by and let you pollute the minds of my neighbors any longer. You'd better believe the Fentons are going to fight back." She clasped her husband's hand in her own and together they went to join their son by the door.
"End transmission," the agent said quickly into the speakers, turning the tape recorder off and pocketing the device. "Oh Missus Fenton—" Maddie stilled, her back rigid. "Don't think we haven't got a few questions for you and your husband too. As a matter of fact, we expect an itemized list of all the inventions Vlad Masters commissioned the both of you to create. It'll be a big help when we conduct our searches of Axion Laboratories."
The three Fentons turned and leveled him their most hateful glare before Danny wrenched open the door and stomped out. Jack followed suit, and Agent M had just enough time to grace Maddie with a victorious smile before she slammed the door behind her as hard as she could.
Author's Note: Wow, where did all of that come from? This chapter was supposed to include an encounter with a ghost(s), of which I have a roster which I plan to introduce – or reintroduce in some cases – but the above scene turned out in such a way that I honestly thought adding them in now would rob this chapter of its intensity. Why, you ask, use a couple of OCs we don't care about instead of our beloved Agents O and K? They'll be coming soon, don't worry.
In the meantime, would anyone happen to know where I can watch the episode Frightmare? I haven't had the opportunity to see many of the third season's episodes (I don't know if you can tell, but Frostbite was a last-minute addition I threw on in one of the previous chapters just by mentioning his name), but I am really intrigued by the character Nocturne and would really like to have the chance to portray him, because he looks like he's one scary motherfucker. I need to get a gist of what he's like in order to do him justice though.
Hope to hear what you guys thought of this chapter; I quite like the way it turned out. And I think I have to say Paulina is my favorite character to write about. She is totally kickass.
Oh, and by the way, kindly disregard that goal I set for myself to end the story in five chapters or less; I think it's pretty obvious by now that's not going to happen. We'll probably end somewhere before 40 though.