Between when they moved in and when school started, Danny explored his area of the city. Mom worked during the day, so the teen familiarized himself with the way to and from school, to the local fast food restaurants, and the movie theater. The school looked pretty normal. Two stories, several entrances, a grassy area to the side and extending around to the back, and several parking lots. It was a lot bigger than Casper High had been.
He'd only gotten lost once, on the way from the school to his apartment. He ended up at a sudden break in the city where, about fifty feet from the road, there was a grassy hill with a gravel path. Interested, Danny had climbed the surprisingly steep hill. He'd come over the crest of the hill to find wide cliffs with the bay spread out below him. There was a huge, windowed building in the shape of a 'T' on a small island on one side of the bay. Danny assumed it was the 'Titans Tower' that Tucker had talked about, headquarters of the Teen Titans. Danny wasn't sure if it was currently being used with the Teen Titans away, but it still looked cool.
For being so near the city, the spot had been surprisingly calm and quiet. The waves and seagulls that Danny had been seeing all over the city made noise, of course, but it was a different kind of noise. There was no honking or constant… well, Danny could only describe it as a kind of hum that the city always had. Here there was just wind, water, and birds. It was kind of nice. He made sure to remember the way as he headed back to the apartment, in case he needed a place to get away.
He hadn't really seen more of the Teen Titans substitutes. Tucker kept messaging him more conspiracy theories about supposed 'disappearances', but Danny figured if that was true, the Justice League would do something. That was what they were for, right? Dealing with big things, like mass superhero disappearances.
Danny woke up around four AM the morning of his first day of school. He tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't stop thinking. This was his first first day of school where Dad wasn't going to drive him. Even if Danny walked every day for the rest of the year, Dad had always driven him the first day. They'd left earlier than they needed to so they could get breakfast on the way and Danny always felt afterwards that maybe he could handle things after all.
How was he supposed to handle it now?
After laying in bed for too long, thinking about all the things Dad was going to miss this year - he was signed up for driving class next semester and Dad wasn't there - he needed to move and do something. It didn't matter that he didn't need to wake up for another hour, he couldn't last another minute. Three months ago, he would have gone flying. Three months ago, though, his family had been complete. After what happened last time he flew off while his family was still sleeping, he didn't dare leave.
Finally, after a moment of debate, Danny settled on climbing onto the fire escape. It was hot outside, despite how early it was, but Danny didn't really feel it. He leaned on the rail and watched the cars pass as he tried not to think. He'd called Tucker and Sam, and Valerie last night, at different times, and they'd all said how they missed him and how it would be weird not seeing him at school. He missed them too. It felt like there was a small part of him missing and gone numb when he thought of them and Jazz. He'd talked to her the day before too. She'd had her usual lecture on having a positive attitude and doing his homework and everything he usually rolled his eyes at. He'd still ignored what she had been saying, just listening to the familiar sound of her voice. He missed her more than he'd thought he would. Who knew not having a sister to sneak around would suck so much? She was loving Cambridge, of course. She'd already learned how to navigate around campus and was quickly learning the town. She made it sound like she was living life the way she had always wanted to, and Danny was a little jealous. How could she move on so easily, when Danny had nightmares and couldn't stop thinking about what ifs? Was there something wrong with Danny that he was stuck dwelling and couldn't stop thinking about the stiff, sticky carpet, dark with-
The alarm went off, interrupting Danny from his thoughts. He shook his head and ducked back inside to turn off the alarm.
Mom was already in the kitchen with cereal and bowls out for breakfast when Danny came out. He didn't have much of an appetite and mostly scooped up cereal pieces just to drop them back into the milk.
"Danny, sweetheart, how are you feeling? Are you excited for your first day?"
Danny shrugged. "I guess." No. Glancing at the time, he carried his soggy cereal to the sink to dump it out and picked up his backpack after he put the bowl and spoon in the open dishwasher. "I should probably go," he said reluctantly.
Mom put her own dishes in the dishwasher rack and utensil basket. "Here, honey, let me take you."
Danny hesitated, shoving his hands into his pockets and studying the cereal box sitting on the table. "…Okay."
A few days after they'd moved in, Mom had put the RV in storage and bought a white car. It was a boring four door sedan, like a million other cars. It was totally normal. Danny hated it.
Without a word, he climbed in, buckled up, and stared out the window. Maybe he could pretend that everything wasn't wrong if he didn't look at any of it. He could pretend that it was all okay, just for a few minutes.
"Danny, sweetheart?"
Or not. He didn't turn his head, watching as they passed the empty sidewalk outside of the pizzeria. "Yeah?"
Mom took a deep breath as they stopped at a light. "I know that Jack always took you to school. I wish he could be here, but, honey, I want you to know that he would be so proud of you right now. You could be upset about moving, but you're getting out and doing things instead of sulking in the apartment, and here you are for your first day." She grabbed his hand and squeezed, slowly accelerating as the light turned green. "We are both so proud of you and the amazing young man you're becoming."
Danny swallowed, blinking hard. "He'd be proud of you too, Mom." His voice was tight. "Working at your lab and working on getting them to recognize ectology and people treating you here like they should have in Amity, with respect, and," He was rambling. "He'd be proud of you too."
Mom squeezed his hand. The car slowed as they came in sight of the high school and she let go to wipe her eyes. "I love you, sweetheart."
"Love you too, Mom." He really needed to say it more.
They stopped and Danny quickly rubbed his eyes. Mom cleared her throat. "Here we are. Your school looks nice. I'm sure you'll have a great time here." She had a fragile smile. Danny gave a half smile back. Things weren't okay, but they were a little better than they had been when he woke up.
"Yeah, thanks for the ride." He popped open the door and hopped out.
"Have a good first day!"
"Bye Mom." He shut the door behind him and headed in. This school had homeroom and an open campus for lunch, but their rules seemed the same as at Casper High otherwise. He figured high schools everywhere were pretty much the same.
The teacher he had for homeroom also taught science and wildlife biology. There were stuffed birds and other stuffed animals all over the room, along with mounted heads. It gave the room a really weird smell. Danny got there about five minutes before the bell and took a seat about the middle. Students continued to trickle in as Danny doodled on his notepad. Finally, the bell rang and the teacher stood up and locked the door.
"You will not be late to my class," He announced, "You will be on time or you will not attend." He wasn't very old, but he was balding and had glasses. "Three unexcused absences and you will drop a grade."
The teen in the desk next to Danny, a tall boy with black hair in tight coils and a letterman's jacket, rolled his eyes at Danny. Danny blinked, taken aback. Normally guys like him didn't look twice at Danny except to make his life miserable.
Someone knocked on the door and the teacher, who still hadn't introduced himself, nodded to a student to open the door. Three boys and two girls filed in and found seats, one boy next to Danny.
"I will excuse your absence because it is the first day, but do not be late again," the teacher commanded, "I lock the door at the bell." The tardy students nodded and the teacher turned to write his name, 'Mr. Taylor', on the chalkboard.
"It's homeroom," The other teen muttered. "Pass or fail. There's no way to drop a grade."
Danny snorted and the other boy grinned.
"Hey, I'm Ryan."
"Uh, I'm Danny." This was really weird. Was this kid going to turn into Dash once he realized what a loser Danny was?
"No talking!" Their heads snapped to look at Mr. Taylor. "In my class, you need to use your ears, not your mouths."
Danny glanced at Ryan to see him rolling his eyes again. He held in a smile and looked down at his notebook.
"Now, if you look at the handbooks on your desk, we are going to go through the policies of Jump City Central High School."
As soon as the class ended and Danny was back in the hallway, Ryan started talking again. "In my class," Ryan mocked, "Please. That's not even a class. All we do is sit around."
Danny chuckled slightly and Ryan turned to face him, walking backwards through the hall.
"So are you a freshman?"
"Uh, no, I'm a sophomore. I just moved here from Illinois." The teen shrugged. Ryan actually seemed really nice for a guy in a letterman's jacket.
"Are you from Chicago?"
Danny shook his head. "No, I'm from Amity Park. It's not as big as Chicago."
Ryan nodded "Well, nice to-" He cut off as a blond boy with multicolored streaks walking the opposite way knocked into Ryan's shoulder with his own. Ryan's face darkened. "Hey!"
The other boy turned, lifting his hands in the air. "Whoops! Sorry. Maybe it would work better if you watched where you were going."
Face twisting, Ryan took a step forward. "Trying to start something, Jace?"
Jace turned his hands palm up. "Are you looking for an excuse, Ryan?" He mimicked the way Ryan had said his name. Before anything else could happen, Mr. Taylor stepped into the hall yelling at trudging, half-asleep students to get to class. Ryan stood for a moment, then turned and strode the way he and Danny had originally been going. Danny stood still for a moment before also continuing. Ryan slowed until he was level with Danny.
"Sorry about that." Ryan was smiling again. "Jace's a jerk."
"What's his problem?" Danny looked back over his shoulder, but the blond kid was gone.
"He's just like that. Forget about him. What class do you have next?"
With a grimace, Danny sighed. "Gym."
"Hey, me too. Don't sound so depressed - it's the first day. They never make us do stuff on the first day."
First day or not, the gym teacher made the class run the mile. Danny hadn't brought gym clothes, because it was the first day, so he'd had to run in jeans. It wasn't the most uncomfortable thing he'd run in, but still, not great. He was grateful for his enhanced speed and stamina from his ghost half or else he'd probably be a smelly mess.
Back in Amity, he'd always had to slow down and hold back after he got his abilities. Now, he didn't have to compensate as much. He paced himself to Ryan, who was on the basketball team, and let himself kinda enjoy the run - more of a jog for him. He didn't have to feel like he was running in place anymore.
Ryan and Danny both had first lunch, stupidly early at 10:20 to accommodate four lunches for all the students. The other teen invited Danny to sit with him and his friends.
The school had a lunchroom and a commons area to eat in, along with an outdoor patio, where Ryan's group sat. Ryan's friends were almost all jocks, most of them on the football team, one on the soccer and baseball teams, and the rest on the basketball team. A few of them were on both the basketball and football teams.
Even though Danny had expected to get kicked out or find out that the whole thing was a joke, lunch had been fine. The guys were actually nice. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that there were plenty of sports teams at the school and in the city, so there wasn't one 'star player'.
Math was after lunch, and that Jace guy ended up being in Danny's class. The seating chart actually had Jace right behind Danny, so Danny was a little concerned about the other teen messing with him, but Jace didn't really seem to notice Danny. After that, Danny's last class was English. The teacher apparently had a minor in Shakespeare Studies to go with her teaching degree and planned to make Shakespeare a big part of that year.
Great.
Since it was the first day, they'd been dismissed early to go back to homeroom. This apparently gave them a chance to discuss any 'concerns' they had about the upcoming year with the homeroom teacher. Like Danny would talk to that guy if he had concerns.
"So, how do you like Jump?" Ryan dropped into the seat beside Danny.
The teen shrugged. "It's fine, I guess." He rolled a pencil between his fingers.
"Sometimes Clayface or somebody will show up a few blocks away and they cancel school, so hopefully when the Titans show up again we'll get some days off."
That was nice. They didn't even always cancel class in Amity when the school was directly attacked by ghosts. If they had, Danny probably would have had more of a chance to catch up on his homework. "Where are they, anyway? I heard they've been gone for a while."
Ryan's smile faded. "Yeah, they've been gone all summer. There was another team - Titans East or something - patrolling for a while, but the last time anyone saw them was a few weeks ago. It's been weirdly quiet ever since. We haven't even had any robberies committed by anyone other than normal humans. It's like everything to do with superheroes and villains just stopped." He shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "Sometimes stuff like this happens, but usually not for this long."
"That's-"
"Quiet!" Mr. Taylor snapped from the front. "There will be no side conversations in my class."
The teens looked at each other and simultaneously rolled their eyes. Ryan snorted and Danny looked away with half a smile. Maybe this wouldn't be awful.
Ryan had practice right after school, so he left as soon as the final bell rang. Danny took a little more time to collect his stuff, but not too long. He could swear some of the animals on the classroom wall were looking at him funny. Once he got out of the school, he wasn't ready to go back to the apartment. School hadn't been terrible, but at the same time, it had been all wrong. The layout was weird, the lockers were different sizes, and the class organization was strange. Ryan and the other guys had been nice, but they weren't Sam and Tucker.
For a minute, Danny thought about calling them - if he was out of class, they definitely would be due to the time change - but he honestly thought that might make it worse. The only thing that would help right now is if he was back in Amity.
Even the air was wrong here. The smog collected in Danny's throat and lungs with every breath as he walked. The pollution had never been this bad back in Amity. He wasn't used to it yet and wasn't sure he ever would be.
It took him a little while, but he was able to find his way back to the cliffs overlooking the bay he'd found before school started. Even with the smog, there was a great view of the bay. With a deep sigh, Danny dropped to the ground, swinging his legs off the side of the cliff.
Titans Tower stood dark in the sun, apparently still empty. For a minute, Danny let himself think about them. What would it have been like if he'd had a team like that in Amity? No hiding, everyone just appreciative that he, Sam, and Tucker were keeping ghosts from destroying the town. No yelling about missed curfews or falling asleep in class because a ghost had decided to show up in the middle of the night. Just stopping ghosts with his friends.
Then again, if that was all Danny did, he was sure he'd hate it. Did the Titans go to school? Did they have friends outside of their teams? Did they get to see family? They had a lot more dangerous enemies than Danny did, and that would put their families and friends in a lot more danger. Would Danny be able to give up seeing Jazz and Mom and his friends to do what the Titans did full time?
No, he couldn't.
He leaned back on his elbows. What would Dad think of California, and Jump City in general? Would he try to explain all the metahuman activity as ghosts? Danny actually didn't know how Dad felt about metahumans. The family had never actually gone to a place where there were many, and, as far as Danny knew, no metahumans lived in Amity Park. Maybe that was a coincidence and maybe it wasn't. Either way, Danny knew that if Dad was here, he'd be his usual boisterous self, probably embarrassing Danny in front of everyone at school.
Danny pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. He wished Dad was here. He missed being embarrassed and wanting to sink into the floor. He'd give anything to have that back. He just needed to wait until Mom got S.T.A.R. Labs to build a portal and that would fix everything. He was sure he could convince Clockwork. He had to.
It was another half hour before Danny finally felt settled enough to go home. He could've been up there for another hour or more since Mom worked later than Danny had school, but the teen kinda wanted to just be done for a while. Of course, even though it was the first day, the teachers had assigned homework. Danny was sitting at the kitchen table, filling out a dumb 'get to know you' worksheet for English when Mom got home. She hung her keys on a hook by the door and faced Danny with a smile.
"Hey Danny, how was your day?"
Danny shrugged. "Fine." He watched Mom pull out two glasses and fill them with juice. "How was yours?"
"Oh, it was-" Mom stopped, staring at both cups. She swallowed and took a shaky breath as she put the container back in the fridge. "Do you want some juice, sweetheart?" Her voice sounded odd, strangely stiff.
Danny hesitated, rolling his pencil between his fingers. "...Sure."
She set the glass in front of Danny, not quite looking at him. She sat down across from him and stared at her full cup as she put it down. "You know, you look so much like your dad."
Danny swallowed, staring at his worksheet. "Thanks."
They sat in silence for a moment until Mom picked up her juice and drank about half of it.
"I had a good day." It took a second for Danny to realize she was responding to his earlier question. "On my lunch break, I went and saw Vlad's house."
"Wait, what?" Danny interrupted, frowning.
"Didn't I tell you—" Mom looked at him, then looked away again, picking up her juice glass with both hands and inspecting it. "Vlad has been thinking about moving here. He's here so often for business, he decided it would be less expensive than constant hotel rooms and eating out."
He just happened to decide right after they - specifically Mom - moved in? After he'd told Danny that it was a dangerous place? Sure.
"When he helped us find a place and move in, he got a new view of the city and decided he really liked it." Mom finished her drink and stood to put it in the dishwasher. "And it'll be nice to have someone we know here. Oh, I was thinking we could go out to eat tonight, to celebrate your first day. What do you think?"
"Sure." Danny shrugged, mind still on Vlad. Was this about getting close to Mom or about protecting her? He wished he could just ask.
Wait. He could ask Vlad, just not Mom. Duh.
"Did you make any friends?"
Danny blinked, refocusing. "Uh, I think so." Ryan was acting friendly, so maybe? His other friends at lunch weren't so bad either.
Mom beamed. "Oh, that's wonderful honey. I'm going to call Jazz - you'll have to tell her all about your first day."
"Yeah, sure." Like she'd want to hear about it. High school was so boring.
"Do you want to go see Vlad's house after dinner?" Mom grabbed Danny's empty juice cup and put it in the dishwasher before closing the machine.
Danny made a face behind her back. He hated the idea, but he did need answers from Vlad. And maybe the man would have a portal! Then he wouldn't need to worry about any of this. "Sure."
"Great. I'll call him and make sure it's okay. Think about where you want to go to dinner, alright?"
"Yeah, okay." His notes for Clockwork were still packed away, but he didn't need them yet, just to see if Vlad was going to have a portal. "I'm going to do that." He left his worksheet on the table and headed for his room. He closed the door behind him before climbing out into the fire escape. It was hot and humid, the scent of tar and road thick in the air. He needed to figure out how to word this. If he confronted Vlad about why the man had moved to Jump, then he'd probably get defensive and wouldn't let Danny use his portal. Danny had to be careful with how he questioned Vlad. Maybe he didn't need to. If Dad was alive, they never would have moved, so if Vlad let Danny use his portal, none of those answers would matter.
Mom tapped on Danny's door and he quickly vaulted inside before she opened it. Technically she told him he couldn't go out on the fire escape before she checked it, but she also didn't know he could fly. If it was unstable, he'd be fine.
"Ready to go, sweetheart?"
Danny leaned casually on the windowsill. "Yep. So ready."
Vlad's house was massive. While it was nowhere near the size of his castle, it basically had three floors, with a private driveway and pool. There were like three or four bedrooms, plus a library, an office, an exercise room - what did Vlad think he'd be doing with so much space? He'd given them a quick tour and Danny hadn't seen anywhere a lab might be, even as a hidden room. He was sure there was one though - he felt on edge, like his nerves were humming, and there had to be something causing that, it couldn't be just him. Vlad had to have a way for Danny to get to Clockwork. Maybe it just wasn't set up yet, since the man was still moving in. That had to be it.
It had been difficult to get Vlad alone to ask Danny's questions. He hadn't anticipated Mom, even though she was why they were there. While Vlad had asked Danny about school, he and Mom mostly talked about her job - what she was working on now, the project she was finishing up, what her boss Lauren had told her about the next project, her timeline for getting STAR to work on ectology research, what Greg had suggested, how working with living organisms was so different than with ectoplasmic matter, the crazy project LaToya's team started, and on and on. Danny was glad Mom liked her job, but he would love to get a word in edgewise. With her not there.
Finally, she stepped away to use the bathroom and Danny immediately turned to Vlad. "Where's your portal?"
Vlad looked at him blankly. "What?"
"Your portal to the Ghost Zone, where is it?"
Shaking his head, Vlad replied, "I don't have one."
"What?" Danny swallowed. "You mean it's not set up yet?"
"No." Vlad spoke slowly, "I won't have one. While my portal has improved controls over your father's portal, there is still a chance of city is already full of metahumans. Can you imagine what a disaster it would be if ghosts were introduced?"
"But you wouldn't- what about- if you disappear, you won't be able to know what's going on in the Ghost Zone. They might stop listening to you!" There was no way Vlad was giving up that power.
But the man was shaking his head again. "Do you think they will notice the passing of time in any significant capacity? They don't live. Time feels different to them. The next time I enter the Ghost Zone, they will treat me with the same respect they always do because one thing they do understand about time is that my power grows with it."
"But- why are you even here?" This couldn't be happening. How could Vlad not have a portal?
Vlad opened his mouth, then his eyes shifted beyond Danny and he smiled. "Maddie."
"Is… everything alright?" Mom's voice was hesitant and concerned. "Danny?"
Danny blinked hard and turned. "Yeah, I was just asking Vlad about his portal."
Behind him, there was a change in the air, a tightness, and Danny realized belatedly that Mom didn't know anything about Vlad's portal. She never had.
"Honey, Vlad doesn't… do you have a portal?" Mom looked at Vlad strangely and Danny mentally groaned. Way to mess it up, Fenton. He might as well just transform in front of her.
"I'm afraid my experimentation with ghost portals ended with my ecto-acne." Vlad's voice was tight and Mom winced.
Danny quickly interjected, "Not that kind of portal."
Not that kind of portal?
What other kind of portal was there?
"Yes, that's correct," Vlad smoothly interjected, "Vladco had been looking into entering the space travel industry under the brand Portal, but as of now, we've decided not to move forward. Too much uncertainty in the market on if the government will impose regulations, the strength of potential competitors, and so on. Danny wasn't happy about the decision not to pursue the brand."
Danny gave a half shrug. "Yeah, it seems like a dumb decision." Wow, Vlad was quick.
"You and your rockets." Mom gave a short laugh. "When Danny was little, Jack would make sure to save any large boxes we received with new equipment and the two of them would make them into 'FentonRockets'. His shoes were so big, he had to have them custom ordered. He'd cut a hole in one side and cover it with cling wrap so Danny could have an astronaut helmet." Her smile wobbled and her eyes were bright, but soft. "Do you remember that, Danny?"
Danny slowly shook his head. He wished he did, but he didn't remember any of it. "No."
She hummed once, then turned to Vlad. "Danny wants to be an astronaut."
Danny braced himself for Vlad to laugh or something, but instead the man shifted to the side to meet Danny's eyes. "An astronaut?" Vlad's tone was thoughtful. "You'd do well."
Danny's head whipped around to look directly at Vlad. "What?"
"You have leadership skills and persistence." The man nodded. "You would do well. In fact, I have a… contact in NASA. I could talk to him about getting you an internship once you graduate, if you're still interested."
Unable to breathe, Danny stared at Vlad, mouth agape. "Really?" he managed.
"For the son of my good friends?" Vlad's eyes darted to Mom. "Of course."
"That would be pretty cool." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure."
Mom grinned. "It sounds like a perfect time for that ice cream you mentioned earlier, Vlad."
"I think it is high time for ice cream." As Mom turned towards the stairs, Vlad muttered, "and a drink. How on earth have you managed to keep your halfa status a secret when you don't think before you speak?"
The teen shrugged, flushing. Vlad shook his head and followed Mom down the hall, Danny trudging behind. Back to waiting until Mom created a portal at STAR Labs. While it wouldn't matter how long it took in the end, since everything would be different once Danny fixed what happened, he still wanted it to be over with.