Author Note: Please review! Will be awhile till the x-men come in, but they will come in a few chapters! Danny just has to learn some stuff first.
~CWA

Chapter 3:

Danny:

Clockwork explained a lot to me. He told me a lot of stuff about how I was a half-ghost when I was alive, I protected people, my name (I was mildly disappointed that my name wasn't Danny Parker but Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom), names to go with the faces. Only one thing stuck out more than the rest. My family and friends were dead aside from the purple-haired girl (Clockwork said her name was Gear). At least he gave me new clothes because the ones I woke up in were so damaged- the black jeans and hoodie fit rather well. Though I had no idea what I looked like or what the clothes looked like on me because there were no mirrors.

As for how I died, the stopwatch wouldn't tell me. He said I would figure it out in time. Bullshit. At least he gave me the address to Gear's house- according to him, she would take me where I needed to be to get answers, which was why I found myself knocking on her door. I shifted my weight uncomfortably. The hood of the hoodie covered my head pretty well so that no one would recognize me. I just hoped that Clockwork was right, that she would know it was me. The door opened.

Gear stood there- just like I remembered her. Her long purple hair framed her face, yellow-tinted goggles were on her head, a thick metallic belt was around her waist and a metallic gadget was attached to her arm taking up the room from her wrist to her elbow. She was also pointing what looked like a gun at me. I put my hands up in defense,

"Woah!"

"If you really are Danny then get your ectoplasmic butt in here because you got some explaining to do. If you're not Danny dude then I suggest you get that butt off my porch before I blow you to pieces."

She cocked the gun,

"'Cause trust me I will. I don't take kindly to people who impersonate my family."

"Gear," I asked cautiously, not sure what to say, "…It's me…"

She smirked,

"I know, there's not a single ecto-signature like yours. I just always wanted to threaten someone with this."

She twirled the gun in her hands before hooking it up to a place on her belt. She gestured for me to come in, so I floated through the doorway and took a seat on the couch. The house was small and homey though something told me there was more than what meant the eye. I spotted a few empty bottles of beer and I raised my eyebrow. Does she drink? As soon as I sat down, she hugged me tightly,

"I don't do mushy stuff, but damn it dude! I thought you were gone!"

She hugged me eve tighter and I tensed. After a second, she released me and I gulped. What should someone say to a person who clearly knows you better than you even know yourself?

"…I am gone," I finally whispered quietly, looking down at my hands, "…I was hoping you'd tell me how…"

Gear's eyes widened for a brief moment before she sighed,

"You don't remember."

I nodded and she continued,

"Then… what do you remember?"

"I remember faces," I explained, "I met Clockwork in the Ghost Zone. He was the one to give me names with the faces- Jazz, Maddie, Jack, Vladimir, Gear, Sam, and Tucker. He didn't say anything else about them. He said my name is Daniel Fenton and Phantom… I was a half-ghost when I was alive, right?"

I scratched at my head,

"But I don't… I don't understand… I mean, how could I be half-ghost? Is that possible? He said I protected people though… But he told me my family was dead… Is that true?"

"Yeah," she gave a grim look, "Sorry, Double D. But… Maddie and Jack were your parents. Jazz was your older sister. Sam was your best friend and you were going to ask her to be your girlfriend. Tucker was your best friend too."

"What about you," I asked in confusion, though what she said made sense- it made sense about what I felt when I saw their faces.

"Me?"

She gave a slight chuckle,

"I was your big sister's best friend. Man, the trouble she got me out of… Look, I thought of you as a baby brother- I still do… Though what is up with your hair and eyes dude?"

She ran a hand through my hair,

"Dude, no offense, but it looks kind of bad with this style… I can always fit it up- I know a few things… Maybe if we shaved the sides…"

I didn't pay much attention to what she said, I just wondered what she meant.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with my hair?"

"It's like your two halves.. morphed together, man this is exciting- if you don't mind, I would like to draw some err blood from your arm later. With fresh ectoplasm I can figure out what changed in your DNA and work on my weaponry and… You're getting freaked out now, aren't you?"

She scratched at her head in a sheepish manor. I looked at her with wide eyes. Weaponry? Just what does she do? What did I get myself into? But what does she mean by morphed?

"Morphed," I questioned.

She made a 'one-second' motion with her finger before leaving the room. When she came back, she handed me a mirror and a few pictures. I looked in the mirror first. My hair was messy, I would admit that. It was white at the top and the middle, but the sides were pitch black. It looked a bit off. My eyes were swirls of green and blue. The pictures showed a raven haired boy with blue eyes with Sam and Tucker. Another pictured showed a white haired teen with green eyes flying through the air- he was wearing what I was when I woke up in the Ghost Zone. I ran a finer over the pictures, she said it was like my two halves morphed…

"The black haired boy…he's me, isn't he? And so is the white haired one? But how…?"

"Clocky told you that you were half-ghost, right? Well dude, you could switch between your ghost half and your human half. The black-haired you is your human half, and it's the way you looked before the accident. The white-haired you is your ghost half, make sense?"

"Sort of…But how did I become half-ghost ghost?"

I looked at her curiously. Gear ran a hand through her hair,

"That's a bit complicated… Look, your parents were brilliant, okay? Some of the smartest people I knew. They were also ghost hunters. When you were fourteen, you're sixteen now, by the way, they built a portal to the Ghost Zone. It didn't work, you went in and then BOOM- your DNA got fused with ectoplasm, the stuff ghosts are made of… Then your body knew how to be human and ghost, per say… You became half-ghost…"

"Uh-huh," I nodded slowly, somehow what she said made sense, "And what about you? How do you know all of this?"

"Dude, your older sister was my best friend, she tells me everything and… I know Jazz would want you to be alright even if you're a ghost now… So, I can answer any of your questions."

"How did I die? How did they die?"

"Any question but that," she stood up, "Sorry dude."

She stood up and was about to head to the kitchen,

"Do you want any tea or something…. Never mind, you don't eat or drink anymore…"

She continued to the kitchen. I stared after her before I stood up as well. My fists clenched.

"What I want is answers- you said you would answer any questions and those are my questions. Gear, tell me!"

"Not a chance," she said as she poked her head back into the living room.

My fists were still in tight fists. How dare she not tell… I deserved to know, I needed to know. Looking closer I realized that there her eyes were a bit red and puffy- I don't know how I didn't realize that before. She had been crying.

"Why," I demanded hotly, "Why won't you tell me!? I deserve to know, don't I? It was I who died! It was my family, friends! Why don't you tell me?!"

"Because it was my family too," Gear snapped, "Your family was like a second family to me! They took me in when no one else would and I'll be damned if I can sit here and talk about their deaths just a week after they died and you too! I didn't know you came back as a ghost, Danny. Do you realize how much it hurt to realize everything was gone? You, my best friend, my new family…. It hurts me too, dude…."

She took a deep breath and my fists slowly unclenched when I realized she was right. She said she was Jazz's best friend so that meant that when my family died, she lost something too.

"Look, I can't tell you because I can't talk about it," Gear sighed, "But I will tell you this- I'm moving soon and I swore to your sister that I would protect you, even if you're a ghost that still applies. So tell me Danny dude, do you want to mope around here for a bit or do you want to come with me to New York? What do you want to do?"

She stood there, waiting patiently with a hand on her hip. I looked to the ground for a moment. What did I want to do? I was dead. I was a no body.

"I want to live," I whispered.