Chapter Seventeen: Human Boy
"Aaaaahhh!" Danny cried out in pain as he was electrocuted. With the strength and breath tests having gone so well, Jack was now seeing how long he could be electrocuted before his body began to wear down. Phantom banged against the walls of his silent cell, even ramming into it with his whole body trying to get out. It seemed that the two had grown even more attacked to each other than before – perhaps due to being fellow specimens.
Deciding to test something else, regardless of if it ruined his initial test, he walked over to the box and opened it just as Phantom was around to body-slam the wall again. He landed on all fours and then ran to Danny, taking his hand. The electrocution extended to him, but he didn't seem to care. Danny had stopped screaming, the two looking at each other silently as they were mutually electrocuted.
'Interesting.' Jack thought, walking over and turning off the electricity current. Danny slumped on the table and Phantom panted softly before lifting Danny off and moving back to the box, cradling him close.
"You could have escaped just now." Jack said, walking over to the open box. "Why didn't you?"
"Weak…you would've grabbed us before I managed to get through the ceiling." Phantom replied, glaring up at him.
"You could've left Danny." Jack reminded him.
"I'd rather die than lose Danny." Phantom spat.
"I see." Jack nodded, closing the box and walking over to take notes on Phantom's reactions to his allowing him to join Danny's side.
Phantom glared at him through the clear walls of the box, then looked at Danny when the boy said something to him. From what he could gather, it seemed that Phantom had grown to utterly despise him, but Danny still cared for him as a father – despite everything he'd said to the contrary. How much did he have to do before Danny stopped calling him "dad"?
Their bodies were healing remarkably fast. He had to see how fast Danny recovered from being close to death, but that would be after the next few strength-tests. Heck, maybe he'd be brought close to death during one of those.
Phantom held Danny close, listening to his soft sleeping breaths. That last test had taken a lot out of him, so he wasn't going to be doing any talking for a little while. He sighed softly and gently stroked his hair, looking at his fragile human body. How much more of this could it take? How much more could he mind take? And how much longer would he love that monster that wore his father's face?
He shot a glare at the scientist that had tricked them and trapped them, wishing that looks really COULD kill. Then again, if they could, they'd be trapped in this box forever.
He wondered why they hadn't gotten any calls on Danny's cell phone, but after the first one, deflected no doubt, Jack must've turned it off. He'd seen him answer the phone and put on the goofy façade before, so he must've gotten a call from mom or Jazz, telling them lies about what he's doing with their Danny.
If only they REALLY knew. If only he could send his thoughts to someone other than Danny, they could get help and be free. He assumed the thought-throwing ability was a side-effect of them being one person usually, and that's why he could do it with Danny at all.
"Hn…" Danny started to stir and he looked at him. "Danny? Are you awake?" He asked softly, then mentally slapped himself for the fearful look that Danny had when he opened his eyes suddenly. "Sorry…I didn't think about it. That damn greeting of his…"
Danny clung to him, burying his face in his chest. "…It's fine. I…I understand…"
Phantom wrapped his arms tighter around him. "I don't do it again, I promise."
"Thank you." Danny murmured.
"Don't move around too much." Phantom said softly. "Don't let him know you're awake."
"Okay." Danny replied quietly, not moving from his current position.
Phantom nodded and looked over at Jack. He seemed to be watched them closely, taking notes on a notepad. 'Watch all you want, asshole. Far as you know, I'm talking to a sleeping person.' He thought bitterly.
Jack got up then and opened the box. "Did you want to move to the bedroom?" He asked, looking at them. "You can carry Danny, so he doesn't have to wake up."
"…Fine." Phantom slowly stood up, making sure not to jostle Danny too much, and headed for the door. Jack followed right behind; ready to tether him to the bed once they were inside. Phantom glanced up at the ceiling, wondering if he were fast enough to go through the ceiling before he was caught. No, not with Jack right behind him; he couldn't even start flying a few inches above the floor without hearing the Wraith Wrangler activate.
They arrived and Phantom gently laid Danny down before standing with his arms out so the wrangler could go around his waist, the other end secured to the bedpost. Then Jack walked out, leaving them alone. Phantom huffed at the clicking lock and laid down next to Danny, pulling him close. "He's gone, you can stop acting." He whispered.
Danny looked up at him and nodded, sitting up. "I wonder why he put us in here?"
"Maybe he thinks I can read lips and doesn't want you to know what he's planning." Phantom shrugged. "Or he's just remembering that you said you miss beds."
"That's possible." Danny nodded.
Phantom sighed, drifting into the air on his back above the bed, his arms crossed behind his head. "Do you think we'll be here longer than Summer Break? How will he explain that?" Danny asked, looking up at him.
"He'll find something." Phantom muttered, then rolled onto his belly, his arms under his chin. "We're at the mercy of whatever lie he concocts."
"At least my grades got better before we went in here." Danny shrugged.
Phantom laughed, sitting up and crossing his legs. "You worry about the weirdest things! You could possibly DIE in here, and you're worried about GRADES?"
Danny shrugged. "I'm a human boy; I worry about human boy things."
"Still a weird thing to worry about, considering the situation." Phantom raised an eyebrow.
Danny shrugged again, then sighed. "He could at least give us a book to read."
"This is supposed to be where we sleep in-between tests." Phantom flopped down next to him on the bed. "Not read."
"Oh well. At least I have you to talk to." Danny smiled and scooted closer.
Phantom sighed and pulled him close, nodding. "Yeah. At least we have that."