Chapter Eighteen: Monster
Phantom half-slept with Danny in his arms, but woke up to find him gone. "Danny? Danny?!" He struggled with the tether. 'Danny! Where are you?!' He sent to his mind.
There was silence and then a faint, like he wasn't sure how to, reply. 'I didn't want to wake you, so when dad came for me I went on my own. I can…ask for you, if you want.'
Danny breathed a sigh of relief. 'Yes, please.' He thought.
There was silence then, and a few minutes later the door was unlocked and Jack was at the door. "You two are both incredibly needy when it comes to each other." He said, alsmodt looking amused.
"What do you expect? We're the SAME PERSON!" Phantom snapped, glaring daggers at him when he walked over to remove the tether. "Where's Danny?"
"He's in the box." Jack replied. Phantom flew out of the room and into the lab. By the time he got there, Phantom was banging on the box, trying to open it. "It's fingerprinted, Phantom. Didn't you notice I always remove my glove to open it?"
"…Kch." Phantom knelt down in front of Danny, placing his hands against the human boy's – a mirror-image of when he was in the tank. "So, hurry up and open it."
"Have some patience." Jack said, taking off his gloves and activating the door. Right away, Danny clung to Phantom.
"I'm sorry." He murmured. "I won't leave your side again, I promise."
Phantom gently stroked his hair and held him close. "It's okay…I'm here now…"
Jack went back to what he was working on, leaving the two to talk. He knew that neither would attempt to escape at this point, he had them well-trained and there were several weapons in this room if they DID try anything.
He had to mentally pat himself on the back for this one. In such a short time, he had managed to tame Phantom. He considered leaving off the tether, just to see what would happen, next time Danny had a test. After all, usually his first impulse was to run to Danny, not to run away. As long as Danny was in front of him, he was calm. If he was away from him, or being wounded, he would freak out and desire to share in his pain.
He made these notes on Phantom's behavior in his notepad then went back to his project. He was still waiting to hear back from the Guys in White, with all the smaller tests already taken care of. Breathing, reactions to heat and cold, – that was what he'd done with Danny while Phantom slept, and it didn't yield anything interesting – even checking out their blood and inside were already done. There was another idea he wanted to try, but that would require bringing in a human female and trying to have Danny impregnate her to see if the ectoplasm carried on to the offspring or if it was only in him.
Much too risky, she would surely tell people about it. Besides, the only girl that could keep secrets that Danny even cared about was Sam Manson, and the LAST thing he wanted was for her to find out what went on here. So, no. The ecto-inheritance test was a no. Besides, he didn't want to wait 9 months for results.
Therefore, he'd covered pretty much all the tests aside from strength, but he knew that if he went a while without testing then Danny would ask why he hasn't been taken home yet. No, he had to keep the tests coming, make him forget all about home until he only knows this place and Phantom. Hm, maybe if he created a memory-erasing serum he could do that.
But Maddie would want to know where Danny was. Unless something happened and he ended up dying during a test, he would HAVE to bring him back – and trust him to keep quiet about all that went on here. Danny was good at keeping secrets, and to tell his mother about it would require telling her about him being Danny Phantom. He would never. It would just be their little secret.
But did he really want Danny Phantom near his home, with Phantom bitter and Danny terrified of his usual greeting?
"Hey." He was broken from his thoughts by Phantom's sharp voice and looked over at him. "What do you have in mind for us next, monster?"
"Don't call him that." Danny scolded.
"I'll call him whatever I want to call him." Phantom huffed.
"You're the human/ghost hybrid." Jack replied. "If everyone is the monster, it's you."
"Any father who would do such things to his son is a monster!" Phantom yelled, standing up.
Oh no, not this again. It seemed that every day he had this debate with Phantom. Instead of humoring him again, he walked over, pushed Phantom into the box, and shut it with them both inside.
Phantom was shaking with rage, Danny could see. He slowly got up and wrapped his arms around Phantom's back, resting them on his chest. "Phantom…I know you're angry, but right now the only things to vent your anger on are the box and me, and I think the box has suffered enough abuse. Try to calm down?" He pleaded.
Phantom clenched his fists and then calmed down, the blasts he was forming fading away. "…Alright. For your sake." He looked at him. "You know I'm only putting up with him because of you, right? The only reason he's still alive is because—" He was cut off by Danny giving him a slap on the cheek.
"You're not Plasmius or Dan! You don't KILL!" Danny cried. "You're Phantom! Danny Phantom!" He took his face in his hands. "You're my Phantom, not any of those murderers! Don't think murderous thoughts when I never would! You're a part of me, so don't let the anger consume you! Promise me you will never kill anyone! Promise me!"
Phantom stared at him, surprised, and then wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in the human's shoulder. "Okay…I promise."
Danny held on tightly to him, nodding. "You promised. Remember, you promised."
"And I won't ever leave your side. I promise that, too." Phantom smiled. "Can you promise me that?"
"Mmhm. I don't wanna leave your side, Phantom. We shouldn't even be two people. We're one person, we shouldn't ever be separated." Danny held on tighter.
"I'm your Phantom, you're my Danny." Phantom nodded. "Together we're one person, Danny Phantom." He smiled and wiped at tears that were forming in Danny's eyes. "Don't you cry, now."
Danny nodded, sniffling. "You know…I've always wanted a big brother."
"I know." Phantom nodded. "I'm the closest you got, though." He chuckled a bit, smoothing Danny's hair.
As they pulled away, Phantom glanced at their captor. He seemed to have been watching them again and taking notes before going back to whatever he was doing.
As he walked out of the room, Phantom realized that he'd never answered his question and mentally slapped his palm to his face. 'I was so fixated on the monster thing…' He thought, groaning softly.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked, sitting down on the floor. Phantom sat next to him and just shook his head, waving it off. "Okay." He waited until Phantom had sat down comfortably, then crawled between his legs and lay against him; his head nestled on his collarbone again.
Phantom sighed and looked towards the door again, wondering just what Jack Fenton had in store for them.