Chapter Fifty-Five: Back to the Real World
"What are you talking about?" Danny asked. "I'm not a shadow-whatsit."
Johnny glanced at Dan. "You're gonna have to translate. Shadow ghosts can't talk to anyone but their host, y'see."
"Is that why your shadow is always so…quiet?" Dan asked.
Johnny nodded. "Only I can hear him." He stretched. "Well, now that we've found him, why not take him away from this place?"
Danny shrank back into the warehouse, shaking his head.
"What's wrong?" Dan asked, moving towards him.
"I…I don't want to leave." Danny admitted. "I do miss everyone…but if they won't be able to see or hear me anyway, then what's the point?"
Dan walked over and put his arms around him, pulling him close. "Danny…you shouldn't stay in here, though. Don't be alone."
"He's not gonna gain his own form if he stays here, that's for sure." Johnny remarked. "Turnb on some lights, dude."
"Johnny 13!" They heard Plasmius call. Dan looked over to see weaker ghosts scattering out of his way, the man clearly furious.
"Plasmius looks mad." Danny remarked.
"Yeah, y'think?" Dan nodded.
Plasmius landed next to the bike and glared at the biker ghost. "What are you doing with Phantom?"
"Chill out, man. I was just taking him to pick up his shadow ghost!" Johnny raised his hands by his head. "Honest, that's all I did! I ain't gonna touch what's yours, do I look insane? Kitty would KILL me, besides!"
"Shadow ghost?" Plasmius looked towards the warehouse, where Danny had hidden behind Dan and was peeking out, blue eyes visible. "Oh. You had to pick him up."
Dan nodded. "Uhm…I can bring him home, right? He'll stay hidden in my shadow when others are around, and maybe Johnny could teach us how to work together in fights, like he and his shadow ghost do?"
"Well, I doubt Vladimir will turn away Danny." Plasmius seemed a lot less pissed now that he knew Johnny 13 wasn't going to force himself on Phantom. "Phantom, I want you to tell me next time you're going off with someone. Wait until I'm out, ask permission, wait for it, then go."
"Right." Dan nodded. "So, uhm…we should head home." He looked over his shoulder at the boy behind him. "You ready?"
Danny nodded, fidgeting with his bandages. "Uhm…yeah. Well, as ready as I'll ever be to be just a shadow to everyone but you."
"At least they'll know you're there." Dan smiled, taking his hand. "Stop messing with your bandages, what if they come off?"
"Well, I'll leave this up to you, Mr. P." Johnny got back on his bike, his shadow setting down the book-bag, and then he was gone.
"Brat." Plasmius frowned at him as he drove off. "I'll teach him to call me 'Mr. P'."
"Let's go home." Dan smiled, pulled Danny along behind him. Danny halted and closed the warehouse door before he let Dan and Plasmius take him through the Ghost Zone.
It was bright, so bright out here. Danny shielded his eyes once they were in the lab, letting out a soft whimper. He'd gotten so accustomed to darkness that the light was almost blinding. Even in the hospital, he was in darkness a lot.
"You okay?" Dan asked, concerned.
"Plasmius? Phantom?" Vlad stepped into the room. "What is…you were gone much longer, I started to worry."
"Sorry, Vlad." Dan grinned. "I was picking someone up." He nodded to Danny, gently pulling him forward. "I've brought Danny back to the real world."
Those blue eyes…they certainly LOOKED like Daniel's. Vlad stepped closer and reached out towards the shadow figure, frowning a bit when it flinched back. "Daniel…?"
The shadow made some kind of movement, maybe a nod of the head, and moved behind Dan again.
"Ah, sorry." Dan smiled sheepishly. "He still doesn't trust you, even after all this time."
Vlad nodded, listening to a faint whisper he couldn't understand. "Was that him?"
Dan nodded. "He said that he can't trust you when you pretty much admitted to still plotting to take over the world the other day." He chuckled a bit.
"Ah, it really is Daniel." Vlad smiled, looking at the shadow fondly. "How does he look? I can't really see."
Dan looked at him. "Uhm…healthy, for being a ghost. Sullen. And he keeps messing with his bandages—stop that!" He swatted at his hands again.
Bandages? Vlad wanted to inquire more about it, but decided not to pry. Danny would share his story in his own time, in his own way. "Can he interact with objects?"
"Should be able to." Dan nodded, reaching into his bag and pulling out a notebook and pencil. "Here, write something on the back or the inside cover." He handed them to Danny.
Danny took the notebook and pencil and wrote two words: "Hello, fruit-loop."
"That's enough proof." Vlad nodded, feeling himself growing a bit emotional. He had hoped to see Danny again, but to see him as just some kind of…shadow creature? "Let's go up to dinner. I'll have them put out an extra table setting for Daniel." He briskly left the room.
Dinner was relatively quiet. Dan talked about how his lessons went, but the two men seemed heavily distracted. Danny listened intently, but since he already knew all this stuff it was more to give Dan a captive audience than anything. Vlad was distracted from what he was thinking about by Danny starting to knock the handle of his fork on the table.
"Daniel, please stop that. It's rude." Vlad said firmly.
The fork was put down and he picked back up with his knuckle. He seemed to be doing a specific pattern and Vlad gasped as he recognized letters and words. "Morse code?" He asked. "Are you doing Morse code? Where did you even learn that?"
Another series of taps with his knuckle. S-c-h-o-o-l. Then Danny seemed exhausted by the effort and continued to eat.
Dan smiled and placed a hand on Danny's gently. "It's okay. Just tell me what you want to say, I'll translate."
"You shouldn't have to." Danny sighed. "I hate being a shadow ghost…"
"Yeah, well, you know exactly who to blame for your being one." Dan said, going back to his own food.
"You always go back to that…" Danny frowned.
"Because it's true!" Dan snapped.
Danny didn't reply, already feeling awkward about their seemingly one-sided argument. "We'll…continue this in our room." He said softly.
They finished dinner in silence and Dan led Danny to their room, so he could find it on his own. They sat down on the bed together and Dan wrapped his arms around Danny like he did when they were in the box. "This feels nice." He said softly.
"Like before." Danny nodded. "Only, without the fear of being put through some experiment that might kill us." He snuggled up close, resting his head on Dan's collarbone. "Do you think…I'll ever be more than just a shadow?"
Dan thought about Johnny's 13's shadow and held him tighter. "I'll make sure you gain your true form, Danny. I promise that." He said firmly.
Danny smiled and closed his eyes. "I'm glad. Maybe the more we train together, the faster I'll gain my form."
"Maybe." Dan nodded, though he couldn't help but think of how, in Dark's future, Johnny's shadow ghost was still just a shadow. 'Well, maybe it can change back and forth?' He thought.
"Maybe." Danny commented quietly. "Only time will tell, I guess."
"Oh, crap. You just heard all my thoughts, didn't you?" Dan rubbed the back of his neck.
"Mmhm." Danny looked up at him. "We're still connected, after all. We might be able to still use the mind-talk, if you want to avoid looking like a fruit-loop."
Dan laughed. "Well, when we have visitors or if I need any romance advice from Mr. 'I couldn't get a girl to like me for years', I'll do just that."
"That's mean!" Danny sat up and shoved him. Dan laughed and shoved him back and soon the two were wrestling on the bed, causing a bit of a ruckus when they fell off and kept wrestling.
"Daniel, Phantom!" Vlad was at the door. "What are you two DOING up here? I can hear you all the way down in the lab!"
"Oops." They said in unison, looking around. "Uh…" Dan rubbed the back of his neck. "We're…wrestling. Kind of didn't pay attention to our surroundings. We'll clean the room, Vlad."
"Don't leave the maids to clean up your mess." Vlad sighed, walking away.
The boys grinned at each other and set to righting the fallen lamp and fixing the throw rug and bedding.
"Tucker is gonna freak." Danny remarked, looking towards the laptop.
"You think HE will? You snuck into Sam's room!" Dan shoved him again. "I am not covering for you if you do that again, you can talk to her on paper while I sit in another room and don't have to hear her yell at you."
Danny gave a sheepish shrug.