Chapter Fifty-Seven: "James"
"A Christmas Party at Amity Park?" Vlad asked, frowning as he spoke on the phone. "Why can't we just have one here?"
"Because I can't be spending every holiday weekend away from my family?" Jazz replied. "I already went to your place with Tucker and Sam for Halloween and Thanksgiving; I can't be away ALL the time! And with that 'Christmas Truce' thing the ghosts are doing, we won't even have to worry about running into any trouble with ghosts!"
"I don't know…" Vlad sighed, glancing over at the door. He could see Danny drifting by, Dan next to him. "I'll…talk to them about it. It's really up to the boys."
"Alright, call me when you've heard what they have to say on it." Jazz replied.
Vlad sighed and hung up, getting up from his desk and heading for the door. This would not be an easy conversation. "Daniel, Phantom." They paused, looking over at him. "Let's go talk in the den, there's something we must discuss." He nodded firmly.
They took it about as well as he thought they would.
"Home?" Danny whispered – though, for all Vlad knew he'd screamed it. "But…dad…"
"He would not recognize you in this form, and as long as you stay out of his sight he won't do anything." Vlad said calmly. "Besides, the party is at Samantha's house, not the Fenton's."
Danny still looked unsure, but decided to hear Dan's word on it.
"Well, I don't thi—"
"Miss Gray will be attending." Vlad cut him off.
Dan's eyes lit up and he leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other with his arms crossed behind his head. "Well, as long as we don't get discovered by mom or Jack, I'm good."
"Low, fruit-loop. Low." Danny muttered. "Of course he'll go if Valerie's there…"
"I'll go tell Jasmine we'll be there, then." Vlad smiled. "I've completed your bracelet, by the way, so you shouldn't run into any trouble with it."
"Awesome, thanks." Dan grinned. "I'll go pick it up, then!" He hopped out his chair and ran out of the room.
Danny was silent in the chair, and then he looked up at Vlad. "Well, have fun talking to people, I guess. I most likely can't go without scaring anyone."
Vlad looked thoughtful. "Well…We DO have that cloak…we could see if it does anything."
Danny glanced away. "But…"
"Daniel, I will not have you sulking away like this on Christmas." He got up and left the room, coming back shortly with Dan cloak. He threw it around Danny's shoulder and fastened it, startled by what he saw under the hood.
It looked kind of like Danny, but not. He had blue eyes, but his skin was pale as death and he had scratches on his face and bandages all over his body. He was clothed in a black outfit, and his hair was white. Dan entered the room and started, staring in surprise.
"Uhm…Vlad?" Dan looked at him. "What did you do to Danny?"
"The cloak did this. I put it on him, blocking the ecto-energy, and now he…"
"He looks…different!" Dan shook his head. "Like not Danny! What's going on?"
"Well, he was still forming. Perhaps the cloak is confused?" Vlad suggested.
Danny looked at himself silently, studying the bandages and clothes before he walked out of the room to find a mirror. Vlad and Dan found him in the bedroom, touching a scratch here and a bandage there. One of his eyes was bruised, and he looked like a perfect poster-boy for domestic violence. Or any kind of violence. Street violence, maybe. The bandages on his hands were stained red, like he'd been in a recent fight, and his boots were black and stained red in some spots.
"Okay. So…apparently I don't have to worry about anyone recognizing me." He commented, his voice still a soft whisper. "I guess I can go to the party." He shrugged, looking at them.
"This will be fun." Dan remarked.
"Vlad, he looks like an orphan you took in that's been to hell and back." Jazz commented when they arrived in Amity Park. She'd been briefed on the situation so she knew who this was, as did Sam and Tucker, but it was still unsettling to see him.
"The good news is that no one will recognize him this way." Dan shrugged, adjusting his red hair for the umpteenth time and looking around. "Do I really look okay, Da—ah, James?"
Danny raised an eyebrow. "You looked fine seven adjustments ago. Now you just look like you've been adjusting your hair over and over again." He whispered.
Dan sighed and fixed his hair. "I just haven't seen her in a while, so I didn't wanna look dumb."
"Too late for that." Danny shrugged. "At least you don't look like you've been beat up."
"Dan!" Valerie called, running over to them. "Sorry I'm late! C'mon, they're putting the tree up in the park!"
The plan was for them to arrive in Amity Park ten days early, and then go back two days after. Apparently Ghostwriter and Dark cared about school vacations, since they had said to not come back to class until it was over.
"We should at least use some makeup to cover the worst of these." Sam said as they walked. "At least before you see my parents." She glanced up at his white hair, wondering how many people would assume he was Danny Phantom until they saw his blue eyes. After all, Danny Phantom hadn't been seen in months and a lot of people were asking about him – especially Dash. The ghosts seemed to know exactly where he was, which only made Jack Fenton even more terrified for some reason at the mention of Phantom's name.
"Hm?" Danny looked at her. "What's up?"
"Oh, it's nothing Da—ah, James. That's still gonna take some getting used to, y'know."
"I can't go by 'Danny'." Danny shook his head. "So, while I'm here, call me 'James'."
Sam smiled and nodded, lacing her fingers with his and resting her head on his shoulder. 'Okay, James."
They arrived at the park and he saw a lot of people working on decorating it, including his parents. It was nice to see them doing something besides working on ghost stuff, though he knew that they would be having their annual argument about Santa being real or not. Seriously, how could you believe in ghosts but not Santa?
"Shall we move closer?" Vlad asked them. They nodded and moved closer through the crowds, where they could see the whole tree.
"Ah, Vladdy!" Jack called, waving from where he was. "Why don't you come and help us out?"
"I'm fine right here, Jack." Vlad replied.
"Oh, come on! Where's your Christmas spirit?" He asked.
"I'll help." Danny moved forward. Dan gasped and moved to stop him, but Vlad placed a hand on his shoulder to halt him.
"Let's just see how this plays out." He said quietly.
"Thanks, kid!" Jack grinned. "Then, can you climb up on the ladder and put these up there?" He handed him a bag of ornaments. "I'm just too big, y'see." He laughed.
"Sure." Danny nodded, taking the bag. Then he started to climb, tipping his head back. His hood slipped off, revealing his white hair, and Jack thought his heart would stop right there if he hadn't seen the teen's blue eyes.
'Geez, that was unsettling.' He thought. 'I worried for a moment that he was Phantom! Wait, but Phantom wouldn't bother to climb. And he certainly wouldn't help. I'm just being silly.' He swallowed nervously and looked up at the cloaked teen. "Alright, those guys up there on the scaffolding should be able to help you put the ornaments up!" He smiled.
One of the guys offered Danny a hand and he climbed up onto the scaffolding to start putting up ornaments on the tree. "What's your name, kid?" The guy asked as he took some ornaments to help out."
"James." Danny replied.
"Your voice is pretty quiet there; could you speak up a little?" The man asked.
Danny shook his head. "My…my voice doesn't work so well." He explained. "I was…"
One look at the kid's bruised face told him all he needed to know and he pulled the kid's hood up. "You'll catch a cold unless you cover up, James."
After they finished putting up the ornaments, Danny was helped down and he retreated to Vlad's side again, hiding behind him as Jack approached them. He'd clearly had enough of his father's booming voice for one day.
"Your kid there was a big help." Jack smiled. "What's his name?"
"His name is James. He's an orphan that I took in off the street a few days ago." Vlad explained.
"Wow, kids are just gravitating to you, huh?" Jack laughed. "And to think you thought you would never be a father!"
Vlad pursed his lips. "I did not gain my boys through fortunate circumstances, Jack, so if you would kindly not make light of my taking them in, that would be wonderful."
"Oh, sorry." Jack cringed. He hadn't intended to upset Vlad; he was hoping that they could actually patch up their shattered friendship from college. "Oh, should I call Maddie over?"
"There's no need." Vlad said firmly. "I need to check into the hotel." He pointedly gestured to their bags.
"Oh, heck, why not just stay with me? We have lots of room!"
"NO!" Dan yelled, startling everyone with him. He calmed down and then spoke again. "Thank you for your generous offer, Mr. Fenton, but we already paid for our hotel room so we're staying there."
"Uhm…okay. Don't be afraid to visit, though!" Jack grinned.
Dan gave him a look of death and took Danny's hand, pulling him away from the group – away from their despicable father.
"Wow, what was that about?" Valerie asked when the others, sans Vlad, had caught up with Danny and Dan. They were sitting on a park bench, Dan's arm around Danny as he trembled in his arms.
"He was being pushy and loud and scaring James." Dan said, looking up at her. "Sorry you had to witness that."
Valerie smiled. "You really like James as your brother, huh? You even let him wear your important cloak."
Dan nodded. "He needs it more; he has very low blood pressure so his body doesn't retain heat well."
"That explains the pale skin and trembling." Valerie sat down on Danny's other side and gently stroked his hair, his hood having fallen off when he was pulled away so suddenly. "It's okay, you'll be somewhere warm soon." He smiled at Dan and then leaned over the trembling boy to kiss him. "I'll see you later?"
"I'll call." He smiled. "We can go out, do some Christmas shopping or just enjoy the snow."
Valerie smiled. "I'll be waiting for your call." She said, then got up and ran off down the road.
Sam and Tucker watched her go, then approached the bench. "What really happened? Why did you yell at him like that?" Tucker asked.
"…He let them hurt Danny." Dan said quietly. "He just watched it happen, didn't even try to reach for him, to stop them."
"…Oh." Sam bit her lip. 'It's no wonder he was so angry, then.' She thought. "Uhm…wanna go to the arcade?"
"Waiting for Vlad to check in to our hotel." Dan shook his head. "Where is he, anyway?"
"When you ran off, we ran after you. I didn't see Vlad follow." Sam admitted. "I think I heard yelling, though."
Tucker sighed. "So, uhm…you have your phone, and it might be a little while. You wanna go to the Na—oh, here he comes now."
Vlad walked over the bench, stopped, and knelt in front of it. "Daniel, look at me."
Danny slowly sat up properly and looked at him silently.
"Why did you offer to help? You knew you would be working with your father." Vlad asked.
"I thought…I could handle it." Danny whispered.
"Why did you even go near him, after what he let those men do to you?" Vlad furrowed his brow.
"I just wanted to help." Danny replied quietly. "I-I used to help all the t-time…before the i-incident." He started to sob and Vlad pulled him close, cradling him gently.
"Let's go to the hotel." Vlad suggested. "I've rented a car; our bags are all in it. Let's go." He looked at Sam and Tucker. "You'll have to spend time with them tomorrow, Daniel needs his rest."
"Yeah." Sam nodded. "See you, Danny." She gently kissed his cheek and then walked off with Tucker.
"Are you calm enough to not destroy the hotel when we check in?" Vlad asked Dan calmly.
"…Yeah." He got up and followed Vlad to the car.