Thank you everyone for reading! And thank you for the reviews and feedback. Special shoutout to Data Seeker and DevilSummoner666 for your feedback! Without further ado, here's the next chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Danny Phantom. Unfortunately those rights belong to Nickelodeon, when they should really belong to the creator Butch Hartman. Until proper ownership is restored, please enjoy this fanfiction.
Chapter 4
Desiree knew she was caught and dropped her invisibility with a sigh while still holding her tender nose. Danny jumped in surprise, "Desiree?"
The genie ghost smiled and waved shyly, "Hello Danny," she greeted bashfully.
"What…what are you doing here?" Danny asked, more surprised than angry at this point. Desiree sighed again, blushed that he discovered her presence, and was unable to meet his eyes. She had been invisibly following the young halfa throughout the afternoon and had even followed him home. However, when she tried to sneak into his house, she was stopped by some sort of invisible force. She continued to lightly massage her bruised nose that took the brunt of her crash and fortunately it didn't seem broken. When she glanced at her hero again, she nearly giggled at how cute he was. His adorable face looked comically confused, but instead she regained her composure before floating down towards the ground and hovered right in front of him.
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I have been observing you since you freed me earlier," she apologized, feeling a bit ashamed of her actions. Danny blinked, unsure of how to respond. It explained why he had been feeling watched all through school but he was still baffled since he hadn't expected to see her again so soon.
"Uh…okay…?" he left the question hanging in the air. Desiree looked down in embarrassment again and didn't explain further. After a long awkward moment, Danny finally sighed and asked, "So what happened to your nose?"
"I'm not sure really," she answered before reaching out tentatively with one hand. She felt her hand press against something solid. "There seems to be some invisible wall here," she said after pushing harder and feeling no give. Understanding lighted Danny's face before he nodded.
"That's a new ghost force field my parents are testing. The old one was bright green and stood out like crazy," he chuckled as he explained. "They're working on making one invisible so they can sell it better."
Lately his parents had come to the realization that instead of just research, they could actually make money selling detection and protective devices against ghosts. They had previously received grants for their research and inventions and they had some weapon contracts with the GIW, much to Danny's dismay. But with their numerous patents, they decided that they could make even more ghost-fighting weapons and devices if they had extra cash on hand.
The situation only got worse when Vlad became involved. The older halfa offered his support to help market his parents' products. Danny still seethed at the memory of Vlad's smug smirk when the fruit-loop signed a contract with Danny's parents. Danny was smart enough to know that the more ghostly weapons present at home, the harder it would be for Phantom to help fight ghosts and foil the older halfa's plans. It frustrated Danny to no end but he still didn't feel confident enough to reveal his secret to his parents. He technically didn't even reveal it to Jazz, she just found him out after his first encounter with Penelope Spectra.
"I see," Desiree answered and Danny was surprised to see her look…disappointed? He thought her behavior was quite odd, and the genie ghost wasn't being very forward with any explanations for her actions. He had honestly thought after she was free from her wish-making compulsion that he'd never see her again. Danny couldn't help but frown at that thought. For some reason he felt his core twinge at the thought of never seeing Desiree again, but he couldn't figure out why. He looked back at the genie ghost who was now looking back at him, her crimson eyes completely fixed on his face. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked now, especially since she wasn't maniacally laughing at some evil plan or going on a wish-making rampage.
"Uh…Desiree…?" Danny asked, unsure of how to continue.
"Yes Danny?" she asked, smiling at him with one hand still on her nose.
"Um…would it be alright…if I made a wish?" he asked feeling awkward. He'd never thought he'd ask permission to have a wish granted. He jumped when Desiree slammed herself against the invisible forcefield with a large smile.
"You want to make a wish?!" she asked, startling Danny with her excitement.
"Uh…yeah if that's okay," Danny had to look off to the side. The sight of her chest being smooshed against the invisible forcefield was a little much for him right now.
"Of course!" Desiree replied, her smile growing even wider. She felt her core flutter with excitement at the idea of granting one of her hero's wishes. "I'll grant any wish you ask for."
"Really?" Danny asked astonished. This was quite the turnaround from how she was earlier. He chalked it up to her excitement at her newfound freedom.
"Okay well, I wish that your nose didn't hurt anymore and was healed from any damage," Danny wished simply. Desiree blinked once, bewildered at yet another wish made on her behalf, then smiled warmly at him before granting the wish. Pink mist surrounded her nose and all of the pain she was feeling disappeared. The feeling of granting her hero's wish warmed her greatly and her core thrummed in joy. She also felt her power growing more than she did while granting random wishes.
"Thank you my he—Danny," she corrected herself, but Danny didn't seem to notice and simply smiled.
"I've come home crashing face-first into that forcefield a number of times myself," he chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "So I know exactly how much it hurts. It's why I make sure to change back into a human before getting home. Less of a chance to set off any ghost sensors or protective measures my parents might be testing."
That made sense to Desiree, but before she could say any more a loud voice bellowed from inside Fenton Works. "Danny-boy! What are you doing outside?" Jack Fenton stuck his head out the front door, though with his large stature he rather took up the entire door. Danny whorled around to face him after hearing his dad's voice.
"I, uh," he faltered then glanced behind him. He found himself alone and realized that Desiree had either flown off or turned invisible.
"Nothing!" Danny plastered a fake smile on his face, "I thought I saw something but I think it was just a ghost flying away."
"A ghost?!" Jack immediately rushed out the front door and scanned the sky wildly. After he didn't see anything, he whipped his head back to look at his son.
"Where did it go?" he demanded. Danny raised an arm and pointed in a different direction from the school.
"I think it was heading towards the city park," he lied. He felt a bit bad setting off his dad's passion for ghost hunting, but he didn't want his apparently new friend getting sucked into a thermos or blasted at. He knew how much the Fenton bazooka would hurt if you were hit by it.
"Maddie!" Jack yelled back into the house, "We got a runner!" he then turned and ran to start up the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle. The engine roared to life as a moment later Danny's mom came running out wielding her ecto-bo staff. The hood on her hazmat suit pulled up over her head so her goggles covered her eyes. A ferocious snarl was on her face as she began running towards the assault vehicle before she spotted her son.
"Hi sweetie!" she rushed over and quickly pecked him on the cheek with a smile, "Dinner's in the fridge if we come back a bit late, remember you're still grounded so no video games unless all your homework's done."
"Got it mom," Danny returned her smile and with that the woman sprinted away and jumped into the RV. Right as soon as she closed the door, the tank-like vehicle peeled out of the driveway and roared down the street in the direction of the city park. Danny smiled and chuckled; the city park was on the other side of town so he knew he'd have a bit of a quiet evening for a while. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Desiree who had dropped her invisibility. She stared at him in disbelief and Danny smirked, having been long used to that reaction.
"How in the name of Clockwork have you survived with parents like that?" she asked incredulously. Danny in turn chuckled and shrugged.
"Beyond their ghost hunting, they're not bad parents and they really do care; even if they are a bit absent-minded. They've gotten a bit better after Jazz and I sat them down for a serious talk last year."
"Ah yes, young Jasmine," Desiree had forgotten her hero had an older sister. "And where is your sister?" she asked.
"Jazz graduated high school last year. She's currently at Yale on a full ride scholarship," Danny explained. He and his parents only just said their goodbyes to Jazz after helping her move into her campus dorm a couple of weeks prior. He already missed his sister dearly, but was happy that she was pursuing her dream career of a psychiatrist. They texted each other often; Danny keeping her up to date on ghost happenings around town while Jazz gushed over her classes and fellow psych classmates who shared a lot of the same interests.
"I see," Desiree said. Again the conversation died and neither one of them knew how to proceed.
"Um…" Danny finally spoke, "Would you like to come in? I guess?" he asked, at this point trying to be polite. Desiree in turn nodded and smiled widely, her teeth sparkling against her green skin. Her smiled dropped as she put her hand against the forcefield again. Danny groaned and thought for a moment about what to do.
"Okay, uh, how about this?" Danny started, "I wish Desiree could pass through any ghost force field as long as she doesn't mean to cause any harm to those inside."
Desiree's smile returned with full force, "So you have wished it, so shall it be," the familiar pink mist swirled about her and glowed brightly before disappearing. The power gain she received from granting her hero's wishes was beginning to feel rather intoxicating. She secretly began to hope that he would keep making wishes. After a moment's hesitation, she pressed her hand against the forcefield again and squealed with delight as she floated through. Danny smiled at her joy and proceeded to lead her inside the house.
Desiree looked about in wonder as she entered her hero's realm. She was rarely invited into another ghost's realm and she even more rarely accepted an invitation but her hero's realm was far different than any other she had seen before. She knew many centuries had passed since she began haunting the Earth but she rarely took the time to actually learn about the technological advances that had taken place. She frowned a bit in thought at how that was partly Technus' fault. The irritatingly mad scientific ghost would rant for hours on end about technology and his "mastery" of it to any unfortunate specter caught in his vicinity at the wrong time.
'Pretty much any time is the wrong time to be around that quack,' Desiree smiled at the thought. Behind her, Danny had already closed the door and watched her examine the various parts of his parents' living room and kitchen.
"Does anything in particular catch your eye?" he asked. Desiree turned back and blinked before gazing about the surroundings again.
"Your realm is quite…different," Desiree commented. Danny chuckled and shook his head. "It's not my realm, it's my parent's house," he explained, "I don't think I actually have a realm in the Ghost Zone."
Desiree raised her eyebrows in alarm, "But how is that possible?" she asked, "You are one of the strongest ghosts I know of! All powerful ghosts have realms manifested within the zone. Even the Box Ghost has a realm!"
Danny simply shrugged, "I'll admit, I've never bothered to look too hard to see if my realm existed. I've been too busy just trying to get through every day. Between school and ghost fights, I don't have a lot of time for much else."
Desiree immediately felt sad, and when Danny noticed her pout, he immediately waved off her concerns, "Don't worry, you aren't even close to being one of my worst enemies, and even less close to being one of the most annoying. Honestly that honor is often tied between Vlad and the Box Ghost."
She smirked at his reassurance but furrowed her brow slightly at what he said, "But…," she started hesitantly, "We're not enemies anymore…right…?" she looked at him with worry filling her expression. Danny blinked for a second and then smiled wide.
"No, I don't suppose we are any more huh?" he grinned. A large weight lifted from her core at his affirmation, and felt thrilled her hero truly didn't consider her an enemy anymore.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" she asked. Danny nodded and she proceeded to point to an object she wasn't too familiar with, "What is that?"
Danny looked at what she was pointing at and laughed, "That is a television, or 'TV' for short," he explained. Danny proceeded to explain about entertainment shows and movies that could all be watched on the television. He laughed when he proceeded to turn on the TV and Desiree openly gasped in amazement. When her attention shifted to the actual remote control, he then began to explain what it could do and even gave it to the genie ghost to try it herself.
He found it rather adorable how she experimented with the buttons and found delight at changing the channels. Soon he found himself explaining all sorts of appliances to the wishing ghost in the kitchen and living area. Danny couldn't help but find her numerous questions rather cute. Desiree, in turn, adored the time she was spending with her hero. They were discussing the purpose of the blender and the difference between fruit juices and smoothies when an alert sounded on Danny's phone.
Pulling the phone out of his pocket he groaned when he saw what it was. A couple years ago Tucker had installed a tracking app for the Fenton Assault Vehicle after a couple of too close calls. You'd think the vehicle would be easy to hear coming, but there were a few times Danny nearly passed out from his ghost fighting injuries. Both his friends and sister had to scramble to hide his injuries from his overprotective mother and clean up any ectoplasm-soaked bandages. It just became much easier to simply track the RV and be notified when it was getting close to home.
"What is that?" Danny flinched when he noticed Desiree leaning rather close over his shoulder while staring down at his phone screen. He wasn't surprised at how quietly she moved, ghosts tended to be rather quiet when they didn't announce themselves, but it was how close she had gotten to him. He didn't know if her "no-man-shall-touch-me" rule would count if he accidentally bumped into her while she was close by. Regardless, he held very still as he turned back towards his phone.
"This is a cell phone, its mainly used so people can communicate over long distances, but newer phones have a bunch of programs that let you do things like listen to music," Danny explained.
"Why did it make that noise?" Desiree asked, still peering over the halfa's shoulder.
"I have an app that lets me keep track of where my parents' vehicle is at. That way if I'm home recovering from fights or still in my ghost form, I can hide or change back before they walk in the door," Danny pointed to the small icon with his parents' faces moving along the GPS, "See this shows that they are a few blocks away from the house where we are here," he then pointed to the icon with his face to indicate his location on the map.
"We'd better get you outta here, I'd rather not have my parents try and shoot at you," Danny put his phone away and gestured for the genie ghost to follow him down the stairs to his parents' lab. He ran over to the ghost portal and inputted his password and handprint to unlock the glowing portal. As the large metal doors slid open with a hiss, the green swirling energy of the portal bathed the entire basement in eerie green light. Danny looked back at Desiree who seemed a bit hesitant as she floated some distance away from the portal.
"What's wrong?" Danny asked, walking closer to her. The genie ghost opened her mouth to say something, hesitated, then closed her mouth again. She looked off to the side and wouldn't meet Danny's gaze.
"What's up Desiree?" Danny asked, a bit concerned, "You can tell me."
A small green blush darkened Desiree's skin before she finally spoke, "Would…would it be alright if I could see you tomorrow?" she looked up into his eyes to see how he'd react. Danny blinked in surprise before a large grin spread across his face. Desiree inwardly gushed at the irresistible dimples her hero had, but still waited to hear his answer.
"Of course you can," Danny actually felt excited to see the lovely ghost woman again so soon, "I really don't mind how often you come to visit me or the town. As long as you're not attacking or causing trouble for the town, I don't really mind."
Desiree practically glowed with excitement at the prospect of seeing her hero again.
"Very well," she nodded before smiling once again at the young halfa. "I shall see you again tomorrow, Danny."
Danny waved goodbye when the genie ghost floated into the portal and disappeared in its swirling energy, then closed the portal down.
"Danny boy!" he heard his father call out while coming down the stairs into the lab, "Whatcha doing son?" Jack asked when he reached the lab.
"I was just double checking the ecto-filter for the portal," Danny easily lied. He had made a note to actually check the filter or not after a close call a couple years prior, and would often use it as an excuse for being present in the lab.
"Good man!" Jack smiled proudly, "Well come on upstairs! Your mother has dinner warming in the oven."
Danny nodded and began following his father back up into the kitchen. Before leaving the basement, he cast a quick look back at the ghost portal, thoughts drifting back to the ghost that had just passed through. He smiled to himself before continuing up the stairs. For some reason he couldn't quite understand, he was really looking forward to tomorrow, and his core seemed to hum in agreement.
What a nice way to end the day! With a promise to meet up tomorrow, what sort of things will the genie ghost and half ghost get up to? If you haven't noticed this will be a bit more of a slow burn since they really don't have any sort of relationship or connection throughout the show.
Hope you enjoyed reading and I will work to post the next chapter soon! Feedback is always appreciated!
