Pain, pain was all he felt as his consciousness came in and out of focus. His throat was raw from the scream that left his throat, his body burning and aching with the energy flowing through him. The screaming wouldn't stop, he couldn't stop it. His head pounded and ached and it felt like his blood was boiling and burning inside him.
His body arched, every muscle contracting, forcing him to stay upright as the energy burned through him, his body constantly clenched. The world was too bright around him, burning his retinas even though he was certain his eyes were too closed. He was certain he was going to die, his humanity burning away leaving nothing behind.
In a detached sort of way he remembered the portal, the pain he was feeling now could only be compared to the first time he'd died. He remembered the pain starting in his hand and burning through the rest of his body back then, completely rewriting his molecular structure and infusing him with ectoplasm. He wondered how he had time to think of such things while his screams echoed around him and his heart stopped beating.
It felt like an eternity before the burning subsided enough for him to catch his breath, his body still ached as he slumped to the ground, his vision slowly fading back from the blinding white as he groaned and twitched. Little shocks of electricity continued to spark through the surface beneath him. He coughed and held his throat, a small glob of ectoplasm coming up as he tried to speak, he felt so weak. Weaker than he had felt in years, his body felt unstable and he looked down at his hand and the glob of ectoplasm that was evaporating in the swirl of ecto-energy around him.
He heard something vaguely that sounded like his name being called. He couldn't focus but he saw silhouettes beyond the veil of green energy.
"The… ghost portal?" he asked, his voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. Just the few words he had spoken made his throat feel like it was on fire and he coughed again before forcing himself to his feet and stumbling toward the silhouettes.
His hand broke the surface of the portal and he stumbled out, weakness in his body causing him to once again trip and fall to the ground, his eyes sliding shut as he groaned.
"Danny?!" The voices were clearer now, familiar and yet strange all at the same time. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on the people in front of him. His vision was blurry and swaying but slowly his two best friends came into focus.
"Sam… Tucker?" he asked, his voice causing another coughing fit as the two looked at him as if they saw a ghost. He slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, the two moved to help him up and he winced as his body passed through them and he fell to the ground once more.
"Danny? Is… is that really you?" Sam asked and Danny coughed, holding his throat again.
"Who… else would… I be?" he asked this voice still hoarse but recovering thanks to his ghostly healing factor.
"Don't know… bizzaro Danny? You… you don't exactly look like yourself dude." Tucker informed, trying to be light-hearted even though Danny could tell he was anxious. Danny frowned and tried to stand up, this time not phasing through Sam's hands as she helped him.
"Not myself?" he asked before going to the nearby sink and mirror. He touched his face, his eyes going wide with surprise. He was fourteen again? His mind swirled with his confusion as he stared at his reflection before turning around to look at Sam and Tucker then back down at his body again.
"What?" he gasped in shock as he touched his chest, closing his eyes and focusing on his ghost core. It was unstable, which explained why he couldn't control his powers, but more concerning was the weakness, like a strong enough wind could snuff him out entirely. He trembled a little, feeling more powerless than he had in a long time.
"Danny?" Tucker asked as he and Sam approached, each putting a hand on one of Danny's shoulders. "Talk to us dude. Tell us how we can help." Tucker prompted. Danny shook a little as he opened his eyes.
"I… I don't know… This is…" he shook his head trailing off before he felt his knees give out and he fell to the ground, barely catching himself. The transformation washed over him against his will, changing his body back to that of a human and his brow furrowed as he saw the black gloves of the white jumpsuit.
"At… least I'm not dead…" he mused softly as the ground began to swirl and his eyes drifted closed and he lost consciousness leaving Sam and Tucker with a raggedy looking Danny and no idea how what was going on.
"Hey kids! What are you doing down here?" Jack asked as he came down the stairs, pausing as he saw the portal and it working. He momentarily did a dance of triumph before his eyes landed on Danny, passed out with Tucker and Sam holding him. "Danny!?" he gasped. "Son! What happened? You two better explain! Mads! Call an ambulance!" Jack said as he rushed forward, pulling Danny into his arms. The unconscious boy groaned and his head lolled to the side. The smell of burned flesh came from him. Maddie was downstairs in an instant, instructing Jack to put him onto a free table and checking Danny's pulse.
"His pulse is slow, his breathing shallow, he's cold… let's get him to a hospital quick!" She said. She inspected his arm and hand where most of the damage seemed to be, electric burns running up his arm from his hand and across his body. His brow furrowed as she looked between her son and the portal.
"What happened? Was Danny in the portal? Why is it working?" She demanded while Jack prepared to let the EMS workers in.
"We just wanted to check it out… then it suddenly turned on and Danny was inside and screaming and…" Sam rambled. Maddie nodded and turned back to Danny wiping the sweat from his brow and gently caressing his cheek, worry etched over her face.
"You three are going to be in big trouble, but first we need to get him to a hospital. This kind of accident could have permanent consequences." She frowned and shook her head.
"We didn't think it was working! We weren't trying to get him hurt!" Tucker protested.
"Is Danny going to be okay?" Sam asked as she looked at Danny's body on the table.
"I don't know." Maddie admitted as she put her fingers back to Danny's neck, feeling his slow pulse and cold skin, much colder than he should be, but he was still breathing and his heart was still pumping for now. She didn't know what sort of side effects being inside the portal when it turned on would have, but at least he hadn't contracted ecto-acne like Vlad had when their prototype failed. That was a plus side at least, though she worried that he may be contaminated with ecto-energy for a while, who knew what sort of effect that would have on a human.
Danny groaned softly and twitched, before his eyes opened slightly to look at his mom.
"Mom?" he asked softly, his brow furrowed slightly before he groaned again and tried to sit up.
"Don't move Danny, help is coming, just rest." She said as she pushed the hair from his face. Danny whimpered softly and let his body relax, before focusing on his mom again.
"What… what's happening?" he asked. "You look… younger." he mumbled. His mind was a blur, he couldn't focus, his body was too unstable, he shuddered as his ghost sense went off and he tried to sit up again. "Ghost… here…" he tried to warn her, watching the tail end of a specter slip through the ceiling.
Maddie frowned looking around the lab then back down at Danny, he wasn't acting like himself, but maybe he had seen something in the portal that changed his opinion on ghosts and ghost hunting.
"It's going to be okay Danny. You just had a little accident with the ghost portal, help is coming, you're going to be okay sweetie." she promised as she took his un-injured hand. Danny gave her hand a small squeeze before closing his eyes again.
"It hurts…" he whispered. "It hurts… I'm confused… mom…" he mumbled. Once his healing factor finished fixing his body he was certain he could figure out what was going on, but until then he just needed rest.
"They're here Maddie!" Jack said, leading the EMS workers down the stairs and to Danny. The two workers exchanged worried looks before focusing on Danny, taking his vitals, their concern growing as they asked Maddie and Jack questions about what had happened and how Danny had ended up in such a state. Danny groaned softly as they opened the jumpsuit, Sam and Tucker gasping softly as they saw the Lichtenberg scars running across his chest and up his neck more clearly, the red fern like patterns angry and welted up were quite disturbing to look at for the two of them.
The two EMS workers attached various leads to his chest to monitor his heart rate which was dangerously slow, they cut off the jumpsuit from his arms and started an IV and fluids before transferring him to the gurney. Danny whimpered as they moved him and Maddie followed closely, pausing to talk to Jack.
"Get Jazz and the kids and meet us at the hospital, I'll ride with Danny." she said.
"Keep our son safe." Jack said with a nod before Maddie left, following Danny and the EMS workers. Jack turned to Sam and Tucker, "I'll get Jazz, you kids get upstairs and wait by the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle." He said before running off.
"I'll go with the Fentons, you can go home. I know how you hate hospitals." Sam said.
"Thanks Sam… just… Keep me updated with what's going on with Danny." Tucker said as they walked upstairs.
"Of course." She promised and gave Tucker a quick hug before pulling back. Tucker nodded before running off as they got outside. Jack frowned as he approached.
"What happened to the other one?" He asked Sam as Jazz jumped into the RV.
"His parents called, he had to go, he says that he's wishing Danny a quick recovery." Sam explained.
"Danny was in an accident.. Did you see what happened?" Jazz asked, poking her head out of the door before Sam jumped in beside her.
"The portal… it kinda turned on, but he was checking out the inside of it… when it turned on." Sam said, biting her thumb for a moment before looking away. "I don't know if he's going to be okay… especially after…"
"Of course he's going to be okay! He's a Fenton!" Jack said as he got behind the wheel and turned on the RV, cutting Sam off from her train of thought.
They drove the rest of the way to the hospital in silence, and ended up waiting in the Emergency waiting room for a few hours before Danny was transferred to a bed on the hospital floor and they were able to see him.
Sam and Jazz entered hesitantly behind Jack, going to Danny's side who was once again unconscious.
"Danny…" Jazz said softly as she approached and held onto the railing around the bed, looking at the different monitors and wires he was hooked up to. Her little brother looked smaller and younger than he had in ages. The hospital bed seemed far too big for him, and he looked far too pale as he laid there, breathing slowly. The monitor beside him beeped slowly but his heart rate wasn't dangerously slow anymore which gave her hope as she glanced at her mom and then back to Danny.
Sam took Danny's un-bandaged hand and looked over him with similar concern. She wasn't sure if she should tell the Fentons about the strange things that happened when Danny came out of the portal. She wondered if telling them about the strange powers and appearance would help them fix whatever happened. She didn't trust Jack or Maddie not to freak out yet, and it seemed what Danny needed most now was rest, telling them that it seemed he had temporarily become a ghost wasn't going to help.
"He's not in danger, but they did give him some pain medicine for the electric burns… they said he's stable, but the doctors want to monitor him for a while to make sure he's safe. Apparently electrocution accidents can cause a variety of problems, not to mention they're worried about how he managed to get into such a state to begin with." Maddie rambled a bit before sighing and leaning into Jack. "He's alive though, and they think he'll stay that way."
"Of course he's alive, he's strong, he's a Fenton." Jack said as he wrapped an arm around Maddie.
"There isn't much to do until he wakes up." Maddie sighed. "You can take the kids home for now, I'll ask Danny what happened when he wakes up. We'll figure everything out later." She said,
"Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, if you don't mind, I'd like to stay and look after Danny for a bit longer." Sam said. Maddie sighed then nodded.
"I'm not going to stop you but… well, they say he'll be asleep for a while." Maddie shrugged.
"He's my best friend, I need to be here… especially since Tucker had to go home." Sam said and gave Danny's hand a small squeeze. Maddie nodded and they fell into an uncomfortable silence while the heart rate monitor beeped slowly in time with his heart beat.
They remained at Danny's side in silence until visiting hours were over, Jack took Jazz and Sam home, leaving Maddie to look over Danny in the meantime as the room darkened with the setting sun.
Danny opened his eyes slowly, looking at the standard tiled ceiling of the hospital room and then slowly looking over at his mom, who was sleeping in the chair next to him. He felt tired and shaky, but his head was a bit clearer than it had been before.
He sat up slowly and held his head before looking around the room once more.
"Okay Fenton… What happened and what is going on?" he said to himself. He recognized the local hospital and even the room. He had been in this room before, right after the portal accident, and his body, his voice, it was all wrong.
"Okay… think… I was home for spring break… Sam and Tucker were there and we were going out to see a movie…" His head hurt as he tried to force himself to remember. "Ugh… brain pain." he mumbled. "Why can't I remember?" he mumbled. He looked down at his hand and then back over at his mom, she looked a lot younger than he remembered, there weren't any gray streaks in her hair, less wrinkles across her face.
"Something tells me Clockworks is involved with this." he sighed as he pushed himself into a sitting position. His brow furrowed as he looked around, this didn't feel like a dream, the pain from the portal accident was as real as it had been the first time, as was the stinging in his arm from the IV.
"But… why did I come back to the past… and why the day of the accident… why now and why me?" he frowned. "I guess… it might not just be me… did anyone else come back to the past? Sam or Tucker… Jazz maybe?" he mused aloud before a small groan next to him caused him to pause. Maddie stirred and looked up blinking the sleep out of her eyes before focusing on Danny.
"Oh… Danny, you're awake." She said softly as she reached out and put her hand on top of Danny's. Danny smiled and flipped his hand over to give her's a small squeeze.
"Yeah… I'm okay mom… just a bit confused." he said with a small sigh.
"Do you not remember the portal accident?" Maddie frowned. Danny laughed bitterly and put his free hand to his chest, bandages across body and arm reminded him off the past which was actually now the present.
"No… I remember… it's a bit hard to forget, even after nearly eight years." he sighed then shook his head, focusing on his ghost core. It had stabilized more and he didn't feel like it would vanish in a second if he sneezed, but it still didn't feel completely stable either.
"You sure you're okay sweetie? You're acting a bit strange." Maddie said as she put a hand to his forehead, which was still cooler than normal. Danny smiled and pulled her hand from his forehead.
"I'm fine mom… just… trying to figure something out." He said as he thought. "I just need some time to sort out my thoughts." he promised as he adjusted his bed so he could lean back with some support, but not be fully reclined like before.
"Well… as long as you're safe and alive… you will need to tell me what you were doing in the lab and what happened with the portal eventually though." Maddie said as she adjusted his blankets, busying herself with the task so she wouldn't have to look at his bandages.
"That… Sam and Tucker were curious about the portal, even though it didn't work. I was curious too so we decided to check it out… except… Dad put the on switch on the inside and I kinda bumped it while I was still inside." Danny sighed. "You might want to consider that when you build the next one." he joked with a small smile.
"This is serious, you could have died." Maddie said, looking at him. "I'm beginning to worry about letting you kids in the lab… especially after all of this."
"Mom, I'm fine, really." He reassured her. "It didn't completely kill me, and I'm here, not completely dead." he said as he took her hand. "I'm just… really tired." he said as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze again.
"Well.. if you're sure." she said and patted his hand.
"I am… let's just get some rest Mom, I'll probably be well enough to get discharged tomorrow." he said as he relaxed against the pillow and sighed softly. His body still tingled with the remaining portal energy and he had to make an effort to keep his powers under control, not that they were particularly strong. Maddie hesitated then nodded, sitting in the chair next to him once more and reclining.
Danny smiled softly at her before looking back at the ceiling. He had a choice to make, he had many choices still to make, it would be easier if he could remember what had happened before he had come back to the past, but it was a bit of a blur right around the middle of spring break. Something must have happened, something serious if Clockwork got involved, but what exactly he couldn't remember.
His brow furrowed as he considered what to do next, should he tell his parents about him being half ghost? With his powers unstable it might be wise, it would also make his life a little easier going forward if he didn't have to hide. Over the many different timelines and realities, he knew for sure that they'd accept and love him despite being part ghost, but he wasn't sure if that would hold true with his mind being that of his older self.
Being back in the past also posed a conundrum of having to go through high school again, he had barely passed the first time, and he spent more time that he wanted in a locker thanks to Dash Baxter. Dash ended up being less of a pain later in life but he was still a blonde conceited jerk this time. The dude wouldn't have any character development for another three years, barely in time for graduation.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking back over at his mom, who was still looking at him with concern on her face.
"I'm fine… really." he tried to reassure her. Maddie nodded but continued to stare at him. Danny smiled before sighing and looking back up at the ceiling. If he was trapped in the past, there were at least a few things he could change to make the future better, powers he may be able to learn faster, and enemies that he could get rid of without violence.
Danny looked out of the window as thoughts and scenarios ran through his head. There were definitely things he could improve and change, but he didn't remember everything, nor could he predict if his actions would make things worse. He would have to go visit Clockwork when he got a chance and when his powers were more stable. For now he supposed he should try and continue with the way things had been before, which unfortunately included not telling his parents.
He slowly closed his eyes, the portal accident was still affecting him, draining his stamina. He began to drift back to sleep, his body beginning to relax as he fell asleep again.