Danny woke up slowly, his eyes focusing on the ceiling again and the familiar patterns of stars and planets pasted above him. He blinked a few times and let out a long breath.
"Danny?" Sam said, leaning over him. "You're awake!"
"How long was I out?" he asked with a small groan as he sat up and held his head.
"A couple hours… we couldn't wake you… we just let you sleep." Sam said as she looked at him worried, Danny glanced over at Tucker who was passed out on the beanbag chair, a soft snore leaving his open mouth. Danny's eyes then roved back around the door.
"So… my parents? Jazz? Did you tell them? That I… passed out?" he asked nervously.
"Well… no. Not with everything you just told us about you being half ghost and with them being ghost hunters and all." She admitted. "And Jazz… well she hasn't come home yet, probably still at the library like a nerd."
"She really doesn't have to study so hard for college, she's going to get accepted to schools just fine." Danny sighed, shaking his head at how hard Jazz tried.
"Is that future knowledge?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. Danny smiled mischievously and shrugged.
"Yes but no, really not so much. It's something anyone can tell just by knowing her for more than five minutes." He pointed out. Sam considered this fact then nodded in agreement.
"That's fair." she glanced over at Tucker who was drooling slightly. "I've got to be real with you for a second Danny, this is a lot to take in."
"I know… I'm sorry… I know." Danny admitted, he put a hand to his forehead and sighed heavily before dropping it back to his lap and looking at Sam with a forlorn sadness. "I know it's a lot. I'm still struggling with this whole being in the past thing and I've had these powers for years now and encountered a lot of terrifying and disturbing things… but nothing as confusing as this. This is the beginning of my ghost troubles and you guys are with me again… but this time I've got future knowledge and experience and you don't and I did kind of just info-dump all over you." he looked down at his hands then back up at Sam.
"I'm sorry Sam. I'm sorry that I dumped this on you guys all at once but in the past where we had to figure out this whole thing step by step, you guys were my rock, invaluable to me while I struggled through controlling my powers and becoming Danny Phantom. I… I still need you guys now, time, age and circumstance doesn't matter." he said as he smiled at her. Sam was blushing and Danny noticed and turned away rubbing his neck, this was going to be awkward in the future. It took a moment before Sam spoke but she put her hand on Danny's shoulder to reassure him.
"Don't think too much about it. You're turning into Jazz." she joked and smiled before retracting her hand. "Plus, we're your best friends. We would have figured it out eventually."
"I have no doubt." Danny smiled and nodded. "Fortunately my dreams were informative, Clockwork visited and gave me a few hints. For now I suppose I should focus on getting my memories back and at least getting myself fully stabilized. My powers have always been connected to my emotions so I have been taking a page out of Jazz's book and meditating." He said with a smile.
"Huh… who knew all that psychobabble could be useful?" Sam laughed, Danny joined in, chuckling and leaning back against the headboard of his bed.
"We've got about a month till the first major ghost attack, but there are still a few minor incidents between then and now." He said turning serious and sitting up straight as he began to plan things out in his head. His mind mulling over ways to deal with his first few foes. Lunch Lady was his first major ghost fight and he could probably take care of her easily if he got just a fraction of his powers back. If he was able to confront her before something set her off, he might actually be able to talk to her and resolve things without violence. What had sparked their first fight again? He put a finger to his chin, his brow furrowing as he thought back to what had happened that week a month from now. As he sorted through his memories and battles he remembered suddenly and looked up at Sam.
"Um… you aren't… lets say… trying to change the school cafeteria menu or anything are you?" he asked.
"Well, I've been writing to the school board all summer about trying to implement a new ultra-recyclo-vegetarian menu." she said. "They haven't responded yet to my letters and emails and a couple of the members even filed a restraining order. I'm not sure if I'm getting through to them." She sighed and shook her head.
"Can you put your activism on hold for a bit… or at least make a compromise to expand vegetarian options at the cafeteria instead of completely rearranging the menu?" he asked, that might at least make the Lunch Lady easier to reason with.
"Wait… does my plan to change the menu somehow end with ghosts?" She frowned as she surveyed him. Danny sighed and then nodded, she wasn't stupid, she would figure it out, and this fell under the category of using his knowledge to change the future for the better. If he didn't have to fight the Lunch Lady then he could take more time to figure out what was going on and get his powers working properly.
"The first proper ghost I fight is the Lunch Lady… not the one who's at the school now, Sam" He added, noting the look on her face that said 'the lunch lady being a ghost might explain her cooking.' Danny continued, "but one that was around fifty years or so ago… she has a problem with you changing the menu and the fight ends with meat raining from the sky." he sighed. "If you don't change the menu… then she probably won't come out of the ghost zone."
"I… why would a lunch- never mind I don't need to know." Sam shook her head. She thought it over considering things before frowning and looking up determined. "But I've been working for months on this! I can't just give up now because of some ghost!" She protested, Danny frowned looking at her confused before sighing. He had forgotten how stubborn she had been and how unwilling to compromise or admit her mistakes she was at fourteen. Sam noticed him and frowned, glaring at him.
"Don't look at me like that!" She snapped, startling him a bit.
"Like what?" Danny asked, he blinked a few times in confusion before Sam poked him in the chest.
"Like I'm a problem that needs solving or containment. Don't look at me like my parents look at me." she hissed. Danny shook his head and held his hands up in surrender.
"I'm not looking at you like that, I just… I forgot in some ways how stubborn you are at this age." He said, trying to calm her down. This however had the opposite effect and anger filled Sam's eyes.
"Don't treat me like a child Danny!" Sam said, folding her arms, still glaring at him.
"Sam! You are a child! We are fourteen! We. Are. Children." he clenched his hands into fists and his eyes flashed green as rage washed over him. He had been better about controlling his temper and abilities in the future/past, but this time his ghost half flared into visibility. The instability of being newly changed, as well as his teenage hormones were making his eyes glow before they cooled back to the usual blue. Sam took a double take but didn't let the show distract her from being upset with him.
"Don't act like you're better than us because you're from the future." She glared before looking away with a small "hmph" noise.
"Sam! Please just take a breath! I'm not the enemy here! I just wanted more time! If you change the menu the ghost comes out. If that happens I will deal with it but…" he sighed and shook his head putting a hand on her shoulder. "I just wanted more time to figure things out! I had hoped you wouldn't be so stubborn about your agenda with the school cafeteria." He said before Sam shoved him away from her, the force pushed him back against the wall of his bed. Danny rubbed his arm which had taken most of the blow, his eyes still flashing green again.
"Yeah! Well then deal with it Danny! I'm not going to change for your convenience!" Sam scoffed as she pushed off the bed and stood facing away from him. Danny yelled in frustration before standing up and focusing on his ghost half, pulling it toward the front and transforming. The room cooled in his presence and Sam turned back around having felt the temperature change and looking for the source. She paused when she saw Danny's glowing ghost form floating up from the floor, his eyes still glowing green.
"This is a stupid argument! If the ghost comes I will deal with it! No need to prosecute me for asking!" Danny said, his voice echoing eerily as if he was talking from down a long tunnel. Sam blinked, surprised by his sudden change, she opened her mouth to speak but Danny cut her off. "I need some space, need to clear my head." He shook his head before turning and flying straight through the wall. He couldn't focus with the anger running clouding his mind, he felt so out of control and frustrated, he needed to leave before he said anything he regretted or made the situation worse.
The weightlessness of his ghost form that was so familiar in his soul was still foreign to his body and he didn't make it far. He headed to the local park with a small lake and landed near a small pier and de-transformed once he was sure he was alone. The short flight had taken more energy than he had expected, then again it had only been a few days since the portal accident. He took a deep breath and tried to stop the angry pound of his heart and the flush of his cheeks, frustrated by his body's wild mood swings.
"Stupid teenage hormones!" He yelled into the sky before sighing and slumping forward. He focused on taking deep even breaths and calming himself. He found Sam so frustrating right now, why was she willing to put her beliefs before the safety of Amity Park. Sam had mellowed out and learned the art of compromise after a couple years in college, but he had nearly forgotten how relentless she could be with her beliefs, not to mention how pushy and defensive she could get. He had just said a few words suggesting that maybe it would be helpful if she compromised or didn't outright change the menu, but she took that as him trying to change who she was. He hadn't meant it that way and he didn't understand why she couldn't see that.
It hadn't helped that he had gotten defensive and angry in response, but he was frustrated that she was unwilling to compromise when it came to this. Then again he guessed that she didn't yet understand how serious ghost fights could be, even against someone like the Lunch Lady, especially when he was so weak.
He ran a hand through his hair and let out a long sigh before looking over the water and shaking his head. He needed space to think, away from Sam and Tucker, away from his family, just away from it all.
Danny considered Jazz's comment about pitying him for having to go through puberty again and laughed softly, leave it to Jazz to realize something so basic. He wondered if she had any way to help him through this, but a better question was how to explain it to her in order to get help. He knew Sam and Tucker trusted him and that's why they had believed him so quickly, plus they had been there at the portal accident, they had already seen his ghost form. Jazz didn't even believe in ghosts, let alone time travel or whatever this was. Sam and Tucker were cool like that, they kept open minds about things.
Speaking of Sam, he needed to figure out how to apologize to Sam for storming off and inadvertently insulting her. Once he patched things up they could actually come up with a plan to figure things out. He hated that he had run off over such a stupid little spat. He hung his head, ashamed of his actions now that he had calmed down. He wondered how much control over his emotions he would have when his body was going through so many mood swings. He wondered also how he was going to get by at school the next week before he pushed himself to his feet and began walking back toward the house. The walk would give him some time to think about everything that was happening and would happen.
After he had somewhat accepted that he was in the past, that this wasn't a dream or some sort of trick, he had kinda felt like he had a cheat code to the future. There were mistakes he could keep himself from making, ghosts he could befriend, powers he was certain he could unlock faster since he remembered how they felt and how they worked. What he hadn't entirely considered was being actually fourteen again, how that would affect him, the way his emotions were unpredictable and intense. He clenched his hands into fists as he walked, taking a breath to keep himself from spiraling down another emotional loop. It wasn't productive or helpful and he wanted to avoid it.
Avoiding his emotions however would not fix anything for him, but Danny still blinked away the frustrated tears that pricked at his eyes before they had a chance to fall. The more he considered it the more he wondered if he really could manage high school again. His logical brain could evaluate and process his situation and find reasonable conclusions to them. Not to mention, like any other human, he replayed embarrassing moments from his past or things that made him feel guilty over and over again in his mind, trying to figure out what sort of outcome he might have if he had acted differently. But his emotional brain… that was unpredictable and in his current state and stability it was also dangerous, both for him, his secret, and anyone around him if his powers got out of hand.
Danny felt his heart tighten at the thought of accidentally hurting someone, it had been a long time since he had been afraid of his own powers. He put a hand to his chest, feeling the chill of his ghostly core next to his heart, his fingers gripping his shirt until he had it held in a tight fist. His heart beat slower than an average human's most of the time, so the fact its pounding seemed so fast couldn't be a good sign. He stopped and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself and push down his emotions at least for a bit. He knew he'd have to confront them eventually, confront how he felt about coming to the past, how horrible a sense of deja vu he would have, not to mention whatever terrible future had brought him back.
He thought about the future, to a time when he felt he had been more stable, he didn't want to cause any accidents, he'd already caused enough of those in the past, or perhaps it was the future that hadn't happened yet. Danny looked down the street at the approaching Fenton Works, the sign visible even several blocks away and he smiled softly at the glow of the Ops Center. Even if he was in the past, at least he had somewhere to go home to, that was good he reminded himself. He wondered again about telling Jazz or telling his parents about his ghost half, his anxiety spiked again and he shook his head.
"They've accepted you time and time again, they'll still accept you now Fenton." he told himself as he kept walking. Maybe it would be wise to let them in on things a little at a time, telling them a few things about him and his powers and what was going on with his biology… if they asked. There was so much to consider though, so many things to think about.
He knew his parents loved him and worried about him, but he had done a lot of ghostly things right in front of them in his first life and they hadn't noticed for so long. He paused at that phrase, his first life, it derailed his train of thought as it hit him fully what Clockwork had said, he had died. Not half dead and half alive, fully dead. He had died.
Danny stopped walking, his heart skipping a beat as panic began to seep in, his body trembled as he realized what that meant. Whatever was coming had been powerful enough to kill him… or perhaps skilled enough. He wasn't sure which, but he had died. He gasped and clutched his chest, dropping to his knees and holding the memory of his death. There was a hole in his chest… a gaping hole, he couldn't heal it, his core was restricted…
"NO!" he gasped and held his head panting, trying to keep himself grounded, trying to keep the ache of death from seeping into his bones, trying to keep himself from destabilizing and falling to pieces. The echoes of pain from dying reverberated through him, not like the portal accident, the ectoplasm turning to blood, his heart caught in a vice, his blood slowing to a stop. He tried to breathe, but all he made was a choking sound. His body crackled with electricity, bidding him to change, that he was in danger, his core going out of control with the weight of his emotions, with the memory of his death. He was a ghost, death shouldn't bother him, except it did because it meant he had failed. He needed to change, he felt like he was going to crawl out of his own skin if he didn't change, he core hummed loudly, the power spiking he felt his body rebel against the weight of his full power, trembling, ready to disintegrate, helpless against his power with his body out of sync.
And then it all stopped, his memory fading, until it was barely a glimmer in his mind. The fear dimmed and he took a proper breath once more.
It will come with time.
The words ghosted over his mind, soothing him and he was able to get his breathing back under control as the memory dulled. He hadn't even realized he had started crying until he started feeling things again and could feel the moisture on his face. He took a deep breath and began to push himself from the pavement, his legs still shaking slightly as focused on his breathing before wiping his eyes. He glanced around, it seemed no one had seen his little freak out, but there wasn't a guarantee he hadn't been caught. He was most worried about people having seen his ecot-energy. He took another deep breath and tried to smooth out his shirt and dust himself off.
It took a few more minutes for him to compose himself enough to begin walking again. Danny felt the memory drifting further and further and realized it was possible Clockwork had taken the memories to help him rather than keep things from him. With the mini panic attack he'd just had his stability had faltered, it had only been a few days since the portal accident, and while he was more stable than his previous life, he realized exactly how precarious his condition was. He took another deep breath, his core hummed slightly as if it too was still jittery from what had just happened. This thought made Danny chuckle, of course it was, his core wasn't a separate entity, it was him, and he was still rattled.
Danny paused a block away from Fenton Works. He wasn't sure if he could handle fully transforming after that minor freak out, he wasn't sure the temporary death wouldn't re-trigger the memory of his future death and he didn't want to risk it, especially with the way he had reacted. Instead he closed his eyes and focused, bringing his ghost powers out, making him invisible and intangible before he walked through the front door, literally through it, and then up to his room.
The first thing he noticed as he entered his room was that Tucker was now awake and arguing with Sam, Danny stood there invisibly for a second.
"I don't understand you!" Tucker was arguing, waving his hands around. "You won't give up your stupid individuality to stop a ghost? Why not! We don't know how serious these ghosts are! What if it's bad? What if it's dangerous? Do you not trust Danny!?" He said Sam pushed Tucker and he stumbled back a foot.
"That's not the point Tucker!" she hissed. "It was his attitude too! You're the one that doesn't understand."
"Will you two please stop fighting?" Danny sad reappearing with a small sigh and slumping into his bean bag chair. "Tucker, I appreciate you, but if the ghost shows up, I'll handle it, and yes the fights can get dangerous. Sam… I'm sorry I shouldn't have treated you like a child… I mean… we are children… but it was belittling and I'm sorry. I don't ever want you two to feel like I look down on you guys for any reason so please… please just stop fighting." he said. His friends had quieted when Danny had reappeared, likely partially due to the shock of him appearing out of thin air like that. They looked at him for a while before Sam spoke,
"I forgive you… for what it's worth… I'm sorry. I guess… I overreacted." Sam said and averted her eyes from his, Danny gave her a small nod but wasn't sure if she had caught it. Perhaps some of his words about her being stubborn had gotten through to her in some capacity, even if she wasn't willing to admit it yet.
"You're back! Sam said you left rather dramatically." Tucker said as he approached Danny. "Dude, you don't look so good."
"Oh? I look just like I feel then." He said with a small sarcastic smile before he looked at the ceiling and sighed, the smile dropping as he decided to share a little bit about what happened during the brief time he was gone. They didn't need to know specifics, but he might explode if he didn't share a general idea with them.
"I… I think my missing memories are missing to protect me… I think whatever happened before I came back… it was worse than I realized." he said softly, his voice trembling slightly. That seemed to completely break the tension from the argument as his friends looked at him with concern.
"How…How bad do you think?" Tucker asked softly.
"Bad… a really bad ending…" Danny whispered and turned his eyes back on his friends. "I don't remember the details of course… but the impression I got wasn't good." He said, touching his chest.
"Are you okay Danny?" Sam asked as she knelt in front of him, putting a comforting hand on his leg. Danny nodded, then shrugged and then shook his head.
"I don't know… not really." he said softly. "I'm fourteen, my body is full of hormones and I'm strapped to its emotional rollercoaster… not to mention…" he trailed off and shook his head. He didn't want to scare his friends even more, it was already a lot for them to process.
"Well… you're not alone there at least dude." Tucker said with a smile, Danny returned the smile and nodded.
"True… we all have to figure out that wonderful therapy inducing time they call adolescence. I could really use a drink though… not that I can drink… nor would it be particularly helpful while I'm this unstable." he sighed.
"So you were at least of drinking age then." Tucker said, filing away that information obviously still trying to figure out how old Danny had been when he'd come back from the future. Danny groaned and covered his face with his hands.
"Fucking spoilers. I should know better." He grumbled to himself, but then frowned and looked up. "Well… it's not like I've been transported back to the past like this before… I just never had to think about it before really." he admitted to himself out loud.
"So… you have time traveled before?" Tucker asked, reading between the lines, Danny sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before shrugging.
"I mean, I did say this was the work of a ghost who could manipulate time, it would be a little strange if that whole relationship didn't involve at least some time travel. But I don't think I'll share anymore than that." he said anticipating Tucker's next question. Sam had been quiet since asking Danny if he was okay, but she spoke up now.
"Yeah butterfly effect and whatever." She agreed. "Though there isn't anything to prove that changing one little thing can have only a disastrous effect on the future. Then again nothing can disprove that… unless you have something to say on that front?" She looked at Danny, Danny shrugged.
"Time… is… it's not just a straight line of events…. It's full of twists and turns and alternate choices and routes and it just ends up being a… a… a big ball of… wibbly-wobbly… timey-wimey…. Uh… stuff." Danny said as he trailed off.
"Timey-wimey?" Tucker raised an eyebrow while Sam snickered.
"Whatever." Danny said, shaking his head. "That is to say sometimes yes, changing one little thing can have unintended and disastrous consequences, but the opposite can also be true. Navigating that is… it's headache inducing." he sighed. "I probably have a better grasp on it than most… but my understanding is tenuous at best… not to mention how difficult it is navigating it."
"So you're just making it up as you go along?" Sam clarified. Danny laughed at her bluntness and smiled.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but that's kinda my whole life, even before the portal accident." He pointed out.
"Point." Tucker said with a nod and a smile. "So… how can we help with this Lunch Lady Ghost?" Danny smiled, no matter what timeline he was in, or if he died or not, he knew his friends were there to have his back. Somehow, he'd get through everything all over again.
Author's Note: If you thought I could write a story about time travel without making a doctor who reference... then you're wrong.
It may be a week or more before the next update, I have it sort of drafted out in my head but nothing has been written and I'm also working on updating and polishing HUMAN.